Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes About Pain in Hospitalized Patients

Purpose: 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. Design: 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. Setting: The setting was a 360-bed acute care community hospital in the midsouth. Sample: The sample consisted of approximately 206 bedside nurses who worked in an acute care facility and 164 final posttest participants. Methods: 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. Findings: 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). Conclusions: Six months later, scores remained higher than pretest or immediate posttest scores. Implications: Nurses with a stronger knowledge base may lead to better pain management, improved outcomes, and higher patient satisfaction scores.