Postoperative Pain Management: Nursing Practices

Aim: The aim of the research was to evaluate the interventions of the nurses working in a state hospital for postoperative pain. Material and Methods: The data of this descriptive study was collected between March 9-13th, 2015. The sample of the study consisted of 99 nurses working in a state hospital. “The Pain Management in Postoperative Period Questionnaire” consisting of 24 questions was used for data collection. Data was analyzed by using SPSS database with numbers, percentages, and chi-square tests. Results: Less than half of the nurses (44.4%) had undergraduate level of education, 89.0% of them stated that nurses had responsibility in pain management, and 84.0% of them reported that they assessed the pain. The assessment of facial expression (39.3%), asking patients (27.4%), and pain scale applications (26.2%) were preferred mostly by nurses among pain assessment methods. Analgesic administration (50.5%), informing the physician (21.2%), and giving position (14.1%) were mostly preferred pain management methods respectively. Also, 96.0% of the nurses reported that the institution they work for did not have a pain management policy. Conclusion: According to the findings, the nurses employed in this state hospital did not have a standard practice for pain management.