Abstract
Background: Many aspects of the recovery from CT surgery may inhibit patients from achieving what they see as adequate pain control. It is important to recognize this pattern and provide education to adequately prepare patients for their recovery, as it has been demonstrated that preoperative education influences positive outcomes. Additionally, The Joint Commission requires that hospitals assist in developing realistic expectations about pain management which are shared with patients.|Problem: Cardiothoracic surgery patients begin their surgical experience with unrealistic expectations for the postoperative period and the applied pain management strategies.|Purpose: The purpose of the proposed quality improvement project is to better prepare patients for the postoperative pain experience by implementing pain-specific educational materials.|Methods: The change was the delivery of an educational booklet, Pain Relief After Surgery, to patients undergoing elective open-heart surgery. Patients were placed into either an intervention (received booklet) or control group (received nothing) based on a coin flip. A questionnaire was administered at discharge assessing pain interference and overall benefit of the project materials.|Results: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and staffing issues severely affected both the total number of patients included in the project and staff buy-in for administering the discharge surveys.|Conclusion: The timing of implementing a successful quality improvement is as important as the project design itself. During the COVID-19 pandemic, quality improvement resources were directed towards pandemic-related projects. Additionally, an essential component of the project was lost with the untimely change in clinical leadership, which made the project a footnote to organizational priorities.