An exploration of patients' post-operative pain experiences

Abstract

The aim of this descriptive, non-experimental study was to explore patients' perceptions of post-operative pain. It was noted that post-operatively, the majority of patients complain of pain to some extent. Adequate pain management can aid the patient's recovery and since effective pain management is one of the most important nurse's roles, this together with other factors such as the pain experience itself, gender and influential issues were explored. The use of a descriptive non-experimental approach was chosen, using structured interviews and a self-administered questionnaire where both qualitative and quantitative questions were asked. The questions were based on the literature review to fulfill the aims of the study. Sample populations of 15 patients in a urology ward were willing to participate and from these ten were selected using a stratified random sampling technique. A response rate of a 100% was obtained. Results indicated that the majority of patients felt moderate to severe pain on their first post-operative day, which then was expressed as being mild on their second day post-operative day. Overall, pre and post operative education was said to have influenced the way patients experienced their pain. However, pain management was seen as being minimally influential. Nursing care was a great factor that influenced patients' experiences and many resorted to alternative methods of pain relief. A general overview of this study shows that while female patients tend to demonstrate a greater level of post-operative pain levels, there seemed to be a growing concern as male patients tended to hide their feelings to conserve their masculinity. This study also revealed that in cases when patients had received post-operative education, their pain experience was described as being better than they expected. This could be seen when comparing their experience to that of patients who had not received any pre-operative teaching. Another correlation was discovered between the positive experience and the administration of pain management. 90% of the patients received some form of analgesia and this contributed to a more positive outlook. Therefore, one can see how important the need of better patient education programs and effective teaching of staff in efficient pain management is in helping patients' achieve a positive post-operative recovery experience.