Methodist University College Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
PLoS One. 2022 Oct 19;17(10):e0276422. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276422. eCollection 2022.
Managing postoperative pain require good understanding of the bio-ethical principles in order to preserve patients' rights. Bio-ethical principles in health care include autonomy, beneficence, justice and nonmaleficence. It is important that health care professionals understand that patients in pain have the right to satisfactory management. Good insight on ethical principles and how they relate to pain management places the nurse on a better pedestal to manage postoperative pain effectively. However, there is scanty literature on the level of Ghanaian nurses' knowledge and application of bio-ethical principles in postoperative pain management. Therefore, the study objectives were to: explore nurses' understanding of the bio-ethical principles in postoperative pain management; explore how nurses apply bioethical principles in postoperative pain management. The study employed qualitative exploratory descriptive design. Purposive sampling technique was used to recruit participants from the surgical wards. Semi-structured interview guide was designed for data collection. Data saturation was reached at the fourteenth participant. Thematic analysis method was used and themes emerged inductively. Three main themes identified through inductive content analysis of data were: beneficence, autonomy and justice. Findings showed that nurses had some appreciable level of knowledge of the fundamental principles related to ethics and applied them in postoperative pain management. Nurses knew their duties in advocating for patients. Patients rights to refuse treatment was also appreciated by some nurses. Nurses also demonstrated humanity by helping patients financially to settle hospital debts which explicitly shows the empathetic characteristics of nurses. The study concluded that nurses are knowledgeable in bioethical principles underpinning post operative pain management and also applied these principles when caring for surgical patients.
管理术后疼痛需要对生物伦理原则有很好的理解，以维护患者的权利。医疗保健中的生物伦理原则包括自主性、善行、正义和不伤害。重要的是，医疗保健专业人员应该明白，疼痛患者有权得到满意的管理。对伦理原则的良好理解以及它们与疼痛管理的关系，使护士能够更好地有效地管理术后疼痛。然而，关于加纳护士在术后疼痛管理中对生物伦理原则的知识和应用水平的文献很少。因此，本研究的目的是：探讨护士对术后疼痛管理中生物伦理原则的理解；探讨护士如何将生物伦理原则应用于术后疼痛管理。本研究采用定性探索性描述设计。采用目的抽样技术从外科病房招募参与者。设计了半结构化访谈指南进行数据收集。在第 14 位参与者时达到了数据饱和。采用主题分析方法，并通过归纳法出现主题。通过对数据的归纳性内容分析，确定了三个主要主题：善行、自主性和正义。研究结果表明，护士对与伦理相关的基本原则有一定程度的了解，并将其应用于术后疼痛管理。护士知道他们在为患者辩护方面的职责。一些护士也赞赏患者拒绝治疗的权利。护士还通过帮助患者支付医院债务来体现人性，这明确显示了护士的同理心。研究得出结论，护士在术后疼痛管理的生物伦理原则方面具有知识，并且在照顾外科患者时应用这些原则。
