Patient satisfaction with pain management by nurses in postoperative cardiac patients

Abstract

Patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery have reported considerable unrelieved pain (Watt-Watson, et al., 2001). Nurses’ pain-related knowledge and practices may be related to patient satisfaction with pain. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between nurses’ knowledge about pain for postoperative cardiac patients and quality and intensity of patient’s pain. The study will be a modified replication study of Watt-Watson et al. 2001. The sample will include 30 registered nurses working with post-operative cardiac patients and 60 post-operative cardiac patients in a Midwest hospital. The Toronto Pain Management Inventory (TPMI) will be used to measure nurses’ pain knowledge. The McGill Pain Questionnaire-Short Form (MPQ-SF) will be used to measure the quality and intensity of patients’ pain. Permission will be obtained from Ball State University and the participating hospital. The findings will provide information for nurses who manage cardiac surgical patients.