Knowledge and attitudes regarding pain management of oncology and non-oncology nurses in Turkey

Fatma Guducu Tufekci¹, Zeynep Karaman Ozlu^2*, Sevban Arslan³, Kenan Gumus⁴

¹Associate professor, Department of Pediatric Nursing, Atatürk University, Faculty of Health Sciences , PO Box No. 25100, Erzurum/Turkey

²  Assistant professor, Department of Surgical Nursing, Atatürk University, Faculty of Health Sciences , PO Box No. 25100, Erzurum/Turkey

³ Assistant professor, Department of Surgical Nursing, Çukurova University, Adana Health School , PO Box No. 01000, Adana/Turkey

⁴  Research assistant, Department of Surgical Nursing, Atatürk University, Faculty of Health Sciences , PO Box No. 25100, Erzurum/Turkey

*Corresponding Author E-mail: zynp_krmnzl@hotmail.com

Accepted 27 July 2013

Abstract

Pain management is one of the most important aspects of patient care and nurses have a key role in effective pain management. This research was planned as  a comparative study to evaluate the level of knowledge and attitudes regarding pain management in Turkish nurses. The study sample consisted of 207 nurses who agreed to participate in the study. The study was made at a university hospital in Erzurum, the East of Turkey. The Nurses’ Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain (NKASRP) was used to measure the nurses’ pain management knowledge and attitudes. The data were analyzed using means, frequency, Student’s t-test and variance analysis. Of the nurses that participated in the study, 73% were between the ages of 19 and 30 years, and the mean age was 28.21±5.76 years. A total of 60.4% of the nurses had a baccalaureate degree. The mean years of nursing experience were 7.50±6.47. The average correct response rate was 54.1%, ranging from 8.2% to 95.2%. Out of the 40 pain knowledge questions assessed, the mean number of correctly answered questions was 21.65±4.36, with a range of 9 to 33. No significant differences between nurses’ characteristics and pain knowledge were found. Nurses’ pain knowledge was significantly different according to the clinics in which they worked (p<0.001). The present study in Turkey provides important information about knowledge deficits in pain management. The nursing curriculum should include compulsory pain courses, and national and local course programs about effective pain management should be organized.             

Keywords: Pain, Knowledge, Attitude, Nurses