Survey on Pain Management Knowledge and Attitude among Emergency working Nurses in Iran

Aim: Pain is a common phenomenon among emergency patients which may lead to chronic pain conditions and alteration of physiological function. However, it is widely reported that proper pain assessment and management, which is often accomplished by adequately trained nurses, reduce the suffering of patients. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of the nurses towards pain management. Method and Materials: This study has been performed among 187 nurses who working in emergency wards of hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). Data has been gathered via the Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain (KASRP) tool. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data through SPSS software version 16. Findings: Totally, 187 emergency nurses including 91 female (48.7%) and 96 male (51.3%) entered into the study and completed the questionnairethe study findings showed that most of the nurses (about 57.2%) had low average knowledge and attitude towards pain management. The relationship between knowledge/attitude of nurses with number of assigned patients (p=0.028) and the gender of nurses (P=0.034) were significant. Conclusion: The study results demonstrate that nurses have low average knowledge and attitude towards pain management which is one of the most important obstacles for efficient pain management.