Postoperative Pain Experience and Satisfaction with Pain Control Medication among Surgical Patients

Abstract

Postoperative pain is profoundly prevalent and keeps on being a noteworthy challenge in the surgical patients' care. Objective: Assess the postoperative pain experience and satisfaction with pain control medication among surgical patients. Setting: The study was preceded in four surgical departments at Alexandria Main University Hospital. Subjects: A convenience sample of 135 adult patients who had undergone surgical operations throughout the 1 st 24 hours. Tools: One tool was used to collect the necessary data: postoperative patient pain experience and satisfaction questionnaire. Results: The majority of patients had severe pain with severe percent score of (90.9%). More than half of patients had severe impacted of pain on activities, sleep, mood and emotional status with moderate percent score of (70.8%). More than three quarters of patients were moderate side effects of pain control medications. Conclusion: The study concluded that the majority of enrolled patients experienced severe pain in the 1 st 24 hours postoperative and were not satisfied with pain control medication. Recommendations: This study recommended that nurses must appreciate the importance of effective pain evaluation, provide knowledge about postoperative pain control and ensure patients' participation in decisions of pain management.