A comparative study of intensive therapy unit and hospice nurses' knowledge on pain management

Abstract

Caring for patients in pain is a pivotal function of nursing practice. In particular, pain control is a primary concern of hospice nurses in order to ensure comfort in the terminal phase of the person's life, and also for nurses in intensive therapy units caring for patients who may have substantial pain related either to pathologic conditions or treatment interventions and who have difficulty communicating their pain. This paper reports on a study which aimed to identify and compare the knowledge and the perceived adequacy and acquisition of knowledge of intensive therapy and hospice nurses pertaining to the theoretical, pharmacological and non-pharmacological aspects of pain and its management using multiple-choice, short-answer and open-ended questions. The sample consisted of 52 intensive therapy and 48 hospice nurses who were further divided into beginners and experts. The findings indicated that although the hospice nurses received higher knowledge scores than the intensive therapy nurses, both groups demonstrated lack of knowledge in specific content areas. In addition, the findings demonstrated few differences between the beginners and experts. The subjects, in general, were not confident about their knowledge of analgesics, nor did they believe that their basic nursing education had prepared them adequately to care for patients in pain. The working environment and clinical work in hospital since qualification were perceived by the subjects to be the most influential experiences in learning about pain and its management.

Knowledge and attitude towards pain management. A comparison between oncology and non-oncology nurses in Jordan

“…Borglin et al [34] argue that patients perceived the crucial role in increasing pain levels is that having their pain assessed incorrectly. The study was also consistent with Fothergill-Bourbonnais and Wilson-Barnett [28] who concluded that clinical experience is the most influential factor that promotes nurses knowledge and confidence in managing patient's pain. However, some nursing practices are still based on personal opinions and rituals rather than evidence-based practice due to lack of sufficient knowledge gained from the academic experience [5, 9, 35, and 36].…”

Knowledge of intensive care nurses in selected care areas commonly guided by protocols

“…This finding is consistent with other studies assessing nurses' knowledge of pain management. [12,13] Nurses' poor knowledge scores for glycaemic control (48.71%) were unexpected because since publication of the Van den Berghe et al study, [14] glycaemic control has become part of everyday discussion and practice in ICUs. Furthermore, knowledge of normal blood glucose values, insulin administration and the signs and symptoms of hypoglycaemia are not specific to ICUs but are required in all fields of nursing.…”

Barriers to Suicide Risk Management in Clinical Practice: A National Survey of Oncology Nurses

“…The vignette simulated a clinical situation with questions to elicit the nurse's attitudes, knowledge, opinions, care plans, interventions, and anticipated behavior in the situation (Gould, 1996). Research using vignettes to gather data about nurses' interventions, knowledge, performance, decisions, and attitudes toward patients with AIDS, and their research capacity is well documented (Forrester & Murphy, 1992;Fothergill-Bourbonnais & Wilson-Barnett, 1992;Gagen, 2000;Gould, 1996;Rafferty & Traynor, 1997;Taylor, Skelton, & Butcheer, 1984;. Expert panels have validated vignettes (Lanza, 1990).…”