Pain experience and nursing approaches to pain control among patients undergone abdominal surgery at tertiary hospital

Abstract

Background: Pain is the most common problem found in postoperative patients. Even with im­proved and advanced surgical techniques, people still feel some pain and discomfort after surgery.

Methods: The descriptive study was carried out to assess pain experience and nursing approaches to pain control among 111 post- operative patients at surgical ward of Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara. The data was collected in the month of May to July, 2019. Wong Baker Pain rating scale and structured questionnaire were used to collect data. The collected data was analysed by using descriptive and inferential statistic.

Results: Almost all the patients experienced pain after surgery, the most common site of pain was at surgical incision. Majority (90.1%) of them felt more pain while changing position. Conversely, 88.3% of patients reported least pain during rest. While 55% of them had reported moderate level of pain. Mean severity of pain experienced by patients was 4.8±2.4. Regarding nursing approaches, 82% of patients told that nurse had frequently asked whether they had pain, 80.2% of them re­ported that the nurse administered pain killer drugs when they required. However, none of them told non-pharmacological methods such as massage, listening music, imagination to distraction of pain were performed. The significant association was seen in level of pain with post-operative day.

Conclusions: The findings of study indicate that the majority of patients experienced pain in the first day of surgery, and it is clear that effective pain management is essential in early day of opera­tion.