The experience of nurse anaesthetists in assessing postoperative pain in orthopaedic patients

摘要

Aim To explore the experiences of anaesthesia nurses in assessingpostoperative pain in patients undergoing total hip and/or knee arthroplasty.Methods Data were collected through four focus group interviews(FGI) using the critical incident technique (CIT). The participantswere six men and 12 women, all registered nurses with furthereducation in anaesthesia with at least five-year experience of caringfor patients on a postoperative ward.Results Maintaining communication with orthopaedic patients,different ways to assess pain, the assessment of unresponsive patients,using pain assessment scales and different work circumstancesinfluencing their use, were stated as the main problems thenurses emphasize while assessing the pain of patients.Conclusion Skills related to observing the behaviour and experienceof pain in different individuals are needed to ensure an understandingof patients’ pain, as well as the patients’ ability to estimatetheir pain, where the intensity of the pain varies in different patients.Further studies are needed to examine the way health professionalsassess pain, depending on the patients’ ability to transformtheir pain from a subjective feeling into an objective numeric grade.The way individuals assess their pain differently and the waythe resulting knowledge and experience of postoperative care mayhelp nurses and other health-care professionals.