The Journey of the Pain Resource Nurse in Improving Pain Management Practices: Understanding Role Implementation

Pain assessment and management continues to be challenging for many nurses. Single educational interventions have proven to be unsuccessful in knowledge retention. This study will assist leaders in nursing in understanding how a 4-day educational program delivered to self-selected pain resource nurses (PRNs) could improve pain assessment and management practices. A focus group study was undertaken at a trisite academic health science center to understand the role implementation of the PRNs and required resources to sustain the role at a unit level. To evaluate the PRN role, a qualitative descriptive study design using focus group interviews was used to answer the following questions: What was the experience of the PRN during role implementation? What barriers and enablers affected the implementation of this role? Organizational support, integration within the interdisciplinary team, and organizational role awareness were key themes highlighted in the focus group results. This article will describe how the three-site academic health science center used the PRN role to foster practice-related change and enhance current knowledge of evidence-based pain management.