Dealing with medical conditions requires the attention of a qualified professional to ensure that the right directions are followed. In choosing a Population of Interest, I decided to go for the people that suffer from chronic pain. I am qualified to conduct research in this field because I am an Associate Degree prepared nurse and I worked in the Neuro-ICU of a level one trauma center. My time at the trauma center enabled me to learn more about offering care to critically ill patients as they recovered from surgery. This paper will explore the importance of conducting research on chronic pain and the methods of conducting the study.
Importance of Studying Pain
Most of the patients in the Neuro-ICU trauma center suffer from brain tumors, post-op from a neurosurgical procedure, strokes or severe brain injuries. Most of the survivors of these deadly illnesses are located in the ICU where they can receive professional care (Battle, Lovett, & Hutchings, 2013). One of the common conditions found in such patients is chronic pain. There have been cases of people suffering chronic pain several years after they were discharged from hospital (Dennis, 2015).
It is critical for nurses to understand chronic pain since it is the most prevalent condition in America today. According to some researchers at the National Institute of Health, more than 126 million Americans reported having felt some pain during the preceding three months. 25% reported having daily pain for the previous three months, and others suffered from varying levels of pain (Dennis, 2015). The economic costs associated with chronic pain are estimated to be $560-655 billion per year. The high prevalence of chronic pain makes it a necessary topic to study for nurses and other medical practitioners. In America, 55.7% of the population have experienced some pain in their last three months while 10.3% reported a lot of pain (NAP, 2017). Chronic pain is not a condition in America alone since other countries have reported startlingly high pain statistics. The British Pain Society estimated that 28 million Britons were suffering from chronic pain with conditions like osteoarthritis and lower back pain.
Chronic pain affects people in different manners depending on the levels. It will influence the mood of the patients, their sleep, and ability to move around and think clearly (Rushlow, 2017). If the pain is not managed, it can lengthen the patient’s stay in the hospital and slow down their recovery. Nurses play a significant in the care of patients who are suffering from chronic pain. It is critical for them to have a sound knowledge of the condition to help in its management. It implies that hospital management will have to make sure they hire qualified staff capable of managing the chronic pain and making important recommendations (NAP, 2017).
In conducting my research, I would like to visit with the heads of trauma centers in various hospitals to get their insight on chronic pain. Such people have the necessary experience to offer concrete information on patient behaviors and other trends associated with pain. I would also like to meet with other nurses from different hospitals and departments to get their contribution on the best ways of managing patients with chronic pain for the most efficient recovery.
As the person responsible for managing chronic pain at a medical facility, I would create a workshop to associate with other professionals and conduct a detailed survey. Creating themes, such as cancer pain, hypnotherapy, neuropathic pain, etc., is one way of making such workshops more interactive and making sure that the right pool of professionals is involved. Nurses from other hospitals and departments will form the sample and answer the survey questions. The survey form will consist of a wide range of statements related to chronic pain with the aim of gathering as much data as possible. The survey form will be prepared in conjunction with current statistics as well as the contribution of seasoned medical professionals. The questions will be phrased in the form of statements with two choices that allow the respondent to either agree or disagree with the declaration. Some of the controversies relating to chronic pain will feature heavily in the statements, and that will help us to understand some of the misconceptions associated with pain management. Such a survey would enable us to learn more about issues of prevalence as well as the incidence of different types of pains.
It is important to consider all the available literature on chronic pain, and hence I will conduct a research of the major medical databases, like MEDLINE, to see what I can learn from the present information. A random check of the major trauma centers will enable me to understand how everyone else is dealing with the condition. I will look at online journals on chronic pain and evaluate their bibliographies for relevant articles. To identify articles that are pertinent to the subject matter, I will use the inclusion and exclusion criteria. It will help to filter out most of the other information that does not provide sufficient insight into chronic pain. I will utilize a system to score published studies to ensure completeness of my research. I will compare the factors we determined in the survey model to assess the published articles on chronic pain to determine their integrity and accurate reporting.
Conclusion
Chronic pain is an important part of public health that ought to be given top priority due to a large number of people suffering from the condition. I have been out of my practice for two years due to pain that still lingers after surgery, and hence I can bear testament to the adverse effects it can have on work and motivation.
Battle, C., Lovett, S., & Hutchings, H. (2013). Chronic pain in survivors of critical illness: a retrospective analysis of incidence and risk factors. Critical Care, 17(3), R101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/cc12746
