Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To describe and interpret the complexities of the pain experienced by persons with painful pressure ulcers.
DESIGN: Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenology.
SETTING AND SUBJECTS: Ten participants with pressure ulcers hospitalized in an acute-care community hospital were interviewed.
METHODS: Multiple taped interviews, transcripts, and field notes were collected over an 8-month period. Data analysis occurred over a 16-month period and included an initial process of naming the text, identifying themes, and writing the interpretations of each participant's story. Secondary analysis comprised reading across the texts for commonalities and shared meanings. These data were related to other literature sources, shared with a team of researchers familiar with the Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenology process, and with wound, ostomy, and continence nurses.
RESULTS: A total of 22 themes and 1 constitutive pattern were identified. Participants with varying stages of pressure ulcers shared poignant stories about their pain. Many related their accounts and instances of actions by health personnel and the treatment interventions that were painful. Some related their accounts of communication failures that contributed to stress, tension, and anxiety.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study clearly indicate the need for increased attention to pain assessment and pain management in nursing education, nursing practice, and nursing research. The findings also suggest that the commonly used definition of pain is insufficient and needs revision.