Changing unit culture: an interdisciplinary commitment to improve pain outcomes.

Patients discharged from The Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, are contacted post discharge and asked to assess the care provided; specific questions are focused on pain management. Responses to these questions were initially unfavorable: only approximately 72.4% of patients were completely satisfied. An interdisciplinary team was developed on an acute-care unit at the hospital to individualize pain management through daily rounds and improvements in nursing assessment. Kurt Lewin's change theory was utilized to improve patient outcomes and to bolster staff commitment to control pain more effectively--as evidenced by improved patient satisfaction scores to a high of 86% only 3 months following implementation of this new interdisciplinary program.