Comparing Patient Experiences Before and After Re-Organizing Inpatient Pain Care: A Before and After Study

Abstract Background: Inadequate pain care is a significant problem for patients during hospitalization, particularly in Ethiopia. Evidence has shown that work process re-organization improves patient-reported outcomes.This study aimed to compare patients’ experiences before and after re-organizing inpatient pain care Method: A quasi-experimental design on a separate sample was conducted between October 1, 2016, and June 15, 2017. Participants of the study were patients admitted to the four inpatient units (medical, surgical, maternity, and gynaecology) of Jimma Medical Centre. Seven hundred eighty-two (Survey 1: N=256; Survey 2: N=259; Survey 3: N= 267) patients out of 845 patients invited to participate (92.5%) in three consecutive surveys were included in the analysis. A patient survey questionnaire adapted from a Brief Pain Inventory, the American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire, and Pain Treatment Satisfaction Scale was used. Data were mainly analysed using ANOVA. A significant difference between samples was declared at a P-value of less than 0.05.Results: Patients reported experiences with pain care significantly increased after re-organizing in-hospital pain care. More specifically, although there was a growing misfit between information provided and adequacy, staff responsiveness within 30 minutes, and patient satisfaction with pain management significantly increased. These increments were statistically significant with p < 0.05. Conclusion: Re-organizing in-hospital pain care improves patient-reported pain care experiences by changing both nurses’ technical capacity and the work process at inpatients’ units