Nurses' beliefs and self-reported practices related to pain assessment in nonverbal patients

This study explored the beliefs and self-reported practices of nurses related to pain assessment in nonverbal patients. A convenience sample of 74 nurses from one Midwestern community hospital responded to a researcher-developed questionnaire based on established pain standards and clinical practice recommendations. Areas of nonverbal pain assessment beliefs and practices with low scores were identified. One-way analysis of variance with Tukey post hoc tests showed a significant difference in belief scores based on unit worked. No significant differences in beliefs or practices were found based on age, years of experience, or degree. Paired t tests showed significant differences between general pain beliefs and nonverbal pain beliefs, between general pain beliefs and practices, and between nonverbal pain beliefs and practices. Additional testing using Pearson correlation coefficients demonstrated that only three out of seven questions relating to beliefs were significantly correlated with similar questions related to practices. Good reliability of the instrument was demonstrated by Cronbach alpha coefficient α = 0.82. Recommendations include further education for hospital nurses related to pain assessment standards in nonverbal patients, as well as utilization of techniques to integrate this knowledge into nurses' belief systems and practice environment.