Journal article
Pain Care Management in the Emergency Department: A Retrospective Study to Examine One Program's Effectiveness
Journal of emergency nursing, Vol.38(5), pp.429-434
09/2012
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/105299
PMID: 21764434
Abstract
No clear consensus exists regarding the most appropriate approach to reducing repetitive ED visits for pain complaints. These visits create a burden on health care resources and may contribute to inappropriate and excessive use of opioid medications. The purpose of this study was to examine the pain management program in 1 emergency department (1) to determine whether ED visits significantly decreased among program enrollees; (2) to quantify program interventions applied to enrollees; and (3) to explore relationships between enrollee characteristics (sex, age, comorbidities, health coverage plans) and the program's interventions and outcomes.
A retrospective, descriptive, correlational design was used to examine the medical records of 134 patients who were enrolled in a pain care management program during a 1-year period.
Study subjects' ED visits were reduced by 77%, from 3,689 total visits during the pre-enrollment year to 852 in the post-enrollment year (P < .001). As a result of the program, patients were referred to primary care providers (58%), addiction specialists (14%), dentists (4%), neurosurgeons (4%), and neurologists (4%). The most common pain management program interventions were narcotic restriction (65%), establishment of a non-narcotic treatment regimen (57%), and enactment of a “1 pharmacy/1 provider” restriction (23%).
This study supports existing evidence that patients with an excessive number of ED visits for pain-related complaints can be managed with a proactive pain care management program that includes coordination with a primary care provider and a supportive ED medical staff.
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Details
- Title
- Pain Care Management in the Emergency Department: A Retrospective Study to Examine One Program's Effectiveness
- Creators
- Bat MastersonMarian Wilson
- Publication Details
- Journal of emergency nursing, Vol.38(5), pp.429-434
- Academic Unit
- Nursing, College of
- Publisher
- Mosby, Inc
- Identifiers
- 99900546850801842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article