ความรู้เกี่ยวกับการประเมินและการจัดการกับความปวดของพยาบาลไทย Knowledge about Pain Assessment and Management of Thai Nurses

Abstract

Pain assessment is one of vital signs measurements that, if done correctly, will improve the quality of pain management. Nurses have an important role in pain assessment and management; however, their levels of knowledge and attitude about pain assessment and management have not been thoroughly evaluated.  This descriptive cross-sectional research was conducted to evaluate the level knowledge in pain assessment and management among registered nurses. A simple random sampling was carried out to select 535 nurses in tertiary hospitals.  Nurses’ knowledge and attitude in pain assessment and management were assessed using the Knowledge and Attitude Survey Regarding Pain Questionnaire which consisted of three parts including personal information, pain knowledge and attitude, and case study questions (47 items). The questionnaire had adequate internal reliability with KR-20 coefficient of 0.7. Most samples were female, held a bachelor degree, and had an average work experience of approximately 15 years. They had low average scores (Mean = 19.35, SD = 3.95) of knowledge about pain assessment and management which constituted to only 48.4% of possible scores of 40. Pain knowledge scores were statistically significantly different between education levels, years of nursing experience, and history of pain training (p < .01).  The knowledge about pain was greater among nurses with higher education level, nurses with more experience in nursing care, and nurse who were trained about pain management. Therefore, it is essential that nurses should be trained regularly through either short-course training program or master and/or doctoral degrees in order to apply pain knowledge into effective nursing care.