Due to copyright issues, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. For the faculty to have time to process the order, the order must be received by the faculty at the latest 2 days before the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. After the public defence, please address any inquiries regarding the thesis to the candidate.
Trial Lecture – time and place
See Trial Lecture.
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Professor Johanne Alteren, Molde University College, Norway
- Second opponent: Associate Professor Senada Hajdarevic, Umeå University, Sweden
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Associate Professor Morten Magelssen, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor Mette Brekke, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Professor Ragnhild Hellesø, University of Oslo
Summary
Pain is a common problem for hospitalized patients worldwide. Despite the efforts made to improve pain management in Ethiopia, the number of patients who report having pain remains high. This thesis contributes to a better knowledge of pain management in an Ethiopian hospital, where nurses play a pivotal role in providing care for the patients in their recovery process.
The aim of the thesis was to evaluate a nurse-based pain management programme, which consisted of two components: 1) an in-service nursing education programme and 2) reorganizing the nursing care services to rounding. This study was conducted in the Ethiopian University Medical Center (JUMC) and is the first of its kind to address professional and systemic impediments to adequate pain management in a resource-limited hospital setting.
We found that the context-specific in-service nursing education programme had strengthened the nurses’ knowledge and attitude towards pain management.
Based on the data collected from patients’ samples before and after the implementation of the programme, we observed that the patients reported lower pain intensity and interference with physical and emotional functions, and the level of pain interference with relationships and negative feelings, such as anxiety, depression, feeling frightened and helpless, became significantly lower. Moreover, the patients experienced an increased use of pharmacological agents.
Similarly, the response time for the nurses to provide pain relief was shortened and the patients expressed increased satisfaction with the information and care they received in general.
Overall, the findings from this study highlight the importance of contextualising pain management programmes. The lessons learned from the study may be useful in improving pain management as a continuous effort in Ethiopia.
Additional information
Contact the research support staff.