The Policy-Driven Enhancement to Reduce Adult Inpatients’ Pain Intensity of “No More Than Mild Pain” During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Context: Moderate to severe pain has a profound negative impact on functioning and quality of life, hence nursing guidelines were needed as the driving force to optimize pain nursing interventions. Aim: To enhance the reduction of adult inpatients' pain intensity of not more than mild pain during the COVID-19 pandemic nursing care settings. Methods: For this hospital-wide pain management quality improvement initiative, quarterly cross-sectional pain prevalence surveys were conducted between February 2020 and February 2021. For patients with pain scores less than 4/10 only section one of the survey questionnaires was used, while those with pain scores more than mild pain chart review was performed utilizing section two of the questionnaire. The 80/20 principle was adopted to identify the area that needs attention for specific improvement actions of each unit that achieved less than 80% of patients with pain intensity less than 4/10. Results: University Hospital A achieved an average of 92% throughout the four quarters, and 87.4% was for University Hospital B. Less than 20% of patients during the four quarters of the surveys had moderate to severe pain in both hospitals. Conclusions: Both two hospitals achieved the target goal of more than 80% pain prevalence scores of not more than mild pain during the four quarters of the studies. It is therefore strongly recommended that healthcare organizations put in place policies and procedures that assign the nurses the target goal of effective pain management.