Rationale and key points

Acute post-operative pain is common among patients in secondary care settings, and the alleviation of this pain is a principal responsibility for all healthcare professionals, including nurses. To achieve this, it is essential to regularly undertake comprehensive pain assessments, using validated pain assessment tools, for all patients who have undergone a surgical procedure. Inadequate pain assessment may lead to ineffective or inappropriate pain management, which can adversely affect the patient’s recovery and increase their risk of developing chronic pain.

•  Pain is a subjective experience and therefore requires individualised, comprehensive assessment and management interventions.

•  The assessment process for patients with acute pain is fundamental to understanding the patient’s current status, informing differential diagnoses regarding the underlying cause of the pain, providing appropriate treatment and monitoring, and evaluating the effectiveness of treatment.

•  Pain assessment should not be undertaken as a one-off care activity; it should be completed whenever a patient reports pain and repeated following pharmacological and/or non-pharmacological interventions.

Reflective activity

‘How to’ articles can help you to update your practice and ensure it remains evidence-based. Apply this article to your practice. Reflect on and write a short account of:

•  How this article might improve your practice when undertaking a comprehensive pain assessment with patients experiencing acute post-operative pain.

•  How you could use this information to educate nursing students or colleagues on the appropriate actions to take when undertaking a comprehensive pain assessment with patients experiencing acute post-operative pain.