Patients experiencing postoperative pain are at an increased risk for developing life-threatening complications. Effective interventions for pain relief exist that are under utilized. Identify reasons for the under use of interventions could help correct the problem. Understanding the experience of pain from the patient’s perspective offers new insight into the use of interventions. The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of the postoperative pain experience following total knee arthroplasty from the elderly patients’ perspective. Hermeneutic phenomenology provided the framework for this study. Phenomenology attempts to discover the essence of the experience, in this case the experience of postoperative pain following total knee surgery. The process of Hermeneutical analysis described by Diekelmann et al. (1989) was used for this study. Diekelmann’s method is a systematic approach that immerses the researcher in the data. The immersion allows the patterns and themes of the experience to be uncovered. Fifteen patients, nine women and six men, who had total knee arthroplasty participated in this study. Ages ranged from 66 to 86 years. Purposeful suffering describes how postoperative pain was experienced for participants. Purposeful suffering is an acceptance of the postoperative pain and a willingness to endure the pain to achieve an outcome of better mobility with little or no pain. Participants relied on nurses to manage the pain. Participants trusted that nurses knew how best to care for patients who have had this surgery. The common experiences of participants are described in the themes: anticipating pain, living the pain, and managing the pain. Acute pain causes suffering for patients. Effective interventions exist to relieve the pain. Nurses need to accept responsibility for the care provided to treat pain. Treating pain appropriately will decrease patients suffering.
Session #1199 - Pain
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)