Perianesthesia Nurses Pain Management Practices: Findings and Recommendations From a National Descriptive Study of Members of the American Society of Perianesthesia Nurses

Postoperative challenges addressed through nursing care of patients receiving lower extremity tumor prosthesis

BACKGROUND

Patients with primary Bone Sarcoma and Giant Cell Tumors in the lower extremities often require major surgery involving tumor prostheses. The postoperative course for this patient group can be complex and influenced by various factors and challenges that demand careful nursing care. This study aims to identify challenges related to the nursing care of individuals with primary bone tumors following surgery for tumor prostheses in the lower extremities.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study of 15 patients treated at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark, between November 5. 2016, and April 1. 2020 was conducted by medical record review, focusing on challenges related to postoperative nursing care. All patients with the surgery code "Bone Excision" were identified within the surgery booking system and screened for eligibility.

RESULTS

Patients experienced postoperative challenges such as severe pain, prolonged time to mobilization (mean: 4 days), and defecation (mean: 5 days). The mean length of stay at the Rigshospitalet was 13 days. Furthermore, eleven patients (73%) reported disrupted sleep and nausea.

CONCLUSION

Patients undergoing tumor prosthesis surgery in the lower extremities face considerable postoperative challenges that contribute to a prolonged hospital stay. These challenges, including severe pain, delayed mobilization, and gastrointestinal issues, significantly impact recovery. The findings highlight the urgent need for targeted nursing interventions to address these issues effectively. Enhanced pain management protocols, early mobilization strategies, and comprehensive postoperative care plans are essential to improve patient outcomes and reduce the length of hospital stays. Addressing these challenges through dedicated nursing care is crucial for optimizing the recovery process for patients receiving lower extremity tumor prostheses.

Validation of the Health Index in the Postoperative Period: Use of the Nursing Outcome Classification to Determine the Health Level

BACKGROUND

The postoperative period is the recovery time after surgery and is defined as an individual process whose purpose is to return the person to the state of normality and integrity that they had prior to surgery.

AIM

Demonstrate the modification of the level of health of people in the early postoperative period through the development and validation of the Health Index Instrument, which is built from the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC) standardized language.

DESIGN

The design used a mixed method, which involved a first phase of instrument development and a second phase of instrument validation.

METHODS

The methods was based on focus group techniques with text analysis techniques, internal validation with a group of care language experts, external validation with a group of clinical nursing experts and a clinical validation with quantitative and qualitative analysis. A panel of experts in Language of Care evaluated the (NOC) labels and their correlation with the 11 Health Variables to construct the instrument. The instrument developed was subjected to external validation with a panel of clinical nurse experts in post-anesthesia care. The clinical validation included a cross-sectional descriptive study in a postoperative unit. The final sample of the cross-sectional descriptive study was 139 cases.

RESULTS

Of the 89 NOCs proposed in the preliminary construction phase of the instrument, 36 passed through the first round. Of those 36 NOCs, 25 passed through to the second round with a review performance and 11 directly as approved. The total number of approved NOCs were 4. The results of the research show that there are changes in the global score of the health level and in each health variable. It is observed that there was a significant increase in the scores of the health variables at admission and discharge (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The results of the data analysis show that six groups present a similar pattern of evolution of the health variables. A correlation was found between the time of stay in the unit with the scores obtained in the health variables, the physical functioning, comfort status and the presence of symptoms being particularly significant.

An Overview of the Implications for Perianesthesia Nurses in terms of Intraoperative Changes in Temperature and Factors Associated with Unintentional Postoperative Hypothermia

Patients undergo surgery and anaesthesia on a daily basis across the United States and throughout the world. A major source of worry for these patients continues to be inadvertent hypothermia, once core temperature <36°C (96.8°F). Despite well-documented adverse physiological consequences, anaesthesia nurses continue to have a difficult task in keeping patient warmth pre-/peri-/post-surgical procedure. Thermostasis within postoperative patient necessitates the collaboration of many individuals. In order to provide safe and high-quality treatment, it is essential to use the most up-to-date data to guide therapeutic procedures targeted at achieving balance body temperature in surgical patients. Providing a review of the physiology of perioperative temperature variations and the comorbidities linked with accidental intraoperative hypothermia, this article will also provide preventive and treatment methods.

Evaluation of Preoperative Sleep Quality and Factors Affecting Pain Intensity of Patients Hospitalized in Surgical Services

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to determine the preoperative sleep quality and pain intensity of patients hospitalized in the surgical services of a university hospital, and to evaluate the relationship between sleep quality and pain intensity and the factors affecting it.

DESIGN

The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study.

METHODS

The study was conducted on 139 patients over the age of 18 who were hospitalized in the surgical services of Eskişehir Osmangazi University Health Practice and Research Hospital between March 1, 2019 and July 31, 2019, and agreed to participate in the study. The "Visual Analog Scale for Pain (VASP)" was used to evaluate the pain intensity of the patients, and the "Visual Analog Sleep Scale (VASS)" to determine the quality of sleep.

FINDINGS

The sleep quality of women, those who had sleep problems before hospitalization and those who had sleep problems in the preoperative period was worse (P <.001). Patients who had a companion and had sleep problems in the preoperative period had higher pain levels (P <.001 for each). As the pain levels of the patients increased, their sleep quality deteriorated (P <.001). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that for each unit increase in the variable of having sleep problems in the preoperative period increases the VASS score by 180.422 points and the VASP score by 1.788. Being a woman increased the VASS score by 91.469 points, and the presence of a companion increased the VASP score by 1.644 points.

CONCLUSIONS

The preopertive sleep quality and pain intensity of surgery patients were interrelated. Having sleep problems in the preoperative period affected both the sleep quality and pain intensity of the patients. While female gender affected the sleep quality of the patients hospitalized in surgical services, the presence of a companion was found to affect the severity of pain.

Pain assessment of the adult sedated and ventilated patients in the intensive care setting: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Pain is frequently encountered in the intensive care setting. Given the impact of pain assessment on patient outcomes and length of hospital stay, studies have been conducted to validate tools, establish guidelines and cast light on practices relating to pain assessment.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the extent, range and nature of the evidence around pain assessment practices in adult patients who cannot self-report pain in the intensive care setting and summarise the findings from a heterogenous body of evidence to aid in the planning and the conduct of future research and management of patient care. The specific patient cohort studied was the sedated/ ventilated patient within the intensive care setting.

DESIGN

A scoping review protocol utilised the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping review checklist (PRISMA-ScR).

METHODS

The review comprised of five phases: identifying the research question, identifying relevant studies, study selection, charting the data and collating, summarizing, and reporting the results. Databases were systematically searched from January to April 2020. Databases included were Scopus, Web of Science, Medline via Ovid, CINAHL COMPLETE via EBSCO host, Health Source and PUBMED. Limits were applied on dates (2000 to current), language (English), subject (human) and age (adult). Key words used were "pain", "assessment", "measurement", "tools", "instruments", "practices", "sedated", "ventilated", "adult". A hand search technique was used to search citations within articles. Database alerts were set to apprise the availability of research articles pertaining to pain assessment practices in the intensive care setting.

RESULTS

The review uncovered literature categorised under five general themes: behaviour pain assessment tools, pain assessment guidelines, position statements and quality improvement projects, enablers and barriers to pain assessment, and evidence appertaining to actual practices. Behaviour pain assessment tools are the benchmark for pain assessment of sedated and ventilated patients. The reliability and validity of physiologic parameters to assess pain is yet to be determined. Issues of compliance with pain assessment guidelines and tools exist and impact on practices. In some countries like Australia, there is a dearth of information regarding the prevalence and characteristics of patients receiving analgesia, type of analgesia used, pain assessment practices and the process of recording pain management. In general, pain assessment varies across different intensive care settings and lacks consistency.

CONCLUSION

Research on pain assessment practices requires further investigation to explore the causative mechanisms that contribute to poor compliance with established pain management guidelines. The protocol of this review was registered with Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/25a6) Tweetable abstract: Pain assessment in intensive care settings lacks consistency. New information is needed to understand the causative mechanisms underpinning poor compliance with guidelines.