Impact of a Clinical Therapeutic Intervention on Pain Assessment, Management, and Nursing Practices in an Intensive Care Unit: A before-and-after Study

Accurate pain assessment and management constitute a major challenge for medical and nursing staff in intensive care units (ICUs). A distinct recollection of pain is reported by high proportions of ICU patients. A clinical therapeutic intervention directed at improving pain assessment and management in critically ill patients who are unable to communicate was implemented at an Italian ICU. In this before-and-after study, data were collected before (T0) and after (T1) the adoption of a protocol involving pain assessment with an ad hoc behavioral pain scale and the administration of analgesics, rather than sedatives, to patients with intermediate to high pain scores.

Source: Pain Management Nursing - April 18, 2018 Category: Nursing Authors: Vincenzo Damico, Flavio Cazzaniga, Liana Murano, Rita Ciceri, Giuseppe Nattino, Alberto Dal Molin Tags: Original Article Source Type: research