Does Clinical Experience Help Oncology Nursing Staff to Deal with Patient Pain Better than Nurses from other Displines? Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Amongst Nurses in a Tertiary Care in Malaysia

Abstract

Background: Successful implementation of pain management procedures and guidelines in an institution depends very much on the acceptance of many levels of healthcare providers. Aim: The main purpose of this study was to determine the level of knowledge and attitudes regarding pain among nurses working in tertiary care in a local setting and the factors that may be associated with this. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional research study used a modified version of the Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Survey (NKAS) regarding pain. Basic demographic data were obtained for further correlation with the level of pain knowledge. Results: A total of 566 nurses, 34 male and 532 female, volunteered to participate in this study. The response rate (RR) was 76%, with an overall mean percentage score of 42.7±10.9 (range: 5-92.5). The majority of participants were younger nurses below 40 years of age and more than 70% had worked for less than 10 years (6.6±4.45). Up to 92% had never had any formal education in pain management in general. The total mean score of correct answers was 58.6±9.58, with oncology nursing staff scoring a higher percentage when compared with nurses from other general and critical care wards (63.52±9.27, p<0.045). Only 2.5% out of all participants obtained a score of 80% or greater. The majority of the oncology nurses achieved the expected competency level (p<0.03). Conclusions: The present findings give further support for the universal concern about poor knowledge and attitudes among nurses' related to the optimal management of pain. The results reflected that neither number of years working nor age influenced the level of knowledge or attitudes of the practising nurses. Oncology nursing staff consistently scored better than the rest of the cohort. This reflects that clinical experience helped to improve attitudes and knowledge concerning better pain management.

Nurses' Knowledge Levels About Port Catheter Care (POCATH Study): a study of the palliative care working committee of the Turkish Oncology Group (TOG)

“…Bakey et al showed that there was no significant relationship between nurses' practice and their age, whereas there was a significant relationship between nurses' practice and their age in another study [5]. A different study also demonstrated that neither years of nursing experience nor age influenced the behaviors of nursing staff [17]. In our study, the total score of answers was 29.2 (±10.4) out of 70.…”

Instruments for assessing nurses’ palliative care knowledge and skills in specialised care setting: An integrative review

“…It is important to find instruments that are reliable and valid, but also have suitable content for assessing nurses' expertise in palliative care nursing. Several instruments have been used to evaluate nurses’ competence in palliative care (Hujer et al, ; Bing‐Jonsson et al, ; Mager & Lang, ; Yaakup et al, ), and competence assessment is assumed to significantly improve the skills of nurses (Desbiens et al, ). In this integrative review, the content of the ten instruments for measuring nurses’ palliative care knowledge and skills can be separated into three different categories: (a) care for the patient, (b) care for the patient's family and (c) professional requirements (Table ).…”

“…The self‐assessment of competence has been shown to develop the palliative care skills of nurses and improve the quality of care (Desbiens, Gagnon, & Fillion, ). A range of measurement indicators has been used to assess nurses’ competence in palliative care (Huijer et al, ; Bing‐Jonsson, Bjork, Hofoss, Kirkevold, & Foss, ; Mager & Lang, ; Yaakup, Eng, & Shah, ); however, there is no consensus on the instruments for measuring nurses’ palliative competence.…”

“…• The findings of this review can be utilised to enhance the quality of palliative care nursing by determining applicable instruments for assessing nurses' palliative care knowledge and skills, as well as developing nursing education and lifelong learning. Mager & Lang, 2016;Yaakup, Eng, & Shah, 2014); however, there is no consensus on the instruments for measuring nurses' palliative competence.…”

Development of a Family Nursing Model for Prevention of Cancer and Other Noncommunicable Diseases through an Appreciative Inquiry

“…Darunee Jongudomkarn 1 *, Colin Macduff 2 and organizations (Kostak et al, 2014;Sercekus et al, 2014;Taylor et al, 2013;Yaakup et al, 2014). Accordingly it is important to learn from initiatives taken forward in this field.…”