A study about knowledge, attitude and practice regarding post-operative care and pain management among nursing staff in tertiary hospital in Lucknow

Abstract

Nowadays a large number of patients has an indispensable need of proper postoperative care including proper pain assessment and management. Here comes the important role of nurses and paramedics as they have to be a longer time along with the patients. So a lot of the tertiary care hospitals should start educating and making the nurses and paramedics more proficient in this postoperative care. To assess and compare the knowledge, attitudes and practice regarding post-operative care and pain management among nursing staff in tertiary care hospital in Lucknow. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. Qualitative content analysis inspired by the hermeneutic philosophy was used to describe the surgical nurses’ experiences in caring for patients in post-operative ward including their postoperative pain management. Data were collected by interviewing registered nurses working in surgical wards at four hospitals in Lucknow.in the surgical wards. Patients were also interviewed in the study protocol to know more clearly about the intervention. The records review was performed using three audit instruments. The findings of the studies formulated the foundation where the researchers can illuminate the main issues and obstacles in the process of change toward better care in postoperative wards including POP management. The findings illustrated that the implementation of an educational program for nurses was successful. First of all, the quality communicated information about pain and pain management with patients was significantly improved. Secondly, the nurses developed the habit of assessing post-operative pain (POP) intensity using numeric rating scales, in addition to the assessment of other postoperative characteristics. Thirdly, the nurses improved their knowledge about POP, and their attitudes toward it were evidently changed. Finally, the nurses improved their practice in documenting patients’ condition in post-operative ward. The patients’ records showed a significant difference in the amount and the quality of nursing documentation which reflected the fact that nurses became more aware about the importance of documentation and might also means that they change their practices toward better management of patients in post-operative ward.