Date
12-4-2025
Department
School of Nursing
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Chair
Vickie B. Moore
Keywords
non-pharmacologic pain management, nursing education, documentation compliance, outpatient surgery, quality improvement
Disciplines
Nursing
Recommended Citation
Arthur, Camryn Brooke, "Improving Education Related to the Use of Two Non-Pharmacologic Pain Interventions Before the Initiation of Pharmacologic Therapy in Outpatient Surgery" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7719.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7719
Abstract
In outpatient surgery, nurses are required to perform two non-pharmacologic pain interventions before administering medication, but adherence to documentation of this protocol has been inconsistent. This project evaluated whether a targeted reeducation program could improve nurses’ knowledge, compliance, and documentation of the medication protocol. A quasi-experimental pre/post design was implemented in an outpatient surgical unit at a Central Virginia hospital. Sixteen nurses completed knowledge assessments, and 390 patient charts (pre: 194; post: 196) were audited for documentation of interventions and pain scores (0–10 scale). Results from the post-education assessment showed the nurses achieved complete accuracy across knowledge items, with previous gaps mainly in items pertaining to policy and intervention goals. Documentation compliance improved from 20% to 58%. The most frequent interventions—diversionary activities, repositioning, and cold therapy—remained consistent but were more clearly documented after education. Mean pain scores showed no significant change (pre: 4.97; post: 5.09). The reeducation program effectively increased nurses’ knowledge and adherence to institutional policy, strengthening evidence-based, multimodal pain management practices, and supporting ongoing quality improvement.
