Pain Expectations, Experiences and Coping Strategies Used By Post-operative Patients: A Descriptive Phenomelogical Study

Abstract

Objectives Post-operative pain is still an unresolved problem worldwide including limited-resource countries such as Ghana. Earlier studies have mainly focused on postoperative pain experiences of a patient with little attention to their pain expectations and coping strategies, however, exploring these other areas can help to manage post-operative pain better. The current study sought to explore pain expectations, post-operative pain experiences, and coping strategies used by adult surgical patients. Methods A descriptive phenomenological design approach was used to study nine purposively sampled surgical patients receiving care at a regional hospital in Ghana. Participants were individually interviewed before and during the postoperative period to share their opinions on their pain expectations, postoperative pain experiences and coping strategies. The semi-structured individual interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and content analyzed to generate themes which described participants’ accounts. Results Participants comprised six females and three males; their ages ranged from 24 to 40 years and underwent major surgeries. Three main themes were derived from this study, diverse pain expectations and experiences, post-operative pain effects and post-operative pain coping strategies. The study revealed that participants have different pain expectations and experiences, and surgical pain affected their activities of daily living and emotions. Participants coped with the postoperative pain by using personal strategies and seeking support from nurses. Conclusion Pain expectations of surgical patients affect their post-operative pain experiences. Surgical patients use coping strategies in their post-operative pain management. More needs to be done to reduce surgical patients' experience of Post-operative pain.