Activities of Nurses in Assessing and Managing Pain Using Non-pharmacological Methods

Abstract

Relevance of the topic: According to the 2019 data from the official statistics portal, 57.1% of the Lithuanian population who participated in the survey complained of physical pain. From this, it could be concluded that pain is the most common symptom these days and as important as temperature, blood pressure, breathing rate, and pulse. Pain cannot be ignored and should be considered and treated like all other symptoms to help the patient. Objectives: General practice nurses working in therapeutic departments. Aim: To reveal the activities of nurses in assessing and managing pain using non-pharmacological methods. Objectives of the research: 1. To elucidate the definition of pain and management and non-pharmacological interventions from a theoretical point of view 2. Identify the activities of nurses managing pain 3. Identify factors that make it difficult for nurses to manage pain. Research methodology: A quantitative study was carried out in November 2021 in Hospital X, in different selected therapeutic wards, with the participation of the nurses working there. The study involved an anonymous questionnaire survey, for which a questionnaire was developed and used to distribute to 53 nurses. Results: 86.8% (N=46) would like additional training on pain management, 79.2% (N=42) of respondents indicated that Pain Scales are helpful. However, the vast majority of respondents said they do not use them at all or rarely. Conclusion: The results showed that nurses are aware of pain scales but rarely use them. One-quarter of respondents said they did not have enough knowledge about non-pharmacological pain management, and the vast majority were unsure of their knowledge. Although more than half of the respondents understand that non-pharmacological pain management strategies should supplement but not replace medication. The vast majority of respondents feel there is a lack of knowledge about non-pharmacological pain management techniques.