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- Bergh, Ingrid, 1956, et al.
(author)
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Descriptions of pain in elderly patients following orthopaedic surgery.
- 2005
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In: Scandinavian journal of caring sciences. - : Wiley. - 0283-9318 .- 1471-6712. ; 19:2, s. 110-8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aims of this study were to investigate what words elderly patients, who had undergone hip surgery, used to describe their experience of pain in spoken language and to compare these words with those used in the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) and Pain-O-Meter (POM). The study was carried out at two orthopaedic and two geriatric clinical departments at a large university hospital in Sweden. Altogether, 60 patients (mean age =77) who had undergone orthopaedic surgery took part in the study. A face-to-face interview was conducted with each patient on the second day after the operation. This was divided into two parts, one tape-recorded and semi-structured in character and one structured interview. The results show that a majority of the elderly patients who participated in this study verbally stated pain and spontaneously used a majority of the words found in the SF-MPQ and in the POM. The patients also used a number of additional words not found in the SF-MPQ or the POM. Among those patients who did not use any of the words in the SF-MPQ and the POM, the use of the three additional words 'stel' (stiff), 'hemsk' (awful) and 'rad(d)(sla)' (afraid/fear) were especially marked. The patients also combined the words with a negation to describe what pain was not. To achieve a more balanced and nuanced description of the patient's pain and to make it easier for the patients to talk about their pain, there is a need for access to a set of predefined words that describe pain from a more multidimensional perspective than just intensity. If the elderly patient is allowed, and finds it necessary, to use his/her own words to describe what pain is but also to describe what pain is not, by combining the words with a negation, then the risk of the patient being forced to choose words that do not fully correspond to their pain can be reduced. If so, pain scales such as the SF-MPQ and the POM can create a communicative bridge between the elderly patient and health care professionals in the pain evaluation process.
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- Engqvist, Inger, et al.
(author)
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Strategies in caring for women with postpartum psychosis--an interview study with psychiatric nurses.
- 2007
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In: Journal of clinical nursing. - : Wiley. - 0962-1067 .- 1365-2702. ; 16:7, s. 1333-42
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- AIM AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore strategies in caring for women with postpartum psychosis used by nurses. BACKGROUND: The most serious type of psychiatric illness in connection with childbirth is postpartum psychosis. Nearly two in 1000 newly delivered women are stricken by postpartum psychosis. Most of these patients need psychiatric care to recover. While earlier studies point to the need for psychiatric care, knowledge of specific nursing strategies in caring for postpartum psychosis patients remains limited. METHODS: Interviews with 10 experienced psychiatric nurses were carried out, transcribed verbatim and an inductive content analysis was made. RESULT: The main strategies for care found in this study were: (i) To create a patient-nurse relationship and (ii) To apply nursing therapeutic interventions. Presence, continuity and nurse-patient partnership contributed to create a relationship and incorporate the rest of the care team. To satisfy the patients' basic needs and feeling of security was the foundation of the nursing therapeutic interventions. Confirmation and giving hope were also used as nursing therapeutics as well as information to the patient and her relatives about her illness. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of the study is that strategies used by nurses are a combination of general and psychiatric nursing approaches but the specificity in caring knowledge for caring patients with postpartum psychosis requires further development. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The result of the study indicates that it is important to organize patient care for postpartum psychosis with continuity and consistency and to support the nurse to create a relationship and therapeutic intervention with the patient. The present study shows the importance of further developing specific nursing theories that can be applied when caring for patients with postpartum psychosis. It also shows the need for further pedagogical education for mental health nurses.
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3. |
- Bergh, Ingrid, 1956, et al.
(author)
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A comparative study of nurses' and elderly patients' ratings of pain and pain tolerance.
- 1999
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In: Journal of gerontological nursing. - 0098-9134 .- 1938-243X. ; 25:5, s. 30-6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The purpose of this study was to compare elderly patients' and nurses' ratings of pain and pain tolerance. Data were collected through structured interviews with the patients. The attending nurses completed a questionnaire after conducting a pain assessment. Independent of each other, patients and nurses were asked to rate on a VAS when pain should be treated (pain tolerance) and pain intensity. The VAS has been used both by patients and nurses. The initial selection consisted of 43 patients; however, 9% (n = 4) were unable to complete the VAS. These patients were not significantly older than those who completed the study (n = 39). The results shows that nurses tend to overestimate mild pain and underestimate severe pain. Nurses rated pain tolerance significantly lower than patients. The results also suggest that nurses with training beyond basic nursing education tend to assess patients' pain more accurately than those without additional training. For patients who reported that they had pain prior to hospitalization, the nurses' pain ratings showed a higher agreement than for those who reported that they did not have pain before being hospitalized. At the time of the interviews, 21% (n = 8) of patients felt that their pain was so great they needed treatment. Those patients also were recognized by the attending nurses as being in pain. To improve elderly patients' pain management, practicing nurses must collaborate with researchers to develop specific empirical research nursing knowledge within geriatric pain management. This research-based knowledge should be incorporated into nurses' clinical practice regarding pain management. Specific guidelines must be developed for the assessment, treatment, and documentation of elderly patients' pain.
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4. |
- Bergh, Ingrid, 1956, et al.
(author)
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Assessing pain and pain relief in geriatric patients with non-pathological fractures with different rating scales.
- 2001
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In: Aging (Milan, Italy). - : Kurtis. - 0394-9532. ; 13:5, s. 355-361
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Although pain is a frequent problem among elderly patients, they are often omitted in clinical trials and few studies have focused on assessing pain relief in this population. The aim of this study was to compare geriatric patients' verbally reported effect of analgesics with changes in pain experience rated with four different rating scales: the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the Graphic Rating Scale (GRS), the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), and the Pain Relief Scale (PRS). Altogether 53 geriatric patients (mean=82 yrs) with non-pathological fractures in 4 geriatric units at a large university hospital were selected. In connection with the administration of analgesics, the patients were asked to "Mark the point that corresponds to your experience of pain just now at rest" on the VAS, GRS and NRS. This was repeated after 1.5-2 hours, and a direct question was asked about whether the analgesic medication given in connection with the initial assessment had had any pain-alleviation effect. Two comparisons were conducted with each patient. The results show that the probability of accomplishing a rating on the VAS, GRS, NRS, and PRS was lower with advancing age in these elderly fracture patients. The correlations between the ratings of the VAS, GRS and NRS were strong and significant (r=0.80-0.95; p<0.001) both at the initial assessments and at the re-assessments. However, the verbally reported effects of the analgesics were often directly opposite to the changes in rated pain. Therefore, application of the VAS, NRS, GRS and PRS for the purpose of assessing pain relief must be combined with supplementary questions that allow the patient to verbally describe possible experience of pain relief.
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6. |
- Bergh, Ingrid, 1956, et al.
(author)
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Pain and its relation to cognitive function and depressive symptoms: a Swedish population study of 70-year-old men and women.
- 2003
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In: Journal of pain and symptom management. - : Elsevier. - 0885-3924 .- 1873-6513. ; 26:4, s. 903-12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of pain and its characteristics, and to examine the association of pain with cognitive function and depressive symptoms, in a representative sample of 70-year-old men and women. Data were collected within the gerontological and geriatric population studies in G?teborg, Sweden (H-70). A sample of 124 men and 117 women living in the community took part in the study. A questionnaire was applied which included four different aspects of pain experience: prevalence, frequency of episodes of pain, duration and number of locations. In close connection to this, depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. The prevalence of pain during the last 14 days was higher in women (79%; n=91) than in men (53%; n=65) (P<0.001). Women (68%; n=78) also reported pain that had lasted for >6 months to a greater extent than men (38%; n=46) (P<0.001). The frequency of episodes of pain was also higher among women, 64% (n=74) reporting daily pain or pain several days during the last 14 days while 37% of the men (n=45) did so (P<0.001). Women (33%, n=38) also reported pain experience from >/=3 locations more often than men (11%; n=13) (P<0.001). On the other hand, the association between depressive symptoms and pain experience was more evident in men than in women. Women were taking significantly more antidepressants compared to men (P<0.03). The results show that pain is common in 70-year-old people and especially in women. However, associations between depressive symptoms and the four aspects of pain experience were more pronounced among men.
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7. |
- Bergh, Ingrid, 1956, et al.
(author)
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Quantification of the pain terms hurt, ache and pain among nursing students.
- 2007
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In: Scandinavian journal of caring sciences. - : Wiley. - 0283-9318 .- 1471-6712. ; 21:2, s. 163-8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this study was to determine the quantitative meaning nursing students ascribe to the pain terms hurt (ont), ache (v?rk) and pain (sm?rta). In total, 549 nursing students filled in a questionnaire including questions about age, gender, and health care work experience. The students were also requested to rate response using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) rating for different statements about hurt, ache and pain. The results show that there were significant differences (p < 0.001) between rated intensity of the statements of hurt, ache and pain. There were, however, large variations in the students' ratings of the pain terms; hurt ranged from 3 to 97 mm, ache from 7 to 97 mm and pain from 27 to 100 mm. There were no significant differences between male and female students regarding their ratings of hurt and ache when they were used to describe the worst self-experienced pain. Female students rated their experience of pain significantly higher (p < 0.001) on the VAS compared with male students. There was no significant correlation between previous experience of health care work and rated intensity of hurt, ache and pain. In conclusion, this study shows that there exist significant differences between the pain terms hurt, ache and pain according to a rating on a VAS. However, the results also demonstrate that there are large individual variations in how the students quantify the fictitious patient statements of hurt, ache and pain.
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8. |
- Bergh, Ingrid, 1956, et al.
(author)
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The elderly patient’s everyday language of pain.
- 2004
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In: Abstract accepterad för presentation vid the 16th Annual Scientific Sessions of the Eastern Nursing Research Society (ENRS). Boston Marriott Quincy Massachusetts, USA, 2004..
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)
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9. |
- Bergh, Ingrid, 1956, et al.
(author)
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Ways of talking about experiences of pain among older patients following orthopaedic surgery.
- 2005
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In: Journal of advanced nursing. - : Wiley. - 0309-2402 .- 1365-2648. ; 52:4, s. 351-9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- AIM: The aim of this study was to examine how older patients who had undergone hip surgery described their experience of pain. BACKGROUND: A verbal report of pain is considered to be the single most reliable indicator of a person's pain experience. When assessing pain, healthcare professionals must be able to interpret the content of pain reports in order to understand older patient's pain experiences. METHODS: The study was carried out in two orthopaedic and two elder care wards in a large university hospital in Sweden in 2000. Altogether, 38 patients with hip replacement (mean age = 75) and 22 patients with hip fracture (mean age = 81) took part. A face-to-face interview was conducted with each patient on the second day after operation. Data were transcribed and analysed using descriptive qualitative content analysis. FINDINGS: Participants expressed their pain in a nuanced and detailed way in everyday language. Four main themes with sub-themes emerged: (a) objectification (localizing; quantifying; characterizing; temporalizing); (b) compensating (substitution; picturing); (c) explaining (functionalizing pain and its relief; externalizing pain and its relief); (d) existentializing (present pain orientation; future pain orientation). CONCLUSIONS: Exploring the ways older patients talk about pain is expected to result in a better understanding of the older patient's need of empathic individualized care and in the optimization of pain management.
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10. |
- Ene Wickström, Kerstin, et al.
(author)
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Pain, psychological distress and health-related quality of life at baseline and 3 months after radical prostatectomy.
- 2006
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In: BMC Nurs. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1472-6955. ; 5:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Inadequate management of postoperative pain is common, and postoperative pain is a risk factor for prolonged pain. In addition to medical and technical factors, psychological factors may also influence the experience of postoperative pain. METHODS: Pain was measured postoperatively at 24, 48, and 72 hr in hospital and after 3 months at home in 140 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP). Patients answered questionnaires about anxiety and depression (HAD scale) and health-related quality of life (SF-36) at baseline and 3 months after surgery. RESULTS: In the first 3 postoperative days, mild pain was reported by 45 patients (32%), moderate pain by 64 (45%), and severe pain by 31 (22%) on one or more days. High postoperative pain scores were correlated with length of hospital stay and with high pain scores at home. Forty patients (29%) reported moderate (n = 35) or severe (n = 5) pain after discharge from hospital. Patients who experienced anxiety and depression preoperatively had higher postoperative pain scores and remained anxious and depressed 3 months after surgery. The scores for the physical domains in the SF-36 were decreased, while the mental health scores were increased at 3 months. Anxiety and depression were negatively correlated with all domains of the SF-36. CONCLUSION: There is a need for nurses to be aware of the psychological status of RP patients and its impact upon patients' experience of postoperative pain and recovery. The ability to identify patients with psychological distress and to target interventions is an important goal for future research.
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