Pain Assessment and Management by Nurses in a Geriatric Setting: Discrepancies between Guidelines and Documented Practice

Observed and Perceived Pain: Findings of a Cross-Sectional Study in Hospitalized Subjects

BACKGROUND

Pain constitutes a serious problem of a health, economic, ethical, and social equity nature affecting negatively quality of life. Its assessment is often subjected to overestimation or underestimation.

AIM

The aim of this study is threefold: (1) to estimate the prevalence of pain in hospitalized patients; (2) to assess the grade of correlation between the level of pain observed by the nurses and the pain perceived by the patients; and (3) to examine the level of scientific knowledge among the healthcare professionals.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

METHODS

The intensity level of observed and perceived pain has been evaluated in 401 patients with validated scales. Analyzed data have been extracted from the electronic medical record and integrated into the data-collection sheet. A questionnaire has been submitted to nurses to investigate their level of knowledge on pain assessment and management.

RESULTS

The study included 350 patients out of 401; for 51 patients the "pain" data was missing. Prevalence of perceived pain was 40.15%. Nurses overestimated pain in 7.43% of cases and underestimated it in 24.9%. The majority of the nursing staff claimed to be aware of the pain topic, however, they showed some uncertainties in clinical practice.

CONCLUSIONS

The differential variation between the observed pain and the perceived one resulted in 43.71% of cases, highlighting the dependence on the two variables: "area of hospitalization" and "intensity level". The observation and monitoring of pain did not appear to be a consolidated practice, thus representing an important area for investments in the nursing profession.

Effect of Pain Education Interventions on Registered Nurses' Pain Management: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVES

This review and meta-analysis aims to reveal how pain education interventions affect registered nurses' pain management.

DESIGN

A systematic review and meta-analysis DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL (EBSCOhost), and ERIC REVIEW METHODS: A systematic search of four electronic databases was conducted to identify relevant peer-reviewed English or Finnish-language articles published between 2008 and 2021. The review included a quality appraisal and a meta-analysis of articles providing group-level data before and after the intervention (n = 12). The methods followed the PRISMA guidelines.

RESULTS

Overall, 23 articles met the inclusion criteria for the review, of which 15 were evaluated as good quality. Based on the articles on document audits (n = 10), pain education interventions reduced the risk of not receiving the best pain management by 40%, whereas based on the articles on patients' experiences (n = 4), they reduced the risk by 25%. The study quality and design of these articles were considerably heterogenous.

CONCLUSIONS

Pain education study strategies varied widely among the included articles. These articles used multivariate interventions without systematization or sufficient opportunity to transfer the study protocols. It can be concluded that versatile pain nursing education interventions, as well as auditing of pain nursing and its documentation combined with feedback, can be effective to nurses in adapting pain management and assessment practices and increasing patient satisfaction. However, further research is required in this regard. In addition, well-designed, implemented, and reproducible evidence-based pain education intervention is required in the future.

Pain assessment and management for people with dementia in the community

People with dementia commonly experience pain, but it is often unrecognised, unrelieved and remains an underlying issue as the condition progresses. As a result, pain management for people with dementia is inadequate. Community nurses have a fundamental role in the assessment and management of pain and in supporting family carers. This article details the causes and effects of pain in people with dementia, explains the components of a holistic approach to individualised pain assessment, and describes various pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions that can be used to manage pain in this population.

Pain Screening in the Older Adult With Delirium

BACKGROUND

In patients with cognitive impairments who are unable to self-report pain, nurses must rely on behavioral observation tools to assess and manage pain. Although frequently employed in medical-surgical units, evidence supporting the psychometric efficacy of the Pain in Advanced Dementia (PAINAD) for pain screening in older adults with delirium is lacking.

AIM

To examine the psychometrics of the PAINAD for older adults with delirium in medical-surgical settings.

DESIGN

A descriptive repeated measures design.

SETTING

Medical-surgical units in an urban tertiary care hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

Sixty-eight older adults with delirium.

METHODS

Patients with delirium unable to self-report pain were screened by two data collectors with the PAINAD and the Critical Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT). Patients with a PAINAD score ≥3 or a CPOT score ≥2 received a pain intervention. Pain assessments were repeated 30 minutes post baseline or pain intervention.

RESULTS

Patients were predominately female (58.8%) with dementia (71%). Thirty-nine patients screened positive for pain and received a pain intervention. PAINAD reliability was strong (Cronbach's α = 0.81-0.87; interrater intraclass coefficients [ICC] = 0.91-0.94; test-retest ICC = 0.76-0.77). Construct validity was supported by a statistically significant interaction effect between time (baseline versus follow-up) and condition (pain intervention versus no pain group; Rater 1: F(1,66) = 8.31, p = 0.005, η_p² = 0.11; Rater 2: F(1,66) = 8.22, p = 0.006, η_p² = 0.11.

CONCLUSIONS

The PAINAD is a reliable and valid tool for pain screening for older adults with delirium in medical-surgical settings.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Pain and delirium frequently co-occur in the older adult population. Best practices require a holistic assessment for contributing pain and non-pain factors in patients exhibiting distress.