TY - JOUR
T1 - Experience of Registered Nurses of Postoperative Pain Assessment Using Objective Measures among Children at Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital in Ghana
AU - Dwamena, Sylvia Oger Ofosu
AU - Druye, Andrews Adjei
AU - Ampofo, Evelyn Asamoah
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s).
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - Introduction: People undergoing surgical operations experience some level of pain. Assessing pain intensity is one of the duties of the nurse and it involves subjective measures (self-report), and objective measures (behavioural and physiological). It has been observed by the researcher that nurses in clinical practice do not assess pain before management more so among children. Also, there is limited research in the area of pain assessment in children who cannot communicate. This study aimed to describe the experiences of registered nurses in assessing postoperative pain among children (0-3 years) using objective measures. Methods: Descriptive phenomenology was the chosen design. Maximum variation sampling was used to recruit nine registered nurses with experience in nursing children after surgery at Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital (ENRH) in Ghana. The researchers conducted audio-recorded in-depth interviews, transcribed verbatim and qualitatively analyzed following Colaizzi’s approach to descriptive phenomenology analysis. Results: The study revealed that the nurses have more experience with using behavioural measures with limited experience with the use of physiological measures. The behavioural measures mostly reported from their experience were changes in facial expression and unusual crying of the child. In general, the nurses do not formally use consistent approaches to assess pain among children. Conclusion: Given these results, opportunities should be made available for nurses to enhance their skills and utilize evidence-based approaches to formally assess pain among post-operative children.
AB - Introduction: People undergoing surgical operations experience some level of pain. Assessing pain intensity is one of the duties of the nurse and it involves subjective measures (self-report), and objective measures (behavioural and physiological). It has been observed by the researcher that nurses in clinical practice do not assess pain before management more so among children. Also, there is limited research in the area of pain assessment in children who cannot communicate. This study aimed to describe the experiences of registered nurses in assessing postoperative pain among children (0-3 years) using objective measures. Methods: Descriptive phenomenology was the chosen design. Maximum variation sampling was used to recruit nine registered nurses with experience in nursing children after surgery at Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital (ENRH) in Ghana. The researchers conducted audio-recorded in-depth interviews, transcribed verbatim and qualitatively analyzed following Colaizzi’s approach to descriptive phenomenology analysis. Results: The study revealed that the nurses have more experience with using behavioural measures with limited experience with the use of physiological measures. The behavioural measures mostly reported from their experience were changes in facial expression and unusual crying of the child. In general, the nurses do not formally use consistent approaches to assess pain among children. Conclusion: Given these results, opportunities should be made available for nurses to enhance their skills and utilize evidence-based approaches to formally assess pain among post-operative children.
KW - Child
KW - Nurses
KW - Pain Postoperative
KW - Phenomenology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85150642153&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.34172/jcs.2020.019
DO - 10.34172/jcs.2020.019
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85150642153
SN - 2251-9920
VL - 9
SP - 125
EP - 132
JO - Journal of Caring Sciences
JF - Journal of Caring Sciences
IS - 3
ER -