BackgroundWhile many studies have addressed various issues with regards to pain management, there is limited knowledge about how nurses assess pain in surgical wards. This study aimed to describe Thai nurses’ experiences of pain assessment in a surgical ward.MethodsA cross-sectional explorative study was conducted. Participants were selected through theoretical sampling. Data was collected through interviews with twelve registered nurses working in surgical wards. Qualitative content analysis guided the analysis of the data.ResultsNurses use a double/triple check system, communicated to the healthcare team via records and protocols, and they used their skills and experiences in pain assessment. The results showed that nurses missed the opportunity to include the patients’ self-reported pain in their accounts. Though much evidence of pain was collected, this did not seem to benefit the patients. Furthermore, the nurses were not using instruments to measure pain, which illustrates the potential unreliability of professionals who have differing opinions concerning the patients’ pain.ConclusionsThai nurses worked based on a ‘patient-evidence’ paradigm when assessing patients in pain; this should be shifted to an evidence-based paradigm. Furthermore, by including the patients’ self-reported pain in their assessment, nurses would both improve the quality of the pain assessment and empower patients in their pain management. Pain management practices in Thailand should be improved through education, training, supportive innovation, and collegial competence development in order to improve the quality of care in the post-operative field.

Pain management is a core nursing function, and it plays a key role in postoperative care. It is important to understand the cultural context of nursing practices and how this affects effective pain management. The aim of this study was to describe the professional and cultural framework within which pain management is practiced on a Thai surgical ward. Spradley's ethnographic methodology was used. Data were collected through 98.5 hours of field observations and interviews at a surgical ward in Thailand. Three themes were constructed that describe the way Thai nurses practiced pain management: (i) complex communications system to address pain and to respond to it, (ii) the essence of Thai-ness, and (iii) a passive approach to pain management. The results indicate that, in the response to discomfort and pain, better pain management will result if there is a shift from functional to patient-centered care. The nursing culture needs to be further researched and discussed, in order to set priorities in line with the goals of national and international organizations for improving postoperative care and promoting patient comfort.

Background: Nurses' roles are an important aspect of their approaches to pain management and monitoring in the post-operative phase of recovery in a surgical ward. A barrier to successful pain management may be the nurse's perceptions of the patient in pain, which are confounded by the patterns of communication within individual contexts. We need to study, grasp and understand the complexities of the pain management practice within the context of the surgical ward in order to be able to improve the practices and design appropriate interventions to help patients in need. Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore nurses' postoperative pain management practices. Methods: This qualitative triangulation study was conducted in a surgical ward at a public hospital in Bangkok (Thailand) from 2012 to 2015. We applied four qualitative methods in the study: 1) observations in a postoperative pain management setting (100 hours); 2) in-depth interviews (12 nurses), 3) three focus group discussions (18 nurses), and 4) narratives relating to 69 critical incidents gathered during recurrent visits over a period of ten weeks (9 nurses). Content analysis, as outlined in grounded theory, was applied. Results: The 40 nursing staff made their observations of the participants by conducting go-along interviews while they worked in the surgical field. The group of nurses comprised of 20 females and 4 males, age-ranged between 21-49 years of age, and their nursing experience ranged from 1-28 years. From our analysis, nurses verified patients' pain by using double-and triple-control methods to document and record it, thus managing pain by administrative procedures rather than being proactive in providing pain relief. Therefore, communication and information about the patients' pain and subsequent treatment of postoperative pain caused delays that may hamper the adequate use of available analgesics for pain relief. Levels of experience in communicating between nurses, other professionals, and patients were a main cause of delays in treating and managing pain. Conclusion: The complex communication system that would improve the communication ways leads to better standards of practice and quality of care.

BackgroundStudies reporting inadequate nursing care for patients indicate that nurses are negatively affected in such situations, and research is needed to study nursing care in postoperative situations.ObjectiveTo describe situations of postoperative pain management in a surgical ward in Thailand.MethodsA qualitative approach using the Critical Incident Technique was chosen to investigate situations of postoperative pain management from the perspective of surgical nurses in Thailand. Data were collected through multiple semi-structured interviews with nine nurses over a five-week period.ResultsThe situations of surgical nurses described three elements that heavily influenced the quality of postoperative pain management: engagement in a trustful nurse-patient relationship, availability of pain medication and nursing care when needed, and imbalance between meeting the patient’s needs and completing routine nursing duties.ConclusionThe results help to expand our understanding of how Thai nurses manage pain in postoperative situations and indicate areas that could be improved in terms of how nurses respond to patients’ pain. Nurses challenge existing guidelines and facilitate development of new nursing guidelines and/or policies in pain management.

This is a report of a scoping review undertaken to obtain an overview of studies conducted on pain management education programs (PMEPs). The aim of this review was to describe existing research publications relating to PMEP to map how pain management practice training might directly influence surgical nurses in contributing to successful pain outcomes in patients. The initial search of electronic databases identified 40 articles according to the inclusion criteria and search strategy, which applied the following terms: (“Pain management education program”) AND ∗ OR ∗ (“Nurses”) AND ∗ OR ∗ (“Patient outcomes”) AND ∗ (“Mixed methods”). Titles, abstracts, and keywords were also searched for the term “Nurse education.” After applying exclusion criteria, five relevant peer-reviewed articles were eventually selected for the final charting of the data. The search included articles published between January 2015 and March 2019. The results show that PMEPs employ a variety of computer-based simulation, web-based facilitation, and video materials based on an evidence-based approach in their syllabuses. PMEPs were shown to enhance practice by promoting improved skills in critical thinking, leadership, patient management, and health promotion. Additionally, these programs promote an ability to practice across a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings, wherein nurses’ engagement in managing patients’ pain increased after completing the PMEP. Research within PMEP indicates that these programs may contribute to promoting opportunities for new collaborations within multidisciplinary team projects. Additionally, further research initiatives are needed to explore various aspects of these programs to enhance the nursing skills required for effective pain management, such as computer-based simulation, web-based facilitation, and video materials. Moreover, research relating to PMEPs in low- and middle-income countries is scarce and warrants further study.

The critical reason for this study is the inadequate training received by surgical nurses in acute and chronic pain management nursing services for patients. Purpose This study aimed to describe the core components of an effective pain management education programme (PMEP) for surgical nurses in Thailand. Methods A three-round Delphi method was used. A panel of 40 experts advised regarding the essential components of an effective PMEP for surgical nurses. Results The core components of a PMEP were derived from experts’ panel consensus: (i) multidisciplinary collaboration, (ii) acquisition of innovative knowledge and training by healthcare teams, and (iii) consideration of individual differences when delivering pain management services. To enhance their pain management practices, nurses should adopt multimodal pain approaches that involve family roles and engage in active patient listening. Conclusions The PMEP designed in this study, which adheres to international nursing training standards, promotes the competency of professional nurses.

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