Nurses' assessment of patients with chest pain

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to (a) explore the factors that nurses took into consideration when making an assessment of patients with chest pain and (b) determine their estimation of pain intensity experienced by these patients. Three vignettes consisting of descriptions of patients with either organic, inorganic, and mixed organic/inorganic chest were used. The relationships between selected nurse characteristics and their estimation of pain intensity was also examined. A descriptive, exploratory design was used to answer the research questions. Content analysis was used to examine the factors nurses considered. Identified categories representing factors that frequently occurred were: Vital signs, Quality of Pain, EKG, and Rating of Pain on a Numeric Scale. Identified categories representing factors that less frequently occurred were: Depression, Emotional Stress, Family Support, and Affect. A significant difference in mean ratings of pain was found among the three hypothetical patient vignettes. Significant relationships were found among age, clinical cardiac experience of 6-10 years, and nurses' estimation of pain intensity for patients with organic chest pain. The findings from this study suggest that hypothetical vignettes are useful for determining nurses' abilities to assess chest pain.