Is it Feasible? A Quality Improvement Project to Integrate Complementary Therapy Into a Pain Management Program on a Transitional Care Unit.

Background: The cost of pain to society is high, not only in dollars but in physical and emotional suffering. Undertreated pain in the geriatric population can lead to functional impairments and diminished quality of life. A transitional care unit (TCU) described having higher levels of moderate to severe pain than state and national levels in like facilities.

Objective: A team of university faculty and students, and staff members from the TCU developed a quality improvement project to examine the feasibility of integrating complementary therapies to treat pain into clinical practice.

Methods: The team integrated three evidence-based complementary therapies into staff workflow.

Results: The nursing and therapy staff reported minimal to no interruption to their workflow when patients used the complementary therapies. Staff expressed satisfaction with an expanded menu of pain management options. Patients reported statistically significant lower ( = 0.002) pain levels after using the complementary therapies and benefits beyond pain relief, including relaxation, stress reduction, and improved sleep.

Conclusion: Adding complementary therapies to the pain management program was feasible and the patients had less pain along with other benefits when using the therapies with standard care.

Implications For Nursing: Having additional methods for managing pain is beneficial and vital.