Investigation of international pain management standards and suggestion of appropriate standard for Iran in 2005

Abstract

Introduction: There should be a simple, standard, dynamic and scientific method for improving the quality of services in every organization and all of the employees should be trained on that. A standard method simplifies cooperation, makes harmony between people and in teams and provides the background of creativity and innovation. Pain management standardization has several advantages. It helps appropriate treatment of pain resulting in faster clinical recovery, shorter admission days and better quality of life. Pain management standardization is a common and unique language causing unison in works and correct circulation of information and prevents waste of time.

Methods: This research was a triangulation study conducted based on Delphi method in 2005. The research samples were nursing faculty members who were instructors of nursing department with master or PhD degrees. In the first stage, pain management standards were extracted by searching the internet, reviewing valid nursing textbooks and consulting the instructors. In the second stage, these standards were sent to 14 nursing faculty members of Shiraz, Isfahan and Yasouj universities in the form of a questionnaire with open ended questions to collect their opinions. Then, according to the collected data from the second stage of the research, a new questionnaire was made. In the third stage, the questionnaire was sent to 40 nursing faculty members of Shiraz, Isfahan, Iran, Tehran, Shahid Beheshti, Mashhad and Yasouj universities to collect their opinions. In the last stage, analysis of the answers of the nursing faculty members was done.

Results: The findings of this study included two distinct areas and 88 suggested standards. The first area, assessments of pain, included 35 standards and the second area, nursing implementation of pain, included 53 standards. At the end of this research, our version of standards with 90% consensus including 14 items in the area of assessment and implementation of pain are suggested.

Conclusion: Pain management suggested standards by this study are 88 items. It is hoped that these suggested pain management standards can promote the quality of pain management, improve the quality of hospital services and increase patients' satisfaction