Abstract:
Relieving patients' pain following surgery is a major nursing goal. However, patients report that effective postoperative pain management is often not achieved (Soderhamn & Ivall, 2003). Effective pain management may be facilitated when nurses use empathic responses with patients. To date, the effectiveness of empathic responses has not been well-grounded in research evidence. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between nurses' empathic responses, analgesic administration and patients' reports of pain intensity following orthopedic surgery. The conceptual framework is the Gate Control Theory of Pain (Melzack & Wall, 1965). The setting is do two moderate size hospitals in the Mid-Western United States. A convenience sample of 60 nurses and 120 patients who have had a total hip replacement will be recruited to participate. Sixty nurses will complete the Staff-Patient Interaction Response Scale (SPIRS) (Gallop, Lancee, & Garfinkel, 1989) and the Toronto Pain Management Inventory (TMPI) (Watt-Watson, 1987). Patient instruments will complete the McGill Pain Questionnaire-Short Form (MPQ-SF) (Melzack, 1987) and the Nurse Attends to Pain Scale (NAPS) (Watt-Watson, 2000). Results of the study will clarify the usefulness of empathic responses as a nursing strategy to manage postoperative pain.
