Background: Pain is a common postoperative experience. Guidelines recommend performing regular pain assessments, which include self-rated pain and additional communication to capture patients' experiences. During hospitalisation, pain intensity is found to be a vital factor influencing other aspects of an early physical recovery, and is consequently an important item in questionnaires for recovery. These tools consist of extensive questionnaires which are difficult to use in everyday clinical work. A simplified method of monitoring postoperative recovery would benefit both patients and healthcare professionals. Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was twofold: (A) to determine the ability of extending the use of pain ratings to reflect and predict early physical postoperative recovery and (B) to describe patients’ perspectives on pain assessments. Methods: The studies were carried out at one (I), three (IV) and four hospitals (II, III) involving general surgical and orthopaedic inpatients. Two quantitative methods were used based on data from questionnaires and medical records. They consisted of one cross-sectional study (I) and one study with repeated measures (IV). An association was sought between pain intensity and postoperative recovery on days 1 and 2 (I, IV), and prehospital data (IV). Two qualitative methods were used involving a phenomenographic (III) approach and Critical Incident Technique (IV), where semi-structured interviews were performed postoperatively and analysed inductively in accordance with the approach. Results: An association was found between moderate/severe average pain intensity compiled from monitoring records and impact on early physical postoperative recovery on day 1 (I). Retrospective average pain intensity at rest and during activity reflected impact on recovery on postoperative day 1 (IV). Severe pain intensity at rest and during activity on postoperative day 1 predicted impact on physical recovery items on day 2 (IV). The use of the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS 0-10) was considered to facilitate communication about pain, but to involve difficulties of interpretation and place demand on healthcare professionals and care routines (II). Patients’ descriptions of their experiences when in need of describing pain indicated two main areas: patients’ resources when needing to describe pain and ward resources for performing pain assessments (III). Descriptions of their actions when they were in pain indicated two main areas: patients used active strategies when needing to describe pain or patients used passive strategies when needing to describe pain (III). Conclusions: This thesis contributes to knowledge about the possibility of using patients' self-rated average pain intensity to reflect early physical postoperative recovery on day 1 and to predict recovery on the following day. The pain scale gave patients and healthcare professionals a shared vocabulary, which facilitated communication. Furthermore, dialogue during pain assessments was described as critical in ascertaining whether pain intensity had an impact on different aspects of physical recovery. Environmental factors such as the attitude of healthcare professionals, workload and staffing influenced how pain assessments were performed.

Thesis advisor: Callista Roy / Assessing pain in nonverbal children with intellectual disability (ID) is challenging. These children are at risk for having pain from complex medical conditions and treatments for these conditions (Breau, Camfield, McGrath, Finley, 2004). Compounding this, their pain cues are often misunderstood, given that they are nonverbal and limited by their physical abilities. Although, pain assessment tools for this population exist, there is a need for tools appropriate for a range of exhibited pain expressions. The general purpose of this study was to examine the words that parents of children with ID use to describe their child's pain responses in order to improve pain recognition and management. Specifically, the aims were to: 1) Identify common pain responses; 2) Examine the relationship between type of pain response and demographic characteristics; 3) Compare common pain responses to cues in the literature. A non-directed summative content analysis identified patterns in 335 parent described pain responses of 50 nonverbal children with ID ages 6-18 years. The relationships between type of pain response and selected demographic factors were examined. Then pain responses were compared to items of pain tools for this population. Seven distinct categories of pain expression were identified in the content analysis. The greatest percentage of pain cues were within the categories of vocalization (39.4%), social behavior (21.8%) and facial expressions (16%). Four categories: vocalization, social behavior, muscle tone and activity level included opposite responses to pain. Significant relationships between type of parent described pain expression and 1) pain severity; 2) causes of ID and; 3) the gender of the child found that type of pain expression changes with severity; that patients with seizure disorders expressed pain with vocal pain expression; and that females expressed pain with more social pain expression while males expressed with more vocalizations. The results support published evidence that parents can articulate their child's pain responses. The study also provides evidence of: 1) opposite pain responses within general categories of pain; 2) a significant relationship between type of pain responses and severity of pain, cause of ID and child gender and; 3) the comprehensiveness of pain assessment tools vary greatly. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: Nursing.

A vacinação ocupa um papel de destaque na prevenção de doenças e proteção da saúde, tanto no âmbito individual quanto coletivo. Contudo sua realização impõe uma série de condições desagradáveis, principalmente às crianças pequenas. Dentre os vários aspectos críticos que compõem os momentos de vacinação, destaca-se a dor provocada pela aplicação da vacina, por suas implicações para as crianças e seus familiares. Dado que o foco do atendimento nas Salas de Vacina está colocado, principalmente, sobre a vacina (preparação, aplicação, conservação, entre outros), outros aspectos críticos da vacinação das crianças não estão contemplados durante os atendimentos. Visando contribuir para a qualidade da assistência nas Salas de Vacina, este estudo busca levantar na literatura científica elementos que facilitem aos profissionais envolvidos no atendimento e na organização das Salas de Vacina, o reconhecimento da dor pela qual passam as crianças durante sua vacinação, através de instrumentos de avaliação. Para tal foi feita uma revisão da literatura, buscando instrumentos de avaliação de dor em crianças menores de dois anos. A busca foi estruturada a partir do acrônimo PICO em dez diferentes bases. Os descritores foram adaptados para atender às especificidades das mesmas e foi utilizado o Endnoteweb® para sistematização e compartilhamento das informações. Foram identificados 295 estudos entre 1993 e 2010 cujos resumos foram analisados e, aplicando-se os critérios de exclusão chegou-se a um conjunto de 24 artigos que foram lidos na íntegra. Tendo em vista a finalidade chegou-se a uma amostra final de 12 artigos que apresentavam 8 escalas. Constatou-se que as escalas mais adequadas para avaliação das crianças durante a vacinação são: MBPS, CHIPPS, NIPS e ABC. Estas escalas utilizam os parâmetros consagrados na literatura, em composições e especificações diferentes. / Vaccination has an important role to prevent diseases and protect health, both for individuals and for collectives. However its implementation requires a series of unpleasant conditions, especially to small children. Among several critical aspects that are present at the time of vaccination, there is the pain caused by the adistration of vaccine, because of its implications for children and their families. Since the focus of attention in the rooms vaccine is placed primarily on the vaccine (preparation, implementation, maintenance, etc.), other critical aspects of vaccination of children are not covered during the sessions. To contribute to the quality of care in rooms vaccine, this study raises some elements in the scientific literature to facilitate the professionals involved in care and organization of rooms vaccine, the recognition of pain that children may have during their vaccination, through assessment instruments. It was developed a review of the literature, searching for tools to evaluate pain in children under two years. The search was structured from the acronym PICO in ten different bases. The descriptors were adapted to meet the specific needs of these and Endnoteweb© was used to systematize and share information. Were identified 295 studies between 1993 and 2010 whose abstracts were reviewed and, applying the exclusion criteria was reached at a sample of 24 articles that were read in full. Given the goal was reached a final sample of 12 articles that presented eight scales. It was found that the most appropriate scale for assessing children for vaccination are: MBPS, CHIPPS, NIPS and ABC using the parameters established in the literature with compositions and different specifications.

Bakgrund: Att förebygga och behandla postoperativ smärta är anestesisjuksköterskans ansvar genom det perioperativa förloppet. Tidigare studier har visat att förekomsten av postoperativ smärta efter laparoskopisk kolecystektomi är hög. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att beskriva postoperativ smärtskattning hos patienter som genomgått laparoskopisk kolecystektomi på en sluten operationsavdelning och en dagkirurgisk operationsavdelning. Syftet var också att undersöka skillnader i förekomst av postoperativ smärta mellan män och kvinnor, yngre och äldre patienter samt mellan patienter som opererats på sluten- respektive dagkirurgisk operationsavdelning. Metod: Studien var en retrospektiv registerstudie med kvantitativ ansats. Registerdata innehållande data från 338 patienter inhämtades från kvalitetsregistret Svenskt Perioperativt Register från år 2016–2018. Materialet analyserades med beskrivande och jämförande statistik. Resultat: Resultatet visade att 70 % av patienterna skattade måttlig till svår postoperativ smärta (NRS 4-10). Det framkom även att kvinnor samt yngre patienter (<50 år) på den dagkirurgiska operationsavdelningen skattade signifikant högre postoperativ smärta jämfört med män och äldre patienter. Slutsatser: Även om inga generella slutsatser kan dras tyder resultaten på att kvinnor samt patienter 50 år och yngre är särskilt utsatta för otillräcklig smärtbehandling i samband med laparoskopisk kolecystektomi. Eftersom alla människor har rätt till god smärtlindring behöver omvårdnaden således anpassas efter patientens individuella förutsättningar och behov. När anestesisjuksköterskan når en förtrolig relation till patienten finns goda förutsättningar för en tillfredställande postoperativ omvårdnad.

O objetivo geral desse estudo foi avaliar a dor crônica isquêmica percebida e a qualidade de vida do cliente relacionada a essa dor. Os objetivos específicos foram: descrever o perfil sócio-demográfico e econômico dos clientes com dor crônica isquêmica, mensurar a intensidade da dor crônica isquêmica percebida, identificar os descritores de maior e menor atribuição para a dor crônica isquêmica, escalonar os principais descritores de dor crônica isquêmica e avaliar a qualidade de vida dos clientes que queixam de dor crônica isquêmica. Para tal, foram realizados 4 Experimentos, nos quais utilizamos métodos psicofísicos diferentes. Cem clientes portadores de Doença Arterial Obstrutiva Periférica destes participaram dos Experimentos 1, 2 e 4 e trinta do Experimento 3. Os resultados para análise descritiva foram: média de idade de 64,83 ± 12,14 anos, 67 pertencem ao gênero masculino, 54 casados, 63 aposentados, 79 católicos, 58 frequentaram o ensino fundamental incompleto, sendo que 89 queixavam-se de dor há mais de seis meses. A maioria dos participantes atribuiu o valor 10 para a intensidade da dor, sendo média aritmética de 5,59 ± 3,16 pontos. Os cinco descritores de maior atribuição (estimação de categorias) que caracterizam a dor crônica foram: desagradável, perturbadora, forte, preocupante e cansativa e os de menor atribuição foram: punitiva, deprimente, persistente, angustiante e desastrosa. Os descritores de maior atribuição (estimação de magnitude) foram: terrível, dolorosa, incômoda, preocupante e cansativa e os de menor atribuição foram: enjoada, forte perturbadora, chata e desagradável. Os domínios da qualidade de vida mais afetados foram: o domínio físico, seguido pelos domínios ambiental, psicológico e social. Existe correlação entre todos os domínios de QV e a qualidade de vida global do instrumento WHOQOL-bref e entre todos os domínios de QV e de dor crônica. / The general aim of this study was to assess the perceived chronic ischemic pain and the pain-related quality of life (QOL), regarding this specific pain. The specific aims were: to describe the socio-demographic and economic profiles of the clients with chronic ischemic pain, to measure the intensity of the perceived chronic ischemic pain, to identify the least and most frequent descriptors for chronic ischemic pain, to rank the main descriptors of chronic ischemic pain and to evaluate the quality of life of the clients who complain of chronic ischemic pain. Four experiments were carried out, using different psychophysical methods. One hundred carriers of peripheral obstructive arterial disease participated in Experiments 1, 2 and 4, and 30 took part in Experiment 3. Results for descriptive analysis were: average 64.83 ± 12.14 years of age, 67 were male, 54 were married, 63 pensioners, 79 catholic, 58 had incomplete primary education and 89 complained of pain for more than six months. Most participants rated their pain intensity as 10, the arithmetic average was 5.59 ± 3.16 points. The five most frequent descriptors (category estimation) that characterized chronic pain were: unpleasant, disturbing, strong, preoccupying and tiring. The least frequent were: punishing, depressing, persistent, distressing and disastrous. The most frequent descriptors (magnitude estimation) were: terrible, painful, disagreeable, preoccupying and tiring. The least frequent were: sickening, strong, perturbing, boring and unpleasant. The most affected quality of life domains were: the physical domain, followed by the environmental, psychological and social domains. There is correlation between all the QOL domains and the overall quality of life in the WHOQOL-bref instrument, and between all the domains of QOL and chronic pain.

Bakgrund: Enligt socialstyrelsens rekommendationer ska smärtskattning göras i livets slutskede. Bristande smärtlindring vid livets slutskede är inget någon vill uppleva. Om distriktssköterskan har en bra rutin för att smärtskatta med smärtskattningsinstrument ger det en kvalitésäkring för de palliativa patienterna. Syfte: Att beskriva distriktssköterskors erfarenhet av smärtskattning hos palliativa patienter. Metod: En kvalitativ empirisk studie med deskriptiv design. Resultat: Tre kategorier framkom vid analysen; organisationens inflytande, metoder för smärtskattning av palliativa patienter, organisationens betydelse för kvalitetsförbättring med underliggande subkategorier. I studien framkom att distriktsköterskorna saknade rutiner för smärtskattning. Distriktsköterskorna smärtskattade utifrån sin kliniska blick, erfarenhet och smärtskattningsinstrument. Distriktssköterskorna var medvetna om att smärta ska bedömas enligt smärtskattningsinstrument men instrumenten och dokumentationen av dem, glömdes ibland bort trots att det hade använts. Distriktsköterskorna framhöll att smärtskattning med instrument kan bli bättre genom utbildning i instrumenten och rutiner i smärtskattning. Slutsats: För distriktssköterskor skulle det underlättas med tydliga rutiner om vilka smärtskattningsinstrument som bör användas i specifika situationer. Utbildning efterfrågas i smärta och skattningsinstrumenten för att få till frekvent användning av smärtskattningsinstrument. / Background: According to the recommendations of the National Board of Health, pain estimation should be made in the end of life. Lack of pain relief at the end of life is no one wants to experience. If the district nurse has a good routine for pain assessment instruments, it provides a quality assurance for the palliative patients. Aim: To describe district nurses' experiences of pain estimation in palliative patients. Method: A qualitative empirical study with descriptive design. Result: Three categories emerged from the analysis; the organization's influence, methods for pain estimation of palliative patients, the organization's importance for quality improvement with underlying subcategories. The study showed that district nurses lacked routines for pain estimation. District nurses pain assessment based on their clinical gaze, experience and pain assessment tools. The district nurses were aware of that pain should be assessed according to pain estimation instruments, but the instruments and their documentation were sometimes forgotten even though it had been used. District nurses believe that pain estimation with instruments can be improved through training in the instruments and routines of pain estimation. Conclusion: For district nurses, it would be easier with clear routines on which pain assessment instruments should be used in specific situations. Education is demanded in pain and the assessment tools to bring about frequent use of pain assessment instruments.

Många äldre lider av långvarig smärta och får inte alltid den hjälp de behöver. Ökad kunskap inom området behövs då antalet äldre kommer att öka. Att utvärdera och lindra smärta hos äldre utgör en viktig del av sjuksköterskans ansvarsområde. Genomförd studie syftar till att undersöka vilka kunskaper som finns om utvärdering och lindring av smärta riktad till äldre boende i kommunen. Genom litteraturöversikt av både kvalitativa och kvantitativa artiklar redovisas resultatet i fyra teman: sjuksköterskans utvärdering av smärta, vårdtagarens utvärdering av smärta, sjuksköterskans lindring av smärta och vårdtagarens lindring av smärta. Hur smärta blev utvärderad stämde inte alltid överens med vårdtagarens upplevelse av smärtan. Smärtlindring sker oftast med läkemedel men alternativa behandlingar blir allt vanligare. Ökat samarbete mellan olika yrkeskategorier kan leda till att äldre med långvarig smärta får den vård de har rätt till. Mer studier behövs för att kunna utveckla vården inom området smärta hos äldre. / <p>Program: Sjuksköterskeutbildning</p><p>Uppsatsnivå: C</p>

Smärta är en unik upplevelse som enbart den drabbade kan bedöma. I sjuksköterskans arbetsuppgifter på en akutmottagning ingår att se till varje patients unika behov. För att inte ett vårdlidande skall skapas för patienter med smärta är det viktigt att en korrekt behandling för smärtan ges. För att detta skall kunna ske krävs att sjuksköterskan på akutmottagningen, dels har god kunskap om smärtlindring dels vet hur smärta kan utvärderas på ett adekvat sätt. Syftet är att beskriva resultat från kvantitativa studier som undersökt överensstämmelse mellan patientens subjektiva smärtskattning av akut smärta och vårdpersonalens skattning av densamma. Sammanlagt sju kvantitativa studier publicerade i vetenskapliga tidskrifter användes och dessa söktes efter i databaserna: Academic search premier, Cinahl, Medline och Science direct. Resultatet visar att visuell analog skala (VAS) eller Numerical rating scale (NRS) används för skattning av akut smärta på akutmottagningar. Vidare visar resultatet att patientens akuta smärta underskattas både av sjuksköterskor och av läkare oberoende av vilken skala som används. Underskattning av smärtan kan leda till ett vårdlidande. Det är viktigt att lyssna till patienten för att skaffa sig en korrekt bild av dennes smärtintensitet. / Program: Sjuksköterskeutbildning

Bakgrund: Smärta är ett vanligt problem hos äldre, vilket hanteras olika av sjuksköterskor. Det finns vissa svårigheter kopplade till åldrandet och läkemedel, bland annat ändrad fysiologi. De äldre kan ha föreställningar om att smärta är naturligt förekommande med åldern. Sjuksköterskors uppgift är att ge adekvat omvårdnad och därmed smärtlindring. Syfte: Att belysa sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av smärta inom äldrevården. Metod: Allmän litteraturöversikt med innehållsanalys. Nio artiklar ingår i resultatet. Resultat: I litteraturöversikten framkom två teman och åtta subteman som visar att det finns olika anledningar till att smärtan underbehandlas, exempelvis en rädsla för att övermedicinera eller svårigheter att tolka smärtuttryck på grund av tvetydigt kroppsspråk. Sjuksköterskor anser själva att de inte besitter tillräcklig kunskap för att utföra adekvat smärtbedömning och smärtbehandling. Slutsats: Det behövs fler riktade utbildningsinsatser för sjuksköterskor, både på arbetsplats och inom grundutbildningen. För att ge en adekvat smärtbehandling behöver sjuksköterskan förhålla sig till personcentrerad och evidensbaserad omvårdnad. / Background: Pain is a common problem in the elderly population, which is handled differently by nurses. There are some difficulties related to aging and drugs, including altered physiology. The elderly may have beliefs that pain is naturally occurring withage. The nurse's role is to provide adequate care and thus pain treatment. Aim: To elucidate the nurses’ experience of pain in the elderly care. Method: General literature review using content analysis. Nine articles were included in the result. Results: The literature review revealed two main themes and eight sub themes which show that there are different reasons for why the pain treatment is lacking, such as a fear of over-medicating or difficulties interpreting the painful expressions because of ambiguous body language. The nurses considered that they did not possess sufficient knowledge to perform adequate pain assessment and pain management. Conclusion: There is need for more targeted training for nurses, both at work and during the nursing education. To provide an adequate pain management the nurses need to relate to the person-centered and evidence-based nursing.

<p>Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att beskriva hur smärta, hos äldre personer som har diagnosen demens, kan identifieras och vilka hjälpmedel som finns att tillgå för att skatta/bedöma smärta hos dem som har diagnosen demens. Dessutom var syftet att beskriva vilka kriterier/särdrag man använder sig av vid smärtbedömningen hos de med sjukdomen demens. Artiklar söktes i följande databaser: Academic Search Elite, Cinahl, High Wire Press, Pub Med och i Science Direct. Dessa databaser valdes relaterat till att de är erkända och hade ett relativt stort utbud på relevanta artiklar inom ämnet.Designen i denna studie var beskrivande litteraturstudie där resultatet baseras på vetenskapliga artiklar. Totalt 31 artiklar var relevanta för studien och togs med i resultatet, av dessa var 24 kvalitativa, 4 kvantitativa och 3 artiklar var både kvalitativa och kvantitativa. Granskningen av kvaliteten av artiklarna som ingår i studien visade att den metodologiska kvaliteten var relativt hög.Resultatet visade att det fanns en del olika indikatorer som bedöms vid smärtskattning.Till de vanligaste indikatorerna hör ansiktsuttryck, smärtord och smärtljud men personer med demens och smärta kan även reagera med att dra sig undan, bli tysta eller ibland bli aggressiva och agiterade.Det fanns ett flertal smärtskattningsinstrument och observationsskalor med olika upplägg och kombinationer av bedömningskriterier. Smärtbedömning hos äldre med demens försvåras av att deras kognitiva förmåga liksom den verbala förmågan tenderar att försämras med deras sjukdom. Studien visade också att smärtskattning hos personer med kognitiv svikt är ett komplicerat och viktigt arbete för personal inom sjukvården.</p> / <p>The purpose of this literature review was to describe the pain, in older people who have been diagnosed with dementia, experience can be identified and the available aids, the pain of those who have been diagnosed with dementia. Furthermore, the purpose was to describe the criteria/characteristics used to make pain assessments on persons with dementia.Articles were found in the following databases: Academic Search Elite, Cinahl, High Wire Press, Pub Med and Science Direct. These databases were choosen because they are recognized and had a relatively wide range of relevant articles on the subject. The design of this study was descriptive literature review, where the outcome is based on scientific articles. In total, 31 articles were relevant to the study and were included in the result, of these articles, 24 were qualitative, 4 quantitative and 3 articles were both qualitative and quantitative. The review of articles included in the study, showed that the methodological quality was relatively high.The results indicated that there were different indicators considered while doing the pain assessment. The most common indicators include facial expression, pain words and sounds of pain, but persons with dementia and pain can also react with withdrawal, become quite or even become aggressive and agitated.There were several of pain-assessment instruments and observation scales with different set-ups and combinations of criteria. Pain assessment on elderly people with dementia is complicated, thus, their cognitive ability tends to deteriorate with their illness.The study also showed that pain assessment on persons with cognitive impairment is a complex and important work for health care staff.</p>