Marie O’Brien, DNP, ANP-C, Coordinator and Nurse Practitioner for Mather Hospital’s Integrative Pain Management Program, co-authored the cover story for the recent issue of American Nurse magazine on “Optimizing Post Operative Pain Management in Patients with Chronic Pain”.
The article made evidence-based recommendations for both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment options for pain management. It was co-authored by Aaron M. Sebach, PhD, DNP, MBA, director of graduate nursing programs at Wilmington University in Delaware.
“Adequate post operative pain control is essential to ensure optimal physical functioning and mental health, sustain relationships and help patients return to work or regular activity,” the article states. “Poorly managed pain can increase hospital length of stay, increase readmission rates and decrease patient satisfaction.
“Despite improved understanding of pain mechanisms, enhanced awareness of the prevalence of postsurgical pain, and improved pain management approaches, inadequately controlled postoperative pain remains a widespread problem.”
The article notes that the nurse’s role in managing postoperative pain is especially important when the patient has preexisting chronic pain. Among the article’s recommendation are collaborating with the patients to obtain a complete history, including all medications, over-the-counter pain relief agents, herbal supplements, and medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder; refined pain assessment and management skills; and nonpharmacologic intervention options including acupuncture, aromatherapy, biofeedback, guided imagery, hypnosis, massage therapy and mindfulness.
“Patients with chronic pain have a higher risk for uncontrolled perioperative pain, requiring nurses to be knowledgeable about safe and effective multimodal strategies for pain palliation,” the authors wrote. “The collaborative nature of nursing practice lends itself to leveraging the power of interprofessional teams to create an optimal postoperative pain management plan that includes the patient’s voice. Enhance your ability to care for this population by exploring the current literature and adopting patient-centered strategies.”
Mather Hospital has an integrative pain program that offers in-patient modalities such as the ones mentioned in the article for the patient having surgery.