Experiences of Pain Management Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: The knowledge and skills of pain management nurses positions them well to manage people's pain and provide critical services to patients with COVID-19. AIM: To understand the personal and professional experiences and the support pain management nurses received during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Between July 2020 and 2021, data were collected through semi-structured telephone interviews from members of the American Society for Pain Management Nursing. Content analysis was used. RESULTS: Eighteen pain management nurses who worked during the early stages of the pandemic were interviewed. Three main categories were identified: experiencing stress and burden, pain management strategies changed, learning to cope with support. Pain management nurses reported fear of exposure, difficulties with staff shortages, the complex social milieu, and how pain management took a backseat to other symptoms of COVID-19. They coped through support from their colleagues, organizational leaders, and community members. Pain management nurses provided recommendations for future care of patients' pain during a pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: Pain management nurses shared their professional and personal experiences and the support they received while managing patients' pain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their experiences provided findings on the importance of pain management and to support nurses during personal and professional vulnerabilities during crises. Key recommendations on the care of patients' pain in future pandemics included developing expertise in pain management and health-related emergencies; engaging nurses in supportive mental health services, infectious disease testing, and vaccine efforts; and planning for surge capacity to reach out to underserved people living with pain.

Original Research: The Impact of COVID-19 on Pain Care Among Older Adults.

PURPOSE: In this qualitative descriptive study, we sought to understand the professional experiences and perceptions of pain management nurses who cared for older adults in the United States during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Data were collected between July 2020 and July 2021 through individual, semistructured interviews with a nonprobability sample of 18 pain management nurses. An inductive content analysis approach, in which categories were derived from a coding process based on a close reading of data extracts from the interview transcripts, was used to reveal the major theme related to the study aim. RESULTS: Notwithstanding the variable consequences of COVID-19 on patients' health, a single overarching theme was pronounced: "Pain management for older adults remained unchanged during the pandemic despite unpredictable survival, restrictions on human interactions, and communication challenges." This theme was supported by four categories that emerged from the data: unpredictable survival, restriction-induced isolation, perceived continuity and equality of pain management, and communication challenges. CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, pain management nurses stepped in and joined interdisciplinary teams providing general and specialized pain care to ensure that older adults, whether inpatient or outpatient, continued to receive quality care. These study findings highlight the many challenges pain management nurses faced during this unprecedented public health crisis, as well as opportunities to improve the health system and enhance nursing practice to meet the needs of older patients.

Pain Management and Substance Use Disorders: A Position Statement.

ABSTRACT: The American Society for Pain Management Nursing and the International Nurses Society on Addictions hold the position that persons with co-occurring pain and substance use disorder have the right to be treated with dignity and respect and receive evidence-based, high-quality assessment and management for both conditions using an integrated, holistic, multidimensional approach. Nonopioid and nonpharmacological approaches to pain management are recommended. Opioids should not be withheld from anyone if necessary to treat pain, and a team-based approach, including pain and addiction specialists, should be utilized when possible. Pain management should include interventions aimed at minimizing the risk for relapse or escalation of problematic substance use and actively involve the person and their support persons in the plan of care. Institutions should establish policies and procedures that support this position statement.

Pain Management and Substance Use Disorders.

The American Society for Pain Management Nursing and the International Nurses Society on Addictions hold the position that persons with co-occurring pain and substance use disorder have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, and receive evidence-based, high-quality assessment and management for both conditions using an integrated, holistic, multidimensional approach. Non-opioid and nonpharmacological approaches to pain management are recommended. Opioids should not be withheld from anyone if necessary to treat pain, and a team-based approach, including pain and addiction specialists, should be utilized when possible. Pain management should include interventions aimed at minimizing the risk for relapse or escalation of problematic substance use, and actively involve the person and their support persons in the plan of care. Institutions should establish policies and procedures that support this position statement.

Nurses' Practices With Persons Experiencing Opioid Use Disorder: A Narrative Literature Review.

ABSTRACT: Millions of persons globally use opioids, and more than two million persons in the United States report having opioid use disorder (OUD). Increases in overdose deaths associated with opioids have led to a declaration of an opioid epidemic in the United States. Many healthcare professionals are involved in the treatment of persons experiencing OUD; several discipline-specific (e.g., medicine and public health) interventions are available. Nurses comprise large portions of the global and national healthcare workforces; therefore, investigating their unique, disciplinary contributions for addressing the opioid epidemic is warranted. This narrative literature review was undertaken to understand nurses' actions, practices, and work with persons with OUD. Using several databases and keywords, 21 research studies met the inclusion criteria. Most studies used qualitative designs; most quantitative studies were nonexperimental. The studies were conducted mostly in Europe and North America. Descriptions of nurses' practices with people with OUD varied in their levels of specificity and aligned well with the scopes of practice outlined by the American Nurses Association and the International Nurses Society on Addictions. The absence of theories (specifically nursing theories) used in the studies was notable. Theoretically informed studies that move beyond descriptions of nurses' practices are needed to advance discipline-specific knowledge and to showcase the unique contributions of nurses who make significant contributions to lessening adverse outcomes associated with OUD.

Pain Management Nurses' Roles During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Millions of people globally have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. It's impact on pain management nurses roles' remains unknown. AIMS: To explore role changes among pain management nurses performing patient care during the Covid-19 pandemic. DESIGN: Qualitative descriptive research study. SETTINGS: The American Society for Pain Management Nursing's listserv, E-News Brief postings, and snowball sampling. PARTICIPANTS/SUBJECTS: English-speaking registered nurses or advanced practice registered nurses who provided direct patient care since 2020 were eligible. METHOD: Data were collected through individual, semi-structured telephone interviews. An interview guide was used and included questions about participants' characteristics and the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on their roles in clinical work. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: A homogenous sample of eighteen nurses from the United States was interviewed. Their normal roles, roles during the pandemic, and surges in patients with Covid-19 as the condition for role changes emerged from their descriptions. Most participants did not experience significant changes in their normal roles, but all described how their normal functions were impacted by the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: As the infectious variants of this disease evolve or other disastrous conditions occur, further changes to roles may occur. The skill sets of pain management nurses, including understanding assessment of pain across the lifespan, administration of opioids and multimodal analgesia, monitoring of patients, and communicating by educating and consultations, reinforce the significant contribution pain management nurses have as valued team members in times of crisis.

Pain Management and Risks Associated With Substance Use: Practice Recommendations.

Assessing and managing pain while evaluating risks associated with substance use and substance use disorders continues to be a challenge faced by health care clinicians. The American Society for Pain Management Nursing and the International Nurses Society on Addictions uphold the principle that all persons with co-occurring pain and substance use or substance use disorders have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, and receive evidence-based, high quality assessment, and management for both conditions. The American Society for Pain Management Nursing and International Nurses Society on Addictions have updated their 2012 position statement on this topic supporting an integrated, holistic, multidimensional approach, which includes nonopioid and nonpharmacological modalities. Opioid use disorder is used as an exemplar for substance use disorders and clinical recommendations are included with expanded attention to risk assessment and mitigation with interventions targeted to minimize the risk for relapse or escalation of substance use. Opioids should not be excluded for anyone when indicated for pain management. A team-based approach is critical, promotes the active involvement of the person with pain and their support systems, and includes pain and addiction specialists whenever possible. Health care systems should establish policies and procedures that facilitate and support the principles and recommendations put forth in this article.

Veterans' Experiences of an Opioid Specialty Clinic.

OBJECTIVE: Opioid specialty clinics have emerged as an approach for mitigating the risks associated with opioid therapies. Many opioid specialty clinics within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have been described in the extant literature, yet veterans' experiences of these remain absent. This research study was undertaken to describe veterans' responses (e.g., knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs) toward being evaluated in an opioid specialty clinic. DESIGN: Qualitative descriptive research study. SETTING: A VA medical center in the northeast United States. SUBJECTS: Twenty veterans were interviewed between December 2017 and May 2018. METHODS: Veterans' characteristics were extracted from the VA's electronic health record and analyzed with descriptive statistics. Qualitative data about veterans' experiences with the opioid specialty clinic were collected via semistructured interviews (in person or via telephone) and were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Most participants were older, non-Hispanic or non-Latino white men. Generally, veterans had positive experiences in the opioid specialty clinic. However, there was wide variation in their understanding of the purpose of the clinic, who staffed the clinic, and why they had been referred to the clinic. CONCLUSIONS: For veterans prescribed opioid therapies, this clinic served as an adjunct service for ensuring appropriate and safe prescribing. Data from this study can be used to inform interventions to promote veterans' understanding across the total opioid safety clinic experience-referral, actual visit, and follow-up.

The Use of Closing Questions in Qualitative Research: Results of a Web-Based Survey.

BACKGROUND: Scarce and differing reasons for including closing questions in qualitative research exist, but how data generated from these questions are used remains uncertain. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to understand if and how researchers use closing questions in qualitative research, specifically the research questions were: (a) "Why do qualitative researchers include or exclude closing questions during interviews?" and (b) "How do qualitative researchers use data from closing questions?" METHODS: A qualitative descriptive design using a single, asynchronous, web-based, investigator-designed survey containing 14 items was used to collect data. Convenience and snowball sampling were used to recruit participants. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Codes were developed from the qualitative data. Subcategories were derived from similar codes, and these subcategories were further scrutinized and were used to create broad categories. RESULTS: The number of respondents per question ranged from 76 to 99; most identified nursing and sociology as their academic disciplines, lived in the United States, and were involved in qualitative research for 1-10 years. Data, the interview, the interviewee, and the interviewer were broad categories to emerge as reasons for including closing questions. Only one respondent reported a reason for excluding closing questions. The uses of closing question data were described in four broad categories: analysis, data, the interview guide, and inquiry. DISCUSSION: Researchers frequently included closing questions in qualitative studies. The reasons for including these questions and how data are used vary, and support limited previously published literature. One unique reason, adding "new breath" to the interview, emerged. Study findings can aid qualitative researchers in deciding whether to include closing questions.

Factors Affecting Sexual History Taking in a Health Center Serving Homeless Persons.

Low rates of documentation of sexual histories have been reported and research on sexual history taking (SHT) has focused on the content of, barriers to collecting, and interventions to improve documentation of sexual histories. Absent from this literature is an understanding of the contextual factors affecting SHT. To address this gap, a focused ethnography of one health center was conducted. Data were collected through observations of health care encounters and interviews with health care providers (HCPs). No SHT was observed and this was likely influenced by patients' characteristics, communication between patients and HCPs, the prioritization of patients' basic needs, and time constraints imposed upon encounters. Given that the health center studied serves patients experiencing homelessness, behavioral health concerns, and opioid use disorder, findings illuminate areas for future inquiry into a patient population affected by social as well as physiologic determinants of health and potentially at high risk for adverse sexual health outcomes.

Achieving public and global health competencies: A teaching case study of Botswana's cervical cancer screening program.

OBJECTIVES: To design and implement a case study on the cervical cancer screening program in Botswana to teach public and global health competencies to undergraduate nursing students. DESIGN AND SAMPLE: The case study was developed following a review of the literature on the epidemiology and health policies of cervical cancer in Botswana, and an interview with an obstetrician/gynecologist engaged in both clinical practice and research in Botswana. The case study has been implemented over seven semesters to students enrolled in the Nursing in the Community course at the University of Pennsylvania. Approximately 75-100 students are enrolled each semester. MEASURES: Student's perceptions of epidemiologic skills gained and group functioning. Students responded to an open-ended question about lessons learned and offered suggestions to improve the learning experience. RESULTS: Faculty assessment of student deliverables demonstrated that students achieved the learning objectives and mastered necessary competencies. More than 70% (n = 69) of the students indicated that they acquired relevant skills at greater than a satisfactory level. Generally, students had great experiences working in groups measured across five dimensions: engagement/contribution, creativity/resilience, on task/works independently, social interaction/communication, and preparedness. However, isolated cases of poor group functioning were reported for engagement/contribution, and creativity/resilience. CONCLUSION: The case study, which has been revised with respect to length, content and group processes, has been valuable in educating undergraduate nursing students in a more engaging way that mimics real life public health nursing scenarios. Students achieved both public and global health competencies through participation in the case study.

Co-creation of a pedagogical space to support qualitative inquiry: An advanced qualitative collective.

BACKGROUND: Situated in a research-intensive School of Nursing, the Advanced Qualitative Collective (AQC) provides an innovative educational forum for the study of qualitative research by doctoral and postdoctoral scholars. This long-standing collective is guided by a faculty facilitator using a collaborative co-learning approach to address individual and group needs, from the conception of research projects through dissemination of completed qualitative research. This article describes the dynamics of the AQC and the ways a co-created pedagogical entity supports professional development among its diverse members. The informal, participatory style, and dynamic content used by the AQC resists a course structure typical of doctoral education in health sciences, and promotes engagement and self-direction. The AQC provides opportunities for members to examine theoretical frameworks and methodologies rarely addressed within a positivism-dominant learning environment while simultaneously serving as an alternative exemplar for the pedagogy of research.