Linda Tetteh, Lydia Aziato, Gwendolyn Patience Mensah, Emma Kwegyir-Afful, Katri Vehviläinen-Julkunen
University of Ghana, Ghana University of Salford, UK University of Eastern Finland, Finland University Hospital, Finland
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Health Sci J
To explore the perception of nurses on the pain behaviours among burn patients in a Ghanaian tertiary facility. Background: Pain sustained from burns is remarkably the most severe and has been linked to extreme distress, preventing patients from contributing to their care. Introduction: The nurse has a legal and professional obligation to promptly assess burns pain with the patient’s behaviour, expressions, and tools. Earlier studies have reported a level of misapprehension between the pain perceived by the nurses and actual pain felt by the patient. Methods: A qualitative exploratory descriptive design was used. A total of 11 nurses were recruited through a purposive sampling technique. Semi-structured face to face interviews was conducted to collect data at the burns unit of the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Center in Ghana. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the data. Results or Findings: The study findings showed that the nurses were able to identify patients in pain from their verbal and non-verbal expressions. However, due to the subjective nature of pain, nurses’ perceptions of the pain were not sufficient enough to assess the degree of the pain. Discussion: The perception of nurses regarding patients in pain and their experiences in pain management leads to optimal care. Nurses must adopt the use of pain assessment tools together with perceived pain behaviours for optimal pain management outcomes. Implications for Nursing and/or Health Policy and/or Social Policy Findings of this research can inform the development of specialized and continuous professional development programs for nurses working in the burns unit to furnish them with evidence-based knowledge on the assessment of pain of patients. It can inform the use of pain assessment tools to enhance practice. Keywords: Burn, Ghana, nurse, pain, qualitative, verbal, non-verbal References: Agbenorku, P., Aboah, K., Akpaloo, J., Amankwa, R., Farhat, B., Turkson, E.P.E., Hoyte-Williams, P.E., Klutsey, E.E., & Yorke, J. (2016). Epidemiological studies of burn patients in a burn center in Ghana: any clues for prevention? Burns Trauma C. Bradshaw S. Atkinson O. Doody Employing a qualitative description approach in health care research. Global Qualitative Nursing Research 4 2017 PMID: 29204457 M. Chatchumni, A. Namvongprom, M. Sandborgh, M. Mazaheri, H. Eriksson Nurses’ perceptions of patients in pain and pain management: A focus group study in Thailand Pacific Rim International Journal of Nursing, S. Dequeker, A. Van Lancker, A. Van Hecke Hospitalized patients vs. nurses' assessments of pain intensity and barriers to pain management J.H. Jang, W.H. Park, H.I. Kim, S.O. Chang ways of reasoning used by nurses in postoperative pain assessment Pain Management Nursing.
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