Non-Pharmacological Pain Management Methods in Intensive Care Units

Abstract

Pain management in intensive care is an important aspect in nursing care. Assessing patients' pain is vital as it helps in finding the most suitable method for pain management. Pharmacotherapy is the most used mode of pain management but due to the side effects caused, a use of alternative non-pharmacological methods should be considered. There is also a need to look at the different perceptions that influence the application of these methods. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to describe the different types of non-pharmacological pain management methods used in intensive care, as well as nurses, and patients’ perspectives on these methods. The aim is to produce literature review about the non-pharmacological pain management methods used in intensive care as well as the perspectives of nurses and patients on the methods used.

CINAHL database and a manual search was used to collect data. The search was narrowed down by using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria, which led to the selection of 17 articles that were analyzed by utilizing inductive content analysis. Inductive content analysis table with two main categories and several generic categories that answered the research questions was created. The research questions were “What are the non-pharmacological pain management methods used in intensive care?” and “What are the nurses and patients’ perspectives on using the non-pharmacological pain management methods in intensive care?’’.

The data collected and analyzed showed that a variety of non-pharmacological pain management methods are currently being used in intensive care and there are multiple factors that affect their application. Most of the methods reduced pain and had physiological and psychological implications such as reduced blood pressure, and anxiolytic effects. The nurses, and patients’ perspectives had major similarities, including lack of knowledge and resources, personal beliefs and need for education as the main challenges.

This literature review, that was done for the Neurocenter in the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District HUS, shows that education plays a vital role for both patients and nurses in ensuring that non-pharmacological pain management methods are used. Furthermore, the health care organizations’ support by providing resources would be required to ensure the utilization of the pain management methods. More research is also needed on non-pharmacological methods as little research was found on many of these methods.