One experienced nurse described this process in the following quote:
I guess that we have too little time for sharing information, advising each patient, and providing routine care for patients in pain. Some of the staff don’t assess pain scores and also don’t reassess after administering to their patients. I am always assessing the patients’ pain scores that were inconsistent between nurse aides and me … by asking the patients questions like, ‘Do you feel pain?” Also, I spend more time conversing with the patients in order to understand and investigate their problems. I thought that is what nursing staff should do when caring for their patients… (Advanced 5)
The nurses’ abilities to measure pain varied between novice and expert nurses with regards to the accuracy of the pain assessment and their decision-making. All of the nurses expressed a well-intentioned effort to assist the patients in communicating their pain level. However, in order to prevent delay in the treatment of the patients’ pain, novice nurses remain under the supervision by an advanced beginner or competent level and/or expert nurse