Publication Date

9-2017

Document Type

Article

Disciplines

Critical Care Nursing | Other Nursing | Perioperative, Operating Room and Surgical Nursing

Abstract

Nurses are at the forefront in the care of patient pain management; however, many nurses do not possess the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for best pain management outcomes. Adequate pain management education is often infrequent in academic settings and in post-graduate health care environments. That shortcoming suggests a need to improve pain management education as advocated by The Joint Commission and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The purpose of this study is to measure 20 nurses’ knowledge and attitudes regarding pain and pain management while working in an orthopedic setting. It was an evidence-based practice project utilizing a quasi-experimental approach to collect and analyze information gathered from pretest and posttest data employing the City of Hope “Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain” (2012). An education session was implemented following nurses completion of a pretest survey and a posttest survey completed subsequent to the education session. Conclusions were drawn through the application of descriptive statistics and t-test comparison of the two groups of surveys demonstrating efficacy of the pain education lessons. Concluding data supported the adoption of formal pain management education for nurses, improvement of nurses’ knowledge and attitudes toward pain management, and improvement of patients’ experience in coping with pain.

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