BC Children’s recognized pain management as one of the most challenging areas for day surgery families. To improve the situation a Patient Experience Scientist at UBC designed a study to learn about pain management communication between families and nurses. The analysis found nurses did very well with their pain instructions but parents still experienced confusion around instructions to manage their child’s pain. With input from stakeholders and patient family partners, a pain management handout was developed for families, to be filled out by the surgeon and checked by the nurse during discharge communications. The pamphlet includes a detailed written medication schedule for the first 24 hours, plus information on pain management. In the next phase of research, BC Children’s will look to improve the patient and family experience in the day surgery waiting room, potentially by using social robots as a positive distraction.
Engagement