The basis of postoperative complex treatment is effective postoperative pain management, which can reduce occurrence of postoperative complications and, simultaneously, the time of patients’ hospitalization. It is possible to fight the pain with the application of current knowledge and available treatment methods, but it requires an excellent collaboration of the whole therapeutic staff. The key role in the fight against pain is played by nurses who spend most of the time with the patients and they can also identify the patient with pain. It is important to educate the nursing staff so they can assess pain intensity using the available scales of measuring it, take actions to alleviate the pain, document the results, and educate the patient. This article sets out to analyse the role of nurses in the fight against postoperative pain.

Key words: postoperative pain, postoperative pain management, role of nurses.