Effective pain management in patients in hospital

McCabe, Candy

Abstract

Chronic pain is experienced by between 25%-50% of the UK population, and its prevalence increases with age (Fayaz et al 2016). An ageing population is inevitably putting a growing demand on our healthcare services. As more people are living with multi-morbidities, that commonly include chronic pain, then the complexity and duration of care required has also increased (Barnett et al 2012). This is against a backdrop of global financial pressures that has seen UK Government policy seeking to reduce length of hospital stays in preference for community based, or self-management approaches, supported by emerging new technologies where relevant (NHS 5 year Forward View 2014). The net result of these factors is that between 2004/5 and 2014/15 there has been a 31% increase in NHS hospital admissions and a 45% increase in hospital based operations (NHS Confederation). However, the duration of hospital stays has reduced from just over 8 days, to 5 days over the same time period, and the most common length of stay is one day (The Nuffield Trust). The reality for the patient is that time spent in the presence of nursing, or other healthcare professionals is becoming increasingly limited, particularly in relation to surgical procedures, which are now more commonly offered as day case interventions. How can the nursing profession ensure that a patient’s pain is appropriately assessed and managed in this scenario?

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 5, 2017
• Publication Date: Mar 15, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jan 9, 2017
• Journal: Nursing Standard
• Print ISSN: 0029-6570
• Electronic ISSN: 2047-9018
• Publisher: RCN Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 31
• Issue: 29
• Pages: 42-46
• Keywords: balancing, quality, quantity, nurses, optimise, pain, management, rushed, NHS
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/900266
• Contract Date: Jan 10, 2019