Improving Pain Management Among the Elderly: A Research Objective

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PART B

This section consists of short answer questions. All questions must be answered.
1. Identify one area of practice that you think research may be required to
improve practice in that area and provide a rationale for why you have
selected that area of practice. (For example, acute care nurses require
more education on the care of patients with dementia)
Pain management among the elderly is one area that research is required. This is
due to the ever increasing ageing population with complex health conditions
such as cancer, arthritis leading to severe pain among the elderly. Research in
this area will therefore reduce pain among the elderly and improve their well-
being.
2. Establish a research objective for the chosen issue. (For example,
“Develop and implement an educational intervention for acute care nurses
on the care of the patient with dementia”)
The objective of research in this particular area is to equip geriatric nurses with
relevant information about pain management of the elderly. This can therefore
be achieved through regular training to ensure that all nurses in the geriatric
department are well versed with different means to main pain among the elderly.
3. Using a nursing database (for example, CINAHL) find one research
article related to the issue identified. Ensure that you compare articles you
find in the database to ensure that the one you select is relevant, reliable
and current. Provide a reference (APA format) for the article below.
Cavalieri, T. A. (2017). Managing pain in geriatric patients. Journal of the
American Osteopathic Association, 107(Supplement 4), ES10.
The aim of this article is to provide different strategies that can be used to
manage pain among the elderly. This is due to the several reports indicating that
elderly patients experience pain due to chronic conditions like cancer and
arthritis. I chose this article since it is very informative and it is also written in a
systematic manner.
4. From the article you have chosen, identify one way in which the research
could be used to change practice. (For example, Dementia Care
workshops for acute care nurses result in higher levels of patient
satisfaction and so Dementia Care workshops will be introduced for all
acute care nurses)
Recent studies note that the aged individuals are either untreated or
undertreated for pain. The studies also note that some of the barriers to proper
management of pain include lack of standardized pain management strategies.
Similar studies illustrate that between 25 and 50% of community living elderly
experience pain but little has been done to avert the health problem. The study
will therefore review different pain management skills such as pharmacological
and non-pharmacological approaches. After the review, the best strategies will
be implemented. The research will therefore improve practice by reducing the
prevalence of pain among elderly and improve on their well-being.