Factors Relating to Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Pain Management in Inpatients

Abstract

Purpose: To describe factors associated with nurses' attitudes or lack of knowledge regarding pain management in adult inpatients.

Design: Transverse descriptive survey-based study.

Methods: This was a transverse descriptive survey-based study. The population was obtained through nonprobabilistic convenience sampling. The Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain was made available to 470 nurses at a tertiary level hospital. Associations were sought with the unit where assigned, years of experience, specific training on pain, and postgraduate education.

Results: The sample included 134 nurses with a mean age of 41.6 ± 10.8 years; 87% were women, 64% worked rotating shifts, 64% had more than 10 years of experience, and 31% had specific training in pain management. The greatest number of correct responses was obtained from nurses with specific training in pain management (p = .001) and nurses who worked in units of surgical hospitalization (p = .004). The lack of training was associated with a deficit in knowledge and inadequate attitudes about pain management. In nurses with less than 10 years of experience, worse results were observed in knowledge, whereas the unit of work was decisive in the results about attitude (p < .05).

Conclusions: Among the nurses surveyed, some knowledge gaps were detected, as were certain inappropriate attitudes, associated with lack of training, lack of experience, and being assigned to specific hospitalization units.