A review of postoperative pain assessment records of nurses

•Documentation is important as a means of monitoring the quality of pain.•We found that the postoperative pain was not assessed properly as recommended in the acute pain guidelines.•In contrast to postoperative pain guidelines, nearly half of the all analgesic injections were administered by intramuscular route.•No non- pharmacological intervention was reported in the nursing records.•Nurses should increase the awareness on the pain assessment records for effective pain management.