Educational intervention study in the management of pain in nursing staff

Pain is currently considered as the fifth vital sign. The objective of the study was to determine the effectiveness of an educational program for nurses on pain management for patients with chronic degenerative and surgical problems. The employed method was a pre-experimental design with a pre-test and a post-test. The research population was made up of 42 nurses from two secondary health care institutions in the public sector. The Nurse's Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain was used. Results showed that the pre-test mean knowledge of correct answers was 50.9 (SD = 9.65), with a minimum value of 28.1 and a maximum value of 78.1. The post-test mean was 70.4 (SD = 10.9) with a minimum value of 40.6 and a maximum value of 90.6. After the educational intervention, nurses demonstrated an increased level of knowledge regarding pain management (t (41) = -12.98; P < 0.001). The educational intervention study for nurses was effective in improving their knowledge regarding pain management in patients, since the participating nurses provided better attention and care after the educational intervention. This, however, was insufficient for most of the participating personnel.