Evaluation of a nurse-led acute pain service. Can clinical nurse specialists make a difference?

This paper attempts to identify the impact of a nurse-led in-patient acute pain service (APS) on three areas of concern; pre-operative information, patients self-reported levels of pain, and analgesics prescribed. It considers the results of a baseline survey carried out in 1992 and its replication in 1995, in an attempt to assess the impact this service may have had. Results appear to indicate some changes in all areas of concern, with significant reductions in reported levels of pain and patterns of analgesic prescribing between the two surveys. It therefore appears within the constraints of this type of study, that the work of the nurse-led APS has had a significant impact on changing outcomes and improving quality of patient care.