Quality Improvement in Orthopedic Patient
Despite the challenges involved, identifying opportunities to improve pain management has become the focus of accrediting agencies such as the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in recent years, but studies confirm that much remains to be done to achieve substantive improvements in this area. To gain some fresh insights concerning this ongoing initiative, this paper provides a summary of this initiative and the rationale in support of its selection, the relevance of this issue to healthcare practice and a review of the relevant literature to determine the importance of pain control in orthopedic patients and the adverse effects if pain is not well controlled. An analysis of the implications of these findings to healthcare practice is followed by salient recommendations and conclusions.