Postoperative pain documentation in a hospital setting: A topical review

Conclusions Postoperative pain documentation needs to be improved. Regular educational programmes and development of monitoring systems for systematic evaluation of pain documentation are needed. Guidelines and recommendations should be based on the latest research evidence, and systematically implemented into practice. Implications Comprehensive auditing tools for evaluation of pain documentation can make quality assessment easier and coherent. Specific and clear documentation guidelines are needed and existing guidelines should be better implemented into practice. There is a need to increase nurses’ knowledge of postoperative pain management, assessment and documentation. Studies evaluating effectiveness of high quality pain documentation are required.
Source: Scandinavian Journal of Pain - Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: research