NURSES AND PAIN MANAGEMENT IN TERRITORIAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY
Introduction: Numerous studies show that the prevalence of pain in pre-hospital emergency setting ranges from 20% to 53%. Additionally, the scientific literature reveals a prevalence of moderate-to-severe pain in 20-64% of patients. According to the latest guidelines, it is essential to ensure prope...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
OPI Napoli
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | NSC Nursing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.nscnursing.it/nurses-and-pain-management-in-territorial-health-emergencies-a-retrospective-study/ |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832583597919305728 |
|---|---|
| author | Federico Pecetta Gian Domenico Giusti Sara Staffaroni Matteo Ricci |
| author_facet | Federico Pecetta Gian Domenico Giusti Sara Staffaroni Matteo Ricci |
| author_sort | Federico Pecetta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Numerous studies show that the prevalence of pain in pre-hospital emergency setting ranges from 20% to 53%. Additionally, the scientific literature reveals a prevalence of moderate-to-severe pain in 20-64% of patients. According to the latest guidelines, it is essential to ensure proper and effective pain management for all patients experiencing pain. Inadequate pain management can result in complications such as delayed recovery and increased patient distress. In pre-hospital setting, emergency nurses are capable of assessing and treating pain using medications such as fentanyl, ketamine, morphine, NSAIDs and paracetamol.
Objective: To evaluate the assessment and treatment of pain by emergency nurses in the pre-hospital setting and assess the potential need for additional training in accordance with the Tuscany region for nurse-staffed ambulances’ analgesia procedure guidelines.
Methods: Retrospective study of 4,738 pre-hospital interventions from September 2022 to September 2023. Data were retrieved from EmMaWeb system and included pain assessment using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) and administration of analgesics.
Results: Pain was assessed at least once in 98.3% of the cases. Moderate to severe pain (NRS ≥ 4) was recorded in 14.2% of the patients. Analgesic drugs were administered in 63.6% of patients with NRS ≥ 4, yet the Tuscany region for nurse-staffed ambulances’ analgesia procedure guidelines was not followed in 36.4% of these cases. 79% of the findings with NRS ≥ 7 (severe pain) received analgesic drug treatment. Paracetamol was the most commonly used analgesic, followed by fentanyl, morphine, and ketamine.
Conclusions: Pain assessment practices are well-established in pre-hospital care, but there is still room for improvement in pain management. Pain management does not comply with the Guidelines set by the World Health Organisation and the European Society of Emergency Medicine, a substantial proportion of patients experiencing moderate to severe pain did not receive adequate analgesia. This highlights the need for additional education and training for pre-hospital nurses in pain management and the effective use of analgesic medications to ensure greater adherence to the treatment protocols for nurse-staffed ambulance shared within the Tuscany Region. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-737f402b804e4344b2dcc89afc9fda36 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2612-6915 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | OPI Napoli |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NSC Nursing |
| spelling | doaj-art-737f402b804e4344b2dcc89afc9fda362025-01-28T10:32:37ZengOPI NapoliNSC Nursing2612-69152025-01-0112214310.32549/OPI-NSC-115NURSES AND PAIN MANAGEMENT IN TERRITORIAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDYFederico Pecetta0https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9255-1304Gian Domenico Giusti 1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9167-9845Sara Staffaroni2https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8342-939XMatteo Ricci3https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5715-5887Department of Emergency Medicine, Emergency Health Operations Centre Arezzo, San Donato Hospital, Arezzo, ItalyDepartment of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Perugia, Perugia, ItalyDepartment of Maternal and Child Health, San Donato Hospital, Arezzo, ItalyDepartment of Anesthesia and Critical Care Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi. University of Florence, Firenze, ItalyIntroduction: Numerous studies show that the prevalence of pain in pre-hospital emergency setting ranges from 20% to 53%. Additionally, the scientific literature reveals a prevalence of moderate-to-severe pain in 20-64% of patients. According to the latest guidelines, it is essential to ensure proper and effective pain management for all patients experiencing pain. Inadequate pain management can result in complications such as delayed recovery and increased patient distress. In pre-hospital setting, emergency nurses are capable of assessing and treating pain using medications such as fentanyl, ketamine, morphine, NSAIDs and paracetamol. Objective: To evaluate the assessment and treatment of pain by emergency nurses in the pre-hospital setting and assess the potential need for additional training in accordance with the Tuscany region for nurse-staffed ambulances’ analgesia procedure guidelines. Methods: Retrospective study of 4,738 pre-hospital interventions from September 2022 to September 2023. Data were retrieved from EmMaWeb system and included pain assessment using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) and administration of analgesics. Results: Pain was assessed at least once in 98.3% of the cases. Moderate to severe pain (NRS ≥ 4) was recorded in 14.2% of the patients. Analgesic drugs were administered in 63.6% of patients with NRS ≥ 4, yet the Tuscany region for nurse-staffed ambulances’ analgesia procedure guidelines was not followed in 36.4% of these cases. 79% of the findings with NRS ≥ 7 (severe pain) received analgesic drug treatment. Paracetamol was the most commonly used analgesic, followed by fentanyl, morphine, and ketamine. Conclusions: Pain assessment practices are well-established in pre-hospital care, but there is still room for improvement in pain management. Pain management does not comply with the Guidelines set by the World Health Organisation and the European Society of Emergency Medicine, a substantial proportion of patients experiencing moderate to severe pain did not receive adequate analgesia. This highlights the need for additional education and training for pre-hospital nurses in pain management and the effective use of analgesic medications to ensure greater adherence to the treatment protocols for nurse-staffed ambulance shared within the Tuscany Region.https://www.nscnursing.it/nurses-and-pain-management-in-territorial-health-emergencies-a-retrospective-study/pain managementemergency nursespre-hospital careanalgesic drugspain assessment |
| spellingShingle | Federico Pecetta Gian Domenico Giusti Sara Staffaroni Matteo Ricci NURSES AND PAIN MANAGEMENT IN TERRITORIAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY NSC Nursing pain management emergency nurses pre-hospital care analgesic drugs pain assessment |
| title | NURSES AND PAIN MANAGEMENT IN TERRITORIAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY |
| title_full | NURSES AND PAIN MANAGEMENT IN TERRITORIAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY |
| title_fullStr | NURSES AND PAIN MANAGEMENT IN TERRITORIAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY |
| title_full_unstemmed | NURSES AND PAIN MANAGEMENT IN TERRITORIAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY |
| title_short | NURSES AND PAIN MANAGEMENT IN TERRITORIAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY |
| title_sort | nurses and pain management in territorial health emergencies a retrospective study |
| topic | pain management emergency nurses pre-hospital care analgesic drugs pain assessment |
| url | https://www.nscnursing.it/nurses-and-pain-management-in-territorial-health-emergencies-a-retrospective-study/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT federicopecetta nursesandpainmanagementinterritorialhealthemergenciesaretrospectivestudy AT giandomenicogiusti nursesandpainmanagementinterritorialhealthemergenciesaretrospectivestudy AT sarastaffaroni nursesandpainmanagementinterritorialhealthemergenciesaretrospectivestudy AT matteoricci nursesandpainmanagementinterritorialhealthemergenciesaretrospectivestudy |