Preoperative pain planning and management V1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
‘Myth or a reality?’: A critical ethnographic examination and exploration of day surgery preoperative practices.
IRAS ID
155251
Contact name
Claire Ford
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Northumbria University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
RE-HLS-13-140217-53021b8ce05e9, University Ethics Committee Number; 0164, Northumbria Healthcare Trust R&D Number
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Pain, is a universal phenomenon, yet it is also uniquely experienced and therefore difficult to treat (Matthews and Malcolm, 2007; Cox, 2009; Rejeh and Vaismoradi, 2010). This holds relevance for surgical patients as high levels of postoperative pain can detrimentally affect recovery, and if mismanaged, can lead to further complications (Gan et al. 2004; Finney, 2010). This can lead to increased financial burden on National Health Service resources; therefore, it is a “business necessity” that we treat perioperative pain effectively (Saver, 2013, p1). As postoperative pain is predictable, perioperative analgesia should be arranged preoperatively, ideally within the preoperative assessment, using pain planning which encompasses individualised and comprehensive pain screening (Croissant and Shafi, 2009; Husted, 2011; Chow et al. 2012; Pinto et al. 2011). However, recent research has shown that within day case surgery, comprehensive preoperative assessments are often inadequate (D’Arcy, 2012). Furthermore, nursing does not take place in a vacuum and preoperative practices of individual healthcare professionals may vary greatly (Stomberg, Brattwall and Jakobsson, 2013). However, most of the studies examining the culture of practice have been centred on postoperative pain management; hence, a gap remains within preoperative knowledge.
Therefore, this study will critically explore the culture around pain planning and management for day case surgical patients, by observing the working practices of healthcare professionals, up to a period of 6 months, within the preoperative clinical areas of one NHS hospital. To be eligible they must be registered with a professional body and employed by the relevant Trust. The research is not funded by the Trust as it is part of a PhD programme of study and will therefore be funded by the University and once completed will hopefully provide new knowledge and insight into preoperative pain planning which may inform future practice for day case surgical patients.
REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/WM/1203
Date of REC Opinion
27 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion