• Timothy Joseph Sowicz, Mitchell R Knisely, Staja Q Booker, Jinbing Bai, Anitha Saravanan, and MarieBarbara StBSThe University of Iowa College of Nursing, Iowa City, Iowa..
• The University of Arizona College of Nursing, Tucson, Arizona. Electronic address: sowicz@email.arizona.edu.
• Pain Manag Nurs. 2022 Feb 1; 23 (1): 9-16.

BackgroundMillions of people globally have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. It's impact on pain management nurses roles' remains unknown.AimsTo explore role changes among pain management nurses performing patient care during the Covid-19 pandemic.DesignQualitative descriptive research study.SettingsThe American Society for Pain Management Nursing's listserv, E-News Brief postings, and snowball sampling.Participants/SubjectsEnglish-speaking registered nurses or advanced practice registered nurses who provided direct patient care since 2020 were eligible.MethodData were collected through individual, semi-structured telephone interviews. An interview guide was used and included questions about participants' characteristics and the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on their roles in clinical work. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.ResultsA homogenous sample of eighteen nurses from the United States was interviewed. Their normal roles, roles during the pandemic, and surges in patients with Covid-19 as the condition for role changes emerged from their descriptions. Most participants did not experience significant changes in their normal roles, but all described how their normal functions were impacted by the pandemic.ConclusionsAs the infectious variants of this disease evolve or other disastrous conditions occur, further changes to roles may occur. The skill sets of pain management nurses, including understanding assessment of pain across the lifespan, administration of opioids and multimodal analgesia, monitoring of patients, and communicating by educating and consultations, reinforce the significant contribution pain management nurses have as valued team members in times of crisis.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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