Abstract
Background:
Pain is a symptom that affects quality of life negatively for many people. As a person gets older, the symptoms will increase and more than 50 % of the elderly in the municipal health care is expected to have some sort of pain. This makes pain management a key question.
Aim:
The aim of this study was to describe what nurses perceive affect pain management for older people.
Method:
The study is based on interviews with 18 nurses from two municipalities in Sweden. The method used was qualitative content analysis.
Results:
Four categories affecting pain management were revealed: Proficiency, communication, organization and treatment strategies. Within each category three to four sub-categories were formed, such as medicine and older, documentation, work environment and pharmacological treatment. Several variations were revealed within each sub- categories. The results showed possibilities for good pain relief but the lack of tailored pain assessment tools, communication and treatment strategies tailored for older patients in pain made it difficult. The emerging theme was an unstructured organization makes it difficult to provide good pain relief
Conclusion:
If evidence-based pain management strategies including pain assessment tools adapted in municipal health were developed, more patients should receive adequate pain treatment