Core Aspects of Satisfaction with Pain Management: Cancer Patients' Perspectives
Accepted 17 June 2009. published online 30 October 2009.
Abstract
Context
The coexistence of high levels of satisfaction and high levels of pain has been perplexing.
Objectives
The aims of this study were to 1) describe patient expectations related to the experience of cancer-related pain, 2) explore the cognitive processes and meaning that underlie patient judgments about satisfaction and dissatisfaction with pain management, and 3) explore the discrepancies between ratings of high satisfaction with pain management with high pain intensity.
Methods
The sample included 33 patients: 18 with advanced cancer and 15 experiencing pain after a surgery for a cancer diagnosis. All patients had experienced “worst pain” of at least moderate intensity and were interviewed using standard pain measures from the American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire and open-ended questions about the underlying meaning of their answers. We systematically analyzed the transcribed qualitative data using NVivo software.
Results
Fifty-five percent of patients were females and were aged 25–78 years. Most (75%) were satisfied or very satisfied with their overall pain management. Key findings indicate that for some, the worst pain rating was often brief, even momentary. Most patients expected pain relief. Four key themes were important to the quality of pain management: being treated right, having a safety net, being in a partnership with their health care team, and having pain treatment that was efficacious. Key aspects of the patient-provider relationship that mattered were how the nurses and doctors behaved toward them and how quickly they responded to reports of pain. For some, an important factor was whether they had control of the amount of pain they experienced.
Conclusion
The findings inform measurement of patient satisfaction with the quality of pain management.
aUniversity of Utah College of Nursing, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
bNursing Department, Marymount Hospital, Garfield Heights, Ohio, USA
cNursing Department, Primary Children's Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Address correspondence to: Susan L. Beck, PhD, APRN, FAAN, University of Utah College of Nursing, 10 South 2000 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-5880, USA.
This study was funded by a grant from the Oncology Nursing Society Foundation.
ABSTRACT