Improving post-operative pain management after total hip and knee replacement in a special care unit: a best practice implementation project.

Introduction: Post-operative pain is often underestimated (70% of surgical patients experience some degree of pain) and is insufficiently treated. This increases morbidity and mortality, mainly due to respiratory and thromboembolic complications, longer hospital stays, deterioration in quality of life, and occurrence of chronic pain.

Objectives: This study aimed to improve post-operative pain management in the first 4 hours after total hip and knee replacement by promoting best practices.

Methods: This project used the JBI Evidence Implementation Framework. JBI's Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System (PACES) and Getting Research into Practice (GRiP) audit tools were used to collect data and develop implementation strategies, in line with identified barriers. The project was conducted in a special care unit in a primary hospital in Spain using a sample of 30 patients. Three phases of activity were followed: conducting a baseline audit, implementing improvement strategies, and conducting follow-up audits to assess intervention outcomes. The evaluation criteria used in the audits were derived from a JBI evidence summary on post-operative pain management.

Results: The baseline audit identified five barriers: lack of nursing staff knowledge of appropriate pain assessment scales; lack of complete pain assessment record in the electronic nursing records; lack of staff confidence in evidence-based practice; lack of dedicated training time for staff; and low staff participation in consensus process. Strategies were formulated to address these barriers using JBI's GRiP method. Following implementation, compliance with all audit criteria significantly improved.

Conclusion: The strategies developed using the JBI Evidence Implementation Framework positively impacted compliance with best practices.

Spanish abstract: http://links.lww.com/IJEBH/A339.