J Korean Acad Fundam Nurs.  2003 Apr;10(1):87-95.

A Survey of Nurses' Knowledge of Pain

• Park JS
• Oh YJ

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to identify nurses' knowledge of pain and provide basic data for development of pain management education programs. METHOD: The participants in the study were 764 nurses working at seven medical centers in Youngnam area. The instrument used in this study consisted of 22 items on pain knowledge. The data were collected between March 1 and June 30, 2002 using a self-administered questionnaire. Analysis of data was done using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA and Scheffe test with the SPSS program. RESULT: 1) The average score for pain knowledge was 13.63 (total possible score, 22). 2) The highest item with correct response rate for knowledge of pain was identifying 'Tylenol as opioid or non-opioid.' and the lowest was for 'When opioids are used for pain relief for 3-6 months, what percent of patients are likely to develop opioid addiction?' 3) Nurses' knowledge of pain was significantly different according to age (F=7.040, p=0.000), education (F=3.385, p=0.034) and work career (F=6.101, p=0.000). CONCLUSION: The above findings indicate that it is necessary to develop a comprehensive pain management education program and continuously provide the medical team with new knowledge about pain.

Keyword

Nurse; Knowledge of pain

MeSH Terms

Analgesics, Opioid
Education
Humans
Pain Management
Surveys and Questionnaires
Analgesics, Opioid