Background & Aims
Pain is a common complaint in emergency rooms and its inadequate treatment can harm patient health and well-being. There’s often a gap between patient-reported pain and healthcare responses, including from nurses. While self-reporting is the primary method for assessing pain in adult and able-bodied patients, studies have shown that a nurse’s readiness to address a patient’s pain is influenced not only by the patient’s self-report but also by their gender and exhibited pain behavior. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between patient-reported pain intensity, gender, and pain behavior (independent variables), and the extent of nurses’ willingness to address the patient’s pain (dependent variable). Despite the topic’s importance, most studies have primarily examined a single variable affecting nurses’ willingness to treat pain, without exploring the interactions between multiple variables.
Methods
The study employed a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design, involving both within and between-subjects elements. The study featured a questionnaire with eight scenarios, each randomly presented, depicting a patient in an emergency room experiencing pain. The manipulated variables included pain intensity (moderate vs. high), patient gender (male vs. female), and pain behavior (present vs. absent). Following each scenario, nurses were asked to assess their willingness to administer pain relief to the patient, rating it on a scale from 0 to 100%. Data were collected in 2023.
Results
The study involved 127 nurses, with the majority (90.6%) being women and an average age of 43.31. Among them, 57.5% worked in hospitals, and the rest in various clinical areas. The nurses showed a higher readiness to provide painkillers to patients experiencing high (F=42.76, p<0.01, ?2=0.25), to male patients (F=3.84, p=0.05, ?2=0.3), and to patients exhibiting pain behavior (F=42.21, p<0.01, ?2=0.25). Notably, in moderate pain cases, nurses favored those showing pain behavior, but this wasn’t seen in high pain cases (pain intensity by behavior: F=18.23, p<0.01, ?2=0.13). Male nurses tended to administer painkillers more to female patients, while female nurses did so for male patients (Nurse gender by patient gender: F=7.07, p<0.01, ?2=0.06). Nurses in hospitals were more willing to treat patients with high pain compared to those with moderate pain, unlike nurses in non-hospital settings who responded more to pain behavior (Workplace by behavior: F=4.34, p<0.04, ?2=0.04).
Conclusions
The study highlights the complexity of pain management in emergency rooms, demonstrating that a nurse’s willingness to provide pain relief is influenced by multiple factors, not just the patient’s self-reported pain intensity. The study suggests a need for comprehensive training for nurses in pain management that goes beyond assessing pain intensity to include understanding the impacts of patient gender and behavior on pain treatment decisions. In conclusion, the study underscores the multifactorial nature of pain management in emergency care, emphasizing the need for holistic approaches in nurse training and awareness to ensure effective and unbiased pain treatment.
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Presenting Author
Semyon Melnikov
Poster Authors
Semyon Melnikov
RN PhD
Tel Aviv University
Lead Author
Topics
- Gender/Sex Differences