Attitudes of Nurses Towards Pain Management in Geriatric Care
Rani, Varsha; Kour, Pawanjeet (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025052415671
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025052415671
Tiivistelmä
The management of pain in geriatric care is an issue in the healthcare system because such a type of patients has chronic pain, cognitive impairments and communication problems. This research has studied the attitudes of nurses towards pain management in the geriatric population and has identified systemic challenges that affects effective pain relief practices. This study has used scoping review methodology to systematically analyse 10 selected peer-reviewed articles as well as non-peer-reviewed articles, official reports, blogs, professional healthcare guidelines and websites published between 2014 and 2025. The thematic analysis has been used to present key findings through which two research questions has been addressed. The research questions of this study were to discuss the common attitudes of the nurses towards pain management in elderly patients and the barriers which nurses face to implement the effective pain relief practices.
The results showed that there is a misconception among the nurses related to pain especially for those patients who are non-verbal. The cultural biases, lack of specialised training and underutilisation of standard pain assessment tools contributes to inconsistent pain management practices. The systemic barriers like staff shortages, restrictive opioid policies and less interdisciplinary communication result in inconsistent geriatric care. However, the study also highlighted that nurse-led measures, structured training programs and collaborative care model can improve the overall outcomes. This study highlighted the need for institutional reforms, showed the role of education on geriatric pain and prioritised cost-cutting measures. This research provides valuable information for hospitals, policy makers and future studies to optimise the pain management strategies for the growing geriatric population. The findings have addressed the attitudinal and structural barriers to make sure evidence-based care is provided.
The results showed that there is a misconception among the nurses related to pain especially for those patients who are non-verbal. The cultural biases, lack of specialised training and underutilisation of standard pain assessment tools contributes to inconsistent pain management practices. The systemic barriers like staff shortages, restrictive opioid policies and less interdisciplinary communication result in inconsistent geriatric care. However, the study also highlighted that nurse-led measures, structured training programs and collaborative care model can improve the overall outcomes. This study highlighted the need for institutional reforms, showed the role of education on geriatric pain and prioritised cost-cutting measures. This research provides valuable information for hospitals, policy makers and future studies to optimise the pain management strategies for the growing geriatric population. The findings have addressed the attitudinal and structural barriers to make sure evidence-based care is provided.