The Influence of Nursing Interventions on Chest Pain

Abstract

Does pain relief involve more than the nurse giving a pain medication, and later checking its effectiveness? A study of twelve patients experiencing 41 episodes of chest pain showed that over half of the nursing interventions observed were ineffective in pain relief. Pain is the most frequent complaint that compels individuals to seek medical assistance (Clark, 1975). Because of the potential risk of death due to myocardial damage, chest pain is accompanied by great anxiety (Clark, 1975). Pain and the resulting anxiety can be physiologically disruptive to the myocardium due to the resulting increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and the provocation of serious ventricular arrhythmias (Houser, 1977). Therefore, the identification of nursing interventions that may alleviate pain and its accompanying anxiety is important. This investigation was undertaken to explore the relationship of specified interventions and pain relief. THE PROBLEM The problem addressed was the following: what is the influence of specified nursing interventions accompanying drug administration on relief of pain of cardiac origin?