TIMELY PAIN REASSESSMENTS

VERA NIXON, RN, CLIN II

BON SECOURS MEMORIAL COLLEGE OF NURSING

Introduction
Pain reassessments are important in order to effectively assess the efficacy of a
pain intervention.
Lack of effective pain control can lead to:
Increased risk of complications
Longer hospitalizations
Longer recovery period (Campbell, 2013)
Pain reassessments are also linked to the Hospital Consumer Assessment of
Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores, in relation to how well the
nursing staff has been able to control a patients pain (Hospital Consumer
Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems [HCAHPS], 2015).
A quality improvement project was developed in order to improve the
reassessment of pain within an hour from intervention, by the staff of the
Pediatric Unit at Saint Marys Hospital.

Project
Description
Data was collected in order to discover

Findings

causes to a lack of compliance to

current standards of pain reassessment
timeliness.
Improvements related to visual
reminders for pain reassessments
was identified as a possible project.

Findings were inconclusive due to the chart

audits being too ambiguous in relation to pain
assessments and reassessments. There was a
decided lack of detail in the audits, other than a
Pain
Reassessment
simple yes/no
related
to assessment and
50
40
reassessment
30 of pain.

Re-education was provided to the staff

related to re-implementation of
improved visual reminders for pain
reassessments.

20
10
0

Column2

Evaluation Strategy

Goals of the Project

To improve the compliance of the staff who
reassess pain within an hour from
implementation of a pain intervention.

Referenc
es

Prior to implementation of the project, chart

audits related to pain assessments were being
performed. These chart audits were
independently performed by an individual
unrelated to the project.
The audits were used to apply an unbiased
evaluation of the units pain reassessment
compliance prior to, and after, the project.

Campbell, F. (2013). Improving postoperative pain outcomes for children [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Centre for
Pediatric Pain Research: International Forum on Pediatric Pain (IFPP): http://pediatric-pain.ca/wpcontent/uploads/2013/04/Campbell_WHITEPOINT-SLIDES.pdf
Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems. (2015). HCAHPS Survey. Retrieved from
http://www.hcahpsonline.org/files/HCAHPS%20V10.0%20Appendix%20A%20-%20HCAHPS%20Mail%20Survey%20Materials
%20(English)%20March%202015.pdf

Conclusion
This project demonstrated the need for a more
tailored project in order to effectively improve
the compliance of pain reassessments within an
hour post-intervention. An future project should
include:
Tailored chart audits related specifically to the
particular areas that need to be investigated
Development of new visual reminders, instead
of attempting to re-use previous visual
reminders that werent previously successful
Education of all staff, not just nurses, to