Pain and anxiety management in the postoperative gastro-surgical setting

Abstract

Background. Despite increasing knowledge and technological advances, patients continue to experience pain and anxiety in the postoperative setting. Aim of the study. The aim of this study was to examine how nurses managed patients' pain and anxiety within the gastro-surgical hospital setting. Methods. An observational design was selected to examine nurses' management of postoperative patients' pain and anxiety. Six nurses who were involved in direct patient care in one of two gastro-surgical wards in a public teaching hospital in Melbourne, Australia, were randomly selected to participate. The observation period comprised a fixed 2-hour segment, and each nurse was observed on three different..