People with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) identify pain as their most Back ground: symptom. A range of non-pharmacological methods may help manage RA. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of non-pharmacological nursing guidelines on pain relief among patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Design: Quasi-experimental design was utilized to meet the aim of this study. Setting: This study conducted in rheumatology outpatient's clinics and rheumatology department at Benha University Hospital. Sample: Purposive sample of 151 patients with rheumatoid arthritis divided into study group (55) and control group (55). Tools: Two tools were used in this study; tool (1) Structured interview questionnaire. Tool (II) consists of two parts, Part 1: Observational check list for pain relief, Part 2: Pain Assessment with Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS). Results: there was a marked pain relief among the study group percentage regarding level of pain from 4014 pre-guidelines to %5034 post guidelines compared to control group. There was a marked improvement in the study group percentage of total knowledge from 13034 pre guidelines to 63034 post guidelines. There is a significant statistical differences between study and control group regarding their practice of non-pharmacological measures for pain relief post guideline implementation (p‹1.105) Conclusion: Joint pain was relieved after implementation of non-pharmacological nursing guidelines among the study group. Recommendations: Conduct another study using the developed non-pharmacological guidelines to educate the rheumatology nurses about disease and pain management. |
