Hospital Nurses' Beliefs and Knowledge About Pain Management Among Older Persons Living With Dementia: A...

Hospitalized older persons living with dementia (PLWDs) often experience unrelieved pain. Nurses' personal knowledge and beliefs are strong predictors of pain management practices. The impact of individual nurse factors such as age, gender, and experience in their pain management practices with PLWDs is unknown. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of nurses' age, sex, age, and experience on knowledge and beliefs when managing pain in hospitalized PLWDs.

An exploratory, descriptive, nonexperimental, cross-sectional study using the Knowledge and Beliefs About Pain in Elderly Patients With Dementia survey examined registered nurses' beliefs and knowledge about pain management. This is the first study in an explanatory mixed methods design and informed data collection in the second and qualitative study reported elsewhere.

Data were collected between February and July 2022 on nurses working in two hospitals in Southern California. The hospital with the larger sample of nurse participants was designated a Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders facility.

Multivariate analysis of variance revealed no statistically significant differences in nurses' general beliefs and knowledge about pain, dementia, and older persons when compared by age, sex, or years of experience. However, analysis of variance indicated that people who identified as men had less favorable beliefs about pain in older persons than women. Overall analysis of the means and standard deviations for the three factors indicated that there were opportunities to improve nurses' knowledge deficits related to pain management and beliefs that may indicate negative stereotypes about pain in older PLWDs.

The study found that even in a facility designated a Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders site, there are knowledge deficits and negative stereotypical beliefs that may result in pain that is underrecognized and undermanaged in hospitalized older PLWDs. Study results also suggest that there may be a difference in knowledge between female and male nurses in terms of knowledge and beliefs that may impact pain management practices. Further research is needed to understand this and other potential influences on nurses' understanding of this area of care.

© 20XX by the American Society for Pain Management Nursing.