Al Wakra Hospital has introduced a new service aimed at improving acute pain management in surgical patients and patients with burn injuries. Al Wakra Hospital is under Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).
The new physician-led service is staffed by a team of three nurses specialised in pain management. There are also plans to increase the number of staff assigned to the service as it expands.
Dr Abdullah Fathi Nazal, a Consultant specialised in Anesthesiology and Pain Management at Al Wakra Hospital, said the new service is part of the ongoing expansions aimed at ensuring that patients have access to the best possible care.
Pain management is a branch of medicine that uses an interdisciplinary approach to ease suffering and improve the quality of life of those living with pain, especially those with severe or chronic pain.
He said that the discipline uses evidence-based guidelines to diagnose and manage pain as part of ensuring the best care of patients.
Dr Nazal added that in general, surgical patients start to feel discomfort and pain after they leave the operating theatre. This leaves medical and nursing teams searching for ways to ease the patient’s pain to keep them comfortable. The newly-formed pain management team will follow each patient from the time they leave the operating theatre until they are discharged from the hospital.
Burn pain management is complex. To achieve a high level of pain control, pain must be regularly and adequately assessed and management tailored to the needs of each patient.
Patient-controlled analgesia, which allows the patient to administer their own pain relief, and lumbar epidural injections are commonly used in the care of patients with acute pain. The dosage of analgesic medication and the pain management method used to relieve pain are determined based on the patient’s medical condition and weight. In cases where the patient is given self-controlled pain management devices, the pain management team provides continuous monitoring to ensure appropriate use of the device.
Dr Nazal said that effective pain management, tailored to the type of wound, the stage of healing, and any necessary surgical interventions, is essential to minimising negative pain influences and maximising recovery, both physical and psychological. Inadequate pain management, he said, is detrimental to the recovery of patients and can create fear and anxiety about undergoing additional treatment, including surgery, and can also result in slow healing.
Quick healing of wounds is essential to limiting the risk of infections and associated medical conditions, including stroke. Faster healing also helps ensure patients spend less time in the hospital, freeing up hospital beds for other patients and helping to reduce the waiting list.
The new acute pain management team has received intensive training during the past year, spanning both theoretical and practical hands-on instruction in addition to working in recovery rooms with patients. The team members currently provide weekly training sessions on pain management for other nurses.
The service will be expanded to include all patients, with more staff being trained and the service being rolled out to other hospitals across HMC. For updates and more information, visit hamad.qa.
Check out Marhaba’s free Health & Wellness guide for more information on the healthcare industry in Qatar.
