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It is currently estimated that the lack of adequate pain management affects 80% of the global population and the phenomenon poses a serious problem in more than 150 countries. On a national level, the greatest burden of inadequate treatment is borne, among others, by elderly patients. The purpose of the paper was to compare the prevalence of barriers to optimum post-operative pain management in elderly patients, observed by nurses in a clinical, provincial and municipal hospital in Poland. The research project was a multi-center one and took over a year. The study was questionnaire-based. It used the Polish version of the Nurses’ Perceived Obstacles to Pain Assessment and Management Practices questionnaire. The study included a total of 1602 nurses working at a clinical, provincial and municipal hospital.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify Polish nurses' experiences and perceptions about the barriers to postoperative pain management in older adults. Design The study was conducted using a dedicated questionnaire. Methods Eleven hospitals participated in this study. The project involved 1,602 nurses working on surgical hospital wards. A descriptive exploratory survey and a qualitative content analysis were used. Findings Access to journals on evidence-based practice related to pain assessment and management in elderly patients was assessed as less important by the respondents. Knowledge drawn from the media and scientific and medical journals was assessed by the respondents as unsatisfactory. The greatest barrier to nurses was that scientific articles are published in English. Conclusions Nurses' awareness of evidence-based practice increases with their education. Among the key problems is the lack of available professional publications in the Polish literature, ignorance of English, shortage of time, and lack of support from chief physicians of the ward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In 2005-2050, the global population of elderly people will increase by 12%. This will lead to increased demand for such healthcare services as hospital care or surgical interventions. Pain in elderly patients is a substantial problem. Insufficiently controlled postoperative pain continues to be a widespread phenomenon. Pain management in Poland is usually based on nursing care supervised by an anesthesiologist or surgeon. The aim of the study was to identify barriers to effective nurse-controlled analgesia in postoperative pain management in elderly patients in hospitals with and without a Hospital Without Pain certificate.Material and Methods: The study was conducted after the approval of the study protocol by the Independent Bioethics Committee for Scientific Research of the Medical University of Gdansk. The study project was multicenter and was conducted from July 2012 to December 2013. The research was questionnaire-based and used the Polish version of the Nurses' Perceived Obstacles to Pain Assessment and Management Practices questionnaire. The project included 676 nurses from hospitals awarded the Hospital Without Pain Certificate and 926 respondents from hospitals without the certificate.Results: After calculating the overall average result in particular groups, healthcare system-related problems were first among the barriers hindering pain management in elderly patients M = (C = 3.81, N/C = 3.87). Patient-related barriers were second (M = 3.77). Physician- and nurse-related barriers took the subsequent positions, with very similar scores M = (C = 3.47, N/C = 3.44) and M = (C = 3.46, N/C = 3.44), respectively.Conclusions: The greatest barriers to pain management in elderly patients are related to the healthcare system. Nurses from Hospital Without Pain certified hospitals devoted significantly more time to relieving pain through non-pharmacological methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]