Influence of Scheduled Analgesics Administration on Surgical Patients’ Pain Relief in Teaching Hospitals in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Pain is a serious problem for surgical patients during the post-operative period. Surgical patients receiving analgesics for pain management after surgery expect to achieve pain relief. However, current evidence revealed that some patients in teaching hospitals in Port Harcourt do not achieve pain relief during the post-operative period. When patients do not achieve pain relief, they could become upset and frustrated with the care they received, leading to complaints and damage to the reputation of the teaching hospitals. Hence, this study determined the influence of scheduled analgesics administration on surgical patients’ pain relief in teaching hospitals in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.The study utilized survey research design to answer the objectives. The population was 3854 comprising 250 surgical nurses, 1802 surgical patients and 1802 medication charts in teaching hospitals in Port Harcourt. Krejcie and Morgan table was used to obtain the sample size of 152 nurses, 317 patients and 317 medication charts. Multistage sampling method was used to select the participants. A validated questionnaire which was partly adapted, and medication charts audit checklist were used for data collection. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the constructs ranged from 0.74 to 0.90. A response rate of 87.1% over all was achieved. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.Findings revealed that scheduled analgesics administration had significant positive influence on surgical patients’ pain relief (R2 = .075, β = 0.273, p <0.05, F(1, 144) = 11.626, p < 0.05). Further findings showed that on the basis of the criterion mean of 3.0, surgical patients’ level of pain relief was very high (M = 1.75). The study concludes that scheduled analgesics administration enhances surgical patients’ pain relief in teaching hospitals in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The study recommends that surgical nurses should follow the analgesics schedule prescribed for patients after surgery to increase and sustain pain relief among surgical patients. Keywords: Pain relief, Scheduled analgesics administration, Surgical patients, Teaching Hospitals DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/88-07 Publication date: April 30th 202