Staff Experience of Pain Management: An Improvement in Palliative Care

• Main Authors: Anna Unné, Kristina Rosengren
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2013-09-01
• Series: Pharmacy
• Subjects: quality improvement; palliative care; pain rating; reflective learning; sense of coherence (SOC)
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/1/2/119

Palliative care involves helping patients to achieve best possible quality of life by alleviating symptoms and suffering. The aim of the study was to describe and analyze staff member’s experience of working with evidence-based guidelines for pain management in palliative care. The study comprised a total of eight group interviews and 93 narratives from 22 staff members, all of who worked in palliative care. Data was analyzed using manifest qualitative content analysis and deductive perspectives according to SOC (sense of coherence). Three categories, “Awareness of Pain Management”, “Participation in Pain Management”, and “Safety at Pain Management”, were identified. The result showed an increased awareness of the value of a deeper understanding of policy documents and local guidelines. A key factor in improvement work was that team members were given the opportunity to repeat and continuously reflect on their performed work together within the team in dialog form. Teamwork may contribute to a better knowledge and understanding of how to develop high quality in healthcare by learning from each other in everyday work and by using evidence-based practices. Consistency in the working group could improve healthcare by using the espoused theory and theory-in-use for develop procedures and guidelines at work.