Coker Esther, Papaioannou Alexandra, Turpie Irene, Dolovich Lisa, Kaasalainen Sharon, Taniguchi Alan, Burns Sheri
St. Peter's Hospital
Perspectives. 2008 Spring;32(1):5-12.
Persistent pain is a significant problem for older hospitalized adults and their health care team. A better understanding of the approach to pain management in the clinical setting will provide guidance for the development of improvements in clinical management. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of pain and to examine the current state of pain assessment and management in older adults on the six acute medical units of an academic health sciences centre. Findings revealed that 70% of older patients were in pain, nurses had limited awareness of their patients' pain, documentation of pain assessment and management was lacking, and pain was under-treated. Utilization of practice guidelines related to management of persistent pain in older adults in acute care settings is recommended, and an approach to their implementation, including identifying and overcoming the barriers to such best practices, is warranted.
持续性疼痛对于住院的老年患者及其医疗团队来说是一个重大问题。更好地理解临床环境中疼痛管理的方法将为改进临床管理提供指导。本研究的目的是确定疼痛的患病率，并检查一所学术健康科学中心六个急性内科病房中老年患者的疼痛评估和管理现状。研究结果显示，70%的老年患者处于疼痛中，护士对其患者的疼痛认知有限，缺乏疼痛评估和管理的记录，且疼痛治疗不足。建议在急性护理环境中使用与老年患者持续性疼痛管理相关的实践指南，并且有必要采取一种实施指南的方法，包括识别和克服此类最佳实践的障碍。
