Introduction Pain in the prehospital setting is poorly managed. Various methods can be used to address poor pain management, one of which is education. The guiding plan and road-map for education is the curriculum document, which in turn can be guided by a curriculum and competency framework. The content and structure of current pain management education in prehospital emergency care is unknown.
Aim
The aim of this research is to develop a curriculum and competency framework to guide the design of contextually relevant and appropriate pain management curricula in prehospital emergency care. The research will also explore and map current pain management curricula and educational approaches.
Methods
Study 1 will gather and synthesise evidence of sufficient and appropriate pain management practice using systematic evidence synthesis based on and Evidence Informed Decision Making Approach. The research will draw conclusions and make recommendations as to sufficient pain management practice.
Study 2 will use document content analysis to map and describe the content of current pain management curricula and regulatory standards.
Study 3 will use Content Analysis of qualitative data derived from interviews with prehospital emergency care educators, to determine current approaches to education.
Study 4 will use a Delphi Technique to obtain expert consensus on a curriculum and competency framework, which has been informed by the findings of the preceding studies.
Conclusion
The research aims to produce a comprehensive and evidence informed curriculum and competency framework to guide the design of pain management curriculum which is portable across contexts.