Course Overview

This Ausmed Course addresses the principles of managing common postoperative pain, how to identify a high-risk patient, and the medications commonly used to improve the patient experience.

Topics

• Pain and high-risk patients
• Principles of postoperative pain management
• Types of medications used in postoperative pain management

Need

Postoperative pain is a significant concern for patients after surgical procedures and remains to be a subjective experience with each patient experiencing their version of pain. To ensure optimal care post-surgery and improve patient outcomes, healthcare professionals must stay up-to-date with current management strategies of postoperative pain management.

Healthcare professionals should have techniques to help identify a patient at high risk of experiencing postoperative pain. Further, healthcare professionals need to understand medications commonly used in pain management so that they can be administered efficiently and appropriately.

Purpose

The purpose of this Ausmed Course is to provide registered nurses and other healthcare professionals with education regarding postoperative pain management for patients after surgery.

Learning Outcomes

• Describe the types of pain and identify a patient who is at high risk of experiencing postoperative pain.
• Apply management strategies and medication knowledge to help improve postoperative pain for the patient.

Target Audience

All healthcare professionals who routinely work in a postoperative environment and are required to care for patients experiencing postoperative pain.

Disclosure

No conflict of interest exists for anyone in the position to control content for this activity. Wherever possible, generic or non-proprietary names of medications or products have been used.

Educators

Presented by

Suzanne Querruel View profile

Suzanne Querruel is an associate lecturer at Charles Sturt University and a nurse educator with a particular expertise in perianaesthesia nursing. She has taught at a wide variety of tertiary institutions, tutoring and lecturing at the Bachelor of Nursing program for Western Sydney University and coordinating the Westmead Private Hospital anaesthetic program. Suzanne is passionate about advancing the perioperative nursing field.

Peer reviewed by

Julie Lee View profile