Assessment of nurse's attitude towards pain control in patients after elective abdominal surgery: A study in training centers - hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2012

Aims and Identifying and relieving pain is one of the main responsibilities of nurses in the surgical wards. So in order to move toward higher quality care and to improve the performance of nurses in surgical wards، more information is needed on the current status of pain management in hospitals. Therefore، this study was performed to assess pain management qualification of nurses in teaching hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences during 2012. Methods and Materials: In this study، using convenience sampling 100 patients were enrolled. F ollow-up and evaluation of the patients'' pain were done every 6 hours. To assess pain Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was used. The Data collected included demographic characteristics، chart، pulse rate، and blood pressure of the patients. The VAS score in six consecutive hours، and questions regarding pain management were asked by the nurses. The information gathered was recorded in sheets by nurses according to a PRN order (whenever the surgeon ordered to have painkillers if needed). According to our findings، in general، pain evaluation and management were not appropriately done by the nurses. It seems necessary that there is a need to improve the quality of pain management in the medical centers، and the nurses should be trained and has sufficient authority to prescribe analgesics whenever r equired.