Nurses' knowledge and attitudes about pain in hospitalized patients

The purpose of the study was to measure knowledge and attitudes of nursing about pain management in patients before education, immediately after, and 6 months later. The end-point measure was Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems quarterly scores and percentile rank.

This longitudinal, quasi-experimental, quantitative study used survey method with pretest and posttest scores to measure immediate learning and 6 months later to measure sustained changes in knowledge and attitudes for nurses in this facility.

The setting was a 360-bed acute care community hospital in the midsouth.

The sample consisted of approximately 206 bedside nurses who worked in an acute care facility and 164 final posttest participants.

The survey was used in a group setting immediately prior to a didactic learning experience. Immediately after the session, a posttest survey was administered. The 6-month follow-up occurred via an online module developed by the principal investigator. A repeated-measures analysis of variance, a pairwise comparison with a paired t test, and a Bonferroni correction were performed to determine if sustained knowledge and attitudes have changed.

Posttest scores were significantly higher than pretest scores on the Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain immediately after a didactic education session and 6 months later (P < .017).

Six months later, scores remained higher than pretest or immediate posttest scores.

Nurses with a stronger knowledge base may lead to better pain management, improved outcomes, and higher patient satisfaction scores.