NUR-504-RS Assignment: Research Design, Study Methods

Research
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Research
Francis, L., & Fitzpatrick, J. J. (2013). Postoperative pain: Nurses’ knowledge and patients’ experiences. Pain Management Nursing, 14(4), 351-357.
Abstract
Patients who have undergone some form of surgery experiences pain afterwards. The intensity of the pain depends on the knowledge and experiences of the nurses and how they handle patients' pain afterwards. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the knowledge and experience of the nurse after surgical operations and identify the intensity of the pain the patients experience after clinical operations. The study notes that it is important to assess and manage the postoperative pain in surgical patients since inadequate relief of the pain may lead to many complications in the patients. The study employed an exploratory study design in a large teaching hospital in the USA. It used a population of 31 nurses from two surgical units and 14 patients who have undergone surgical operations and had received patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). In measuring the nurses' knowledge regarding pain management, the Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain was employed. It also used the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire was used to measures the intensity of pain on patients. From the findings, nurses scored 69.3% while SF-MPQ showed that patients experienced moderate pain.
Research Design
Nurses' knowledge and patients' experiences on postoperative pain remains the less studied area. So there are a lot of question that needs to be answered and framework for future studies in the area be laid. To achieve this, the study used an exploratory design to achieve its objectives.
Study Methods
The study employed a systematic sampling technique in choosing its sample. The study included nurses from the gastrointestinal and urologic units. Only nurses who have spent more than three months in the units were chosen while those who were newly recruited and had an experience of 3 months and below were excluded from the study. Patients who were in their first and second day of postoperative experience and had received patient-controlled analgesia were included in the study. Only those patients who spoke and understood English participated in the study. It excluded patients with cognitive impairments and who had a history of substance abuse.
The Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain was used to measure nurses' knowledge about pain management. This tool was tested for both validity and reliability. Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) was used to measure the intensity of patients' pain after clinical surgeries. This wool was also tested for validity and reliability. This tool is divided into three sections where the first section contains 15 adjectives that describe the sensory and dimensions of pain. The second section contains the VAS scale that ranges from no pain to worst possible pain.
Setting
The study was done in a large full-service hospital in the east...