KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE TOWARDS PAIN MANAGEMENT

ABSTRACT

Millions of surgeries performed on patients are accompanied by some degree of pain. Successful outcome of any surgery is partly dependent on pre-, intra- and post-operative pain assessment and management. Nurses are important figures in pain assessment and management. This study was designed to determine knowledge, attitude and practice of Nurses towards pain management on post operative patients in selected healthcare institutions in Edo state. A descriptive cross sectional survey was used. The instrument was a validated self-administered questionnaire developed by the researcher. One hundred and fifty nurses from the surgical wards of the selected hospitals were purposively selected for the study. Data analysis was done with SPSS version 16. Results showed that 20(13.3%) of the nurses had good knowledge of postoperative pain management, 89(59.3%) had fair/ moderate knowledge of postoperative pain management and 41(27.3%) had poor knowledge of postoperative pain management; 115(76.7%) of the nurses had positive attitude towards postoperative pain management while 35(23.3%) had negative attitude toward it; 21(14.0%) has poor practice of the various methods adopted by nurses for post operative pain management, 115(76.7%) has moderate practice of the various methods adopted by nurses for post operative pain management while 14(11.7%) had good practice of the various methods adopted by nurses for post operative pain management; and the major factors was Using the pain scale for assessment of the pain (location, quality, duration, frequency of pain) and Ineffective communication between patient and nurses with a mean of 3.7 and 3.4 respectively, while the least factor was Proper monitoring and quality assurance with a mean of 2.5. it is recommended that nurses upgrade their knowledge through continuing education. Hospital managers should establish standards and guidelines for assessing and managing post-operative pain.