Innovative Pain Management of the Post-operative Patient

Medical/surgical patients post-operatively report significant pain and are not always satisfied with their pain management. Nurses on medical/surgical units frequently find themselves in a cycle of chasing after their patients\u27 pain. Medical/surgical units historically rely heavily on pharmacological interventions to manage post-operative pain with little focus on non-pharmacological interventions. With the integration of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as an additional tool for care for medical/surgical nurses, they will be empowered to be proactive rather than reactive in post-operative pain management. This project develops an innovative post-operative pain management educational program that integrates Western medicine and CAM into the care of post-operative patients to enhance patients\u27 comfort and promote healing. Innovative post-operative pain management incorporates Kolcaba\u27s Comfort Theory as the framework of the educational program for medical/surgical nurses. In addition Kolcaba\u27s key concepts of healing comfort, relief, ease, and transcendence will transform medical/surgical nurses\u27 efforts of pain control to creating an environment of holist comfort