Pain and the administration of analgesia: what nurses say

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Abstract
• Pain of moderate to severe intensity continues to be an important problem for many hospitalized patients. • Nurses spend more time with patients than any other health professional group and have a key role to play in the management of patients' pain. • This paper reports the findings from a series of focus group interviews which were undertaken to explore nurses' perceptions regarding pain and the administration of narcotic analgesia. • Themes identified from participants' comments related to (1) the pivotal role of nurses in pain management; (2) nursing assessment and pain management decisions (3) individual factors influencing nurses' pain management decisions and (4) the influence of others on nurses' pain management decisions. • These findings have implications for further research and the development of innovative educational strategies.