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The Opinions of District Nurses regarding the Knowledge, Management and Documentation of Patients with Chronic Pain
Author(s) -
Törnkvist Lena,
Gardulf Ann,
Strender LarsErik
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of caring sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.678
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1471-6712
pISSN - 0283-9318
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-6712.1998.tb00490.x
Subject(s) - documentation , medicine , chronic pain , preparedness , pain management , district nurse , nursing , health care , family medicine , physical therapy , economic growth , computer science , political science , law , economics , programming language
This is the first of two studies investigating district nurses' opinions regarding the knowledge, management and nursing documentation of patients with chronic pain conditions, before and after the introduction of ‘pain advisers’ in one health care region in Stockholm. Seventy (97%) district nurses at 12 selected primary health care centres (PHCCs) answered a questionnaire. The study showed that 85% of the district nurses met patients with chronic pain conditions at least once a week. None of the 12 PHCCs had any written information/policies on pain control. Many district nurses did not perform any individual analysis of the patients' pain and very few used any tool, such as VAS, to assess or evaluate the patients' pain. The district nurses reported insufficient pain documentation. A number of district nurses were dissatisfied with the present management of patients with chronic pain at their PHCCs, their own knowledge of pain control, their own preparedness to meet these patients, their own follow‐ups and their own documentation. The study also showed that the district nurses' attitudes to pain and pain control varied, depending on how satisfied they were with their own management of patients with chronic pain conditions.