Nurses' knowledge and attitudes concerning pain management in an Australian hospital

Pain management is widely acknowledged as being a significant concern for many health professionals. Effective management of patients' pain is a crucial nursing activity dependent on accurate pain knowledge, attitudes, and assessment. The development of a questionnaire by McCaffery and Ferrell allowed the quantification of registered nurses' knowledge and attitudes concerning their pain management decisions. When this questionnaire was applied to registered nurses working in four different hospital departments within an Australian hospital, the results showed that many nurses have inadequate knowledge and attitudinal barriers that may hamper effective pain management decisions. These results demonstrate that Australian registered nurses may have knowledge deficiencies and attitudinal barriers similar to their overseas counterparts.