Perspectives and experiences of elective surgery patients regarding pain management.

The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives and experiences of elective surgery patients regarding pain management. A qualitative design, based on the content analysis approach, was used to collect and analyze the experience of 20 elective surgery patients who all had abdominal surgery in surgical wards in two teaching hospitals in Tehran, Iran. After employing purposeful sampling for the selection of the participants, semistructured interviews were held for data collection. During the data analysis, three main themes emerged: "perceptions of pain management goals", "patients' views of nurses' role in pain management", and "interaction in pain management". It was concluded that understanding the factors that influence pain management after surgery from the patients' viewpoint will contribute to the body of knowledge of nurses in order to promote the quality of nursing care.