Journal of clinical nursing
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As part of trust-wide practice development project to improve post-operative pain management, a descriptive study was conducted in the orthopaedic directorate of a large teaching hospital in the north of England. Sixty-five patients were included in this prospective study. Patients were interviewed post-operatively about their pain experience, and present and worst pain scores were recorded. ⋯ Reliance on pharmacological methods of pain relief was evident and interventions to help patients cope with night time pain were rarely documented. The results are discussed in light of a theoretical framework for acute pain management and current research. Implications for practice are discussed and areas for further research are suggested.
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The aim of this study is to explore and describe the new mother's experiences of postpartum care. It is part of an ongoing clinical longitudinal research project studying experiences of health, suffering and care and the organizational culture of Finnish maternity care. Postpartum care is seldom either technological or dramatic and has been shown to take low priority in both practice and research. ⋯ Other new mothers are caring towards the woman reciprocally, sharing the same situation, helping one another and learning together. Three challenges in postpartum care emerge from this study. These are to understand the meaning of caring, to involve family and other new mothers more consciously, and to see the woman as a new mother who needs both to care and be cared for both by her family and friends and by professional carers.