A Qualitative Descriptive Study of Nurses' Self-Care Strategies for Pain Management.

Background: The nursing profession has one of the highest rates of musculoskeletal injuries, causing nurses to seek out self-care strategies for long-term pain management.

Purpose: This study explored nurses' perspectives on the use of self-care strategies for pain management.

Design: This study is a secondary analysis using qualitative descriptive design.

Methods: A sample of six nurses from eastern North Carolina were interviewed in 2022. Analysis included in-vivo coding, creation of a codebook, key word in context analysis, and thematic analysis.

Results: Two themes were identified: "toll on the body" and "maintain to retain." Toll on the body was represented by the myriad painful body parts and functional restrictions caused by the physical demands of bedside nursing. Maintain to retain was represented by nurses having an epiphany that a lapse in using self-care strategies contributed to a recurrence of pain.

Implications for nursing practice: Employers and nurses must develop a comprehensive approach to injury prevention. Nurses should incorporate weekly exercise and monthly self-care strategies into their routine. Employers should advocate for self-care strategy services to be included in employee benefits.

Conclusion: A retention and recruitment strategy for nurses should include attention to maintenance therapies to decrease the incidence of or eliminate chronic musculoskeletal problems.