The Role of the Cardiac Surgery Patient in Pain Management: The Patient Perspective.
Laura L Walton, Elsie Duff, Rakesh C Arora and 1 others
PMID 39169478WHAT IT FOUND
Men after cardiac surgery described pain management as shaped by expectations, prior pain experience, beliefs, coping, and clear communication.
They wanted education about pain scales and honest, empathetic conversations.
Key findings
01Interviews produced themes about attitude toward pain assessment and management, coping, and care and communication.
02Patients valued clear, honest pain assessment conversations and education about pain scales, including what numeric ratings mean.
03Prior pain experience, spirituality, humour, mindfulness, social interaction, and pacing helped patients cope and participate.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only six men were interviewed, and all had similar cardiac surgery, so the themes may not fit women or more diverse patients. Recruitment was from one cardiac rehabilitation site in Western Canada with convenience sampling, so transferability is limited. Participants were English-speaking and self-identified as Caucasian, so language and culture may shape pain roles differently. Two of eight recruited declined, and recruitment was difficult during COVID-19 protocols, which may have selected for people with time or confidence to take part. The study reports patient perceptions and themes, not effects of any nursing or pain-management intervention.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work received funding from the Manitoba Centre for Nursing and Health Research grant and the University of Manitoba College of Nurses Endowment fund.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that any pain-management approach has been shown to improve cardiac surgery outcomes. The study interviewed six men about their perceptions and generated themes; it did not test an intervention or measure pain results.