The Effect of Pain Management Education on Nurses' Pain Knowledge and Attitudes.

BACKGROUND

Pain is a nursing diagnosis. As such, it should be evaluated and recorded regularly. Nurses should possess a high level of pain management knowledge and a positive attitude toward pain, as these are the most important factors affecting pain control and management in children.

AIM: To evaluate the effect of the pain management training provided to pediatric nurses on their pain knowledge and attitudes.

METHODS

The study, conducted as a pretest-posttest experiment with a control group, was carried out from January-March 2019 with 61 nurses in the institutions of the Ministry of Health in Turkey. The content of the pain management for children education consisted of the definition of pain, pain theories, factors affecting pain, pain in children, the effects of pain on children, pain symptoms in children, perception of pain according to the developmental levels of children, false beliefs, and facts about pain, pain assessment, and factors preventing pain control in children. Data were obtained using the Personal Information Form, the Pediatric Pain Information form, and an Attitude Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a chi-square test, a t test, and validity and reliability analyses. All ethical principles were adhered to.

RESULTS

No significant difference was found between the nurses' pain knowledge and attitudes on the pretest scores in the experimental and control groups, while the mean posttest scores of the nurses in the experimental group increased significantly (p < .001). As for the pain and knowledge sub-dimensions of nurses in the experimental and control groups, no significant difference was found between the pretest scores for care, pain physiology, painless medication methods, pain relief with medication, pain psychology, and sociology. The mean posttest scores in all subdimensions increased significantly in favor of nurses in the experimental group (p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Mean posttest scores of pain knowledge and attitude and subdimensions of the nurses in the experimental group increased significantly, indicating that nurses' knowledge deficiencies in the realm of strong pediatric pain management can be overcome by education, and that their attitudes can be improved.