This study, guided by Orem's self-care model of nursing, compared the effect of two education interventions on post-discharge knowledge, pain management (use of pain relieving interventions), and pain intensity using a 2-group pretest-posttest study design with random assignment to control or experimental group. The sample included adult surgical outpatients discharged less than 24 hours following an open or laparoscopic abdominal or inguinal outpatient surgical procedure performed under general anesthesia. The control group received only minimal general information related to taking pain medication “as needed” (routine pain education); the experimental group received specific information about patient-related barriers to pain management and the effective use of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain relieving interventions (routine pain education plus booklet). Pretest data collection occurred before surgery; posttest data collection occurred by telephone on postoperative days one, four, and seven.; Two-way repeated measures ANOVA were used to evaluate differences between education group, time, and interaction between group and tine. Results were reported for two sets of subjects: the 120 who completed the first two interviews (pretest and postoperative day one) and the 79 who completed all four interviews.; At pretest, control and experimental groups were similar on all variables. From pretest to postoperative day one, the experimental group experienced a greater increase in pain management knowledge (total score and addiction subscale) than the control group with the increase in knowledge for both groups remaining stable through postoperative day seven. However, there was no significant difference between control and experimental groups on postoperative days one, four, or seven in the use of pain relieving interventions (pharmacological and non-pharmacological), pain intensity, or pain interference with daily activities.; Pain management education facilitated an increase in knowledge, but did not result in an increase in the use of pain relieving interventions. Education alone may be insufficient to change behavior; development of more powerful interventions to facilitate an increase in the use of pain relieving interventions by surgical outpatients are needed. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.
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