Pain assessment by patients and nurses, and nurses' notes on it, in early acute myocardial infarction. Part I.

Pain is a multi-dimensional phenomenon unique to each individual. Most of the research to date on acute pain has focused on oncology, medical and surgical patients. This pilot study was designed to explore the issues of pain assessment by patients and nurses in acute myocardial infarction, and the nurses' subsequent documentation of the pain assessment. Three research instruments were chosen to elicit the information required: A demographic questionnaire was constructed to elicit relevant data on patients and nurses. The Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SFMPQ) was used to measure the quality and quantity of the patient's pain as perceived by the patient and nurse in a myocardial infarction situation. The Chart Audit Information Form (CAIF) was chosen to extract specific information from the nursing notes on the pain experience as recorded by the nurse. A convenience sample of patients comprised 10 males and 5 females. The nursing population comprised a convenience sample of 8 registered nurses holding a recognised coronary care course certificate. The pilot study was conducted in a coronary care unit (CCU) in a large teaching hospital in Dublin, Ireland. The data generated from the SFMPQ and the CAIF were coded prior to computerisation. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The findings of this pilot study indicated that nurses underestimated the patient's pain in 46% of myocardial infarction situations and overestimated in 13% of them. Furthermore, results indicated that while the majority of nurses documented location and verbal statements of pain, the documentation of quality, intensity and duration of pain was inadequate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)