Charlotta Wikström

Assistant Professor Nursing Science
Department of Nursing , School of Health and Welfare
Head of Discipline

Research

Hospitalization after major surgery have been rapidly reduced, which increases the importance of effective pain management. The Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) is a scale that has been shown to be useful in assessing pain. The purpose of Lotta's research was to investigate how healthcare professionals and patients use instruments for assessment of pain during inpatient surgery. Furthermore, the possibility of using patients' assessments with the NRS as a description of patients' daily average pain experience and how these values ​​reflected the impact on recovery in the first postoperative days was studied. The project was carried out in collaboration with Region Jönköping, Kalmar and Växjö.

Ongoing projects

Lotta's research concerns self-care and lifestyle changes with the development of both "face to face" and tele/digital support.

Shortened hospital stays in connection with surgery have given patients increased responsibility for self-care. E-health is a rapidly growing area that both the healthcare organization and patients and their relatives can use. A digital program for self-care has been created with the aim of studying its potential for support after inpatient surgery. The project is carried out in collaboration with Region Jönköping.

Lotta also participates in research that concerns person-centered self-care within standardized care processes with a focus on colorectal cancer care. The project is carried out in Region Kalmar and Linköping. She also participates in a project that studies self-care after a recent cardiovascular event. The project is carried out in a province in China.

In a newly started project in Region Linköping and Jönköping, the development of a method support for nursing via telephone in long-term pain conditions is planned.

Biography

Lotta has been a nurse in surgical care, intensive care and recovery units since the mid-1980s. The work as a pain nurse in postoperative care has raised several issues that have been studied. In recent years, Lotta has combined her position as a lecturer at the Department of Nursing with clinical work at Ryhov County Hospital. In the Jönköping Region, Lotta has led a regional group that has worked on developing care for postoperative pain. Lotta is a board member of the Swedish Nurses Association in the field of pain.

Article

Cheng, L., Wang, W., Wikström, L., Mårtensson, J. (2025). Moving forward despite obstacles: A qualitative study on healthy lifestyle adjustments among patients with coronary heart disease after their first percutaneous coronary intervention International Journal of General Medicine, 18, 1451-1461. More information
Cheng, L., Wang, W., Wikström, L., Mårtensson, J. (2024). The Association between Depression, Self-efficacy, and Health-related Quality of Life Among Chinese Patients Undergoing Their First Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL HEALTH AND BEHAVIOR, 7(4), 164-171. More information
Wikström, L., Schildmeijer, K., Nylander, E., Eriksson, K. (2022). Patients' and providers' perspectives on e-health applications designed for self-care in association with surgery - a scoping review. More information
Granath, A., Eriksson, K., Wikström, L. (2022). Healthcare workers' perceptions of how eHealth applications can support self-care for patients undergoing planned major surgery BMC Health Services Research, 22. More information
Wikström, L., Nilsson, M., Eriksson, K. (2020). The association of patients' daily summarized self-rated “real-time” pain scores with physical recovery after major surgery – A repeated measurement design Nursing Open, 7(1), 307-318. More information
Eriksson, K., Wikström, L., Broström, A., Pakpour, A. (2020). Predictors for Early Physical Recovery for General and Orthopedic Patients after Major Surgery: Structural Equational Model Analyses Pain Management Nursing, 21(4), 371-378. More information
Wikström, L., Nilsson, M., Broström, A., Eriksson, K. (2019). Patients’ self-reported nausea: Validation of the Numerical Rating Scale and of a daily summary of repeated Numerical Rating Scale scores Journal of Clinical Nursing, 28(5-6), 959-968. More information
Eriksson, K., Årestedt, K., Broström, A., Wikström, L. (2019). Nausea intensity as a reflector of early physical recovery after surgery Journal of Advanced Nursing, 75(5), 989-999. More information
Eriksson, K., Wikström, L., Fridlund, B., Årestedt, K., Broström, A. (2017). Association of pain ratings with the prediction of early physical recovery after general and orthopaedic surgery - A quantitative study with repeated measures Journal of Advanced Nursing, 73(11), 2664-2675. More information
Wikström, L., Eriksson, K., Fridlund, B., Nilsson, M., Årestedt, K., Broström, A. (2017). The clinical applicability of a daily summary of patients’ self-reported postoperative pain - a repeated measure analysis Journal of Clinical Nursing, 26(23-24), 4675-4684. More information
Eriksson, K., Wikström, L., Fridlund, B., Årestedt, K., Broström, A. (2016). Patients’ experiences and actions when describing pain after surgery – A critical incident technique analysis International Journal of Nursing Studies, 56, 27-36. More information
Wikström, L., Eriksson, K., Fridlund, B., Årestedt, K., Broström, A. (2016). Healthcare professionals’ descriptions of care experiences and actions when assessing postoperative pain – a critical incident technique analysis Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 30(4), 802-812. More information
Eriksson, K., Wikström, L., Årestedt, K., Fridlund, B., Broström, A. (2014). Numeric rating scale: patients' perceptions of its use in postoperative pain assessments Applied Nursing Research, 27(1), 41-46. More information
Wikström, L., Eriksson, K., Årestedt, K., Fridlund, B., Broström, A. (2014). Healthcare professionals' perceptions of the use of pain scales in postoperative pain assessments Applied Nursing Research, 27(1), 53-58. More information
Eriksson, K., Wikström, L., Lindblad-Fridh, M., Broström, A. (2013). Using mode and maximum values from the Numeric Rating Scale when evaluating postoperative pain management and recovery Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22(5-6), 638-647. More information

Doctoral thesis

Wikström, L. (2017). The clinical utility of patients’ self-rated postoperative pain after major surgery – the perspective of healthcare professionals' (Doctoral thesis, Jönköping: Jönköping University, School of Health and Welfare). More information

Book chapter

Eriksson, K., Wikström, L. (2021). Akut smärta. In: E.-K. Hultgren (Ed.), Distriktssköterskans specialistområden (pp. 185 -213). Lund: Studentlitteratur AB More information