Pain Management Case Study

Pain is often overlooked and disregarded as an unimportant health issue by health care providers. However, according to the National Institutes of Health, pain affects more Americans than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined. It is the most common reason people seek health care, the leading cause of disability, and a major contributor to health care cost (National Institutes of Health [NIH], 2013). By managing pain, patient outcomes improve and health cost decreases because the patient is more likely to participate in activities such as mobilization and deep-breathing exercises, leading to fewer complications and earlier discharge. Organizations such as the American Society for Pain Management Nursing, the American Pain Society, and

The researchers used a convenience sample of fifty-three patients in post-surgical cardiac unit. As a result of the rigorous surgery, these patients usually experience fairly intense back pain. The patients were given one to three massage sessions of twenty minutes. The use of massage therapy significantly decreased pain scores in these patients. Due to this evidence, researchers suggested that massage therapy be used in conjunction with pharmacologic methods in order to treat patients’ pain effectively (Adams, White, & Beckett,

This was a two-site level three study which determined that a systemic approach of “Personalized pain treatment and sedation” proved to “improve the patient’s comfort and raise the tolerance threshold for ICU treatment” (Woien, et al., 2012, p. 1552). This study complemented the results and design of the Mansouri, et al. study (2013), and supported the findings of a systematic, methodical, and organized approach to pain and sedation management. This method not only improves HCAHPS scores through increased patient satisfaction, but also gives healthcare providers and medical professionals better capabilities to care for their patients, as well as, use data to support the courses of treatment regarding any changes made to pain management (Woien, et al.