Dataset Information

Nursing students and nurses' knowledge and attitudes regarding children's pain: A comparative cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Nurses encounter children who report of pain of diverse and unknown causes in their professional work. The current study therefore assessed and compared nursing students and nurses' knowledge and attitudes pertaining to children's pain in the Ghanaian context. The goal of this was to have a baseline information to guide the development and implementation of the content for a sustainable educational programme (short-course) for nursing students and nurses in Ghana.

Methods

Between October and December 2018, a cross-sectional study was carried out among 554 final year nursing students and 65 nurses in Ghana. The Pediatric Nurses Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain (PNKAS) was used to collect data from participants who were affiliated to four educational institutions and eight hospitals. Data were descriptively and inferentially analyzed using chi-square test of independence, independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Results

Our findings revealed that nursing students and nurses generally had unsatisfactory knowledge and attitudes towards pain management in children. Nursing students however, had significantly higher scores than nurses in the total PNKAS score and in 10 out of the 13 identified item-areas. Greater scores were obtained by nursing students in areas which were related to pain physiology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology of analgesics and pain perceptions (p < .05). All the participating nurses could not accurately determine: the onset of action of orally administered analgesics, equianalgesia of orally administered morphine, and the right dosage of prescribed morphine for a child who consistently reported of moderate to severe pain.

Conclusion

Final year nursing students and nurses have unsatisfactory knowledge and attitudes regarding children's pain; which reiterates the need for urgent and effective educational efforts in this area. Regular in-service training should be offered to post-registration nurses to enhance their pediatric pain knowledge and attitudes for improved pain care in children.

SUBMITTER: Kusi Amponsah A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6786626 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Nursing students and nurses' knowledge and attitudes regarding children's pain: A comparative cross-sectional study.

Kusi Amponsah Abigail A Oduro Evans E Bam Victoria V Kyei-Dompim Joana J Ahoto Collins Kwadwo CK Axelin Anna A

PloS one 20191010 10

<h4>Introduction</h4>Nurses encounter children who report of pain of diverse and unknown causes in their professional work. The current study therefore assessed and compared nursing students and nurses' knowledge and attitudes pertaining to children's pain in the Ghanaian context. The goal of this was to have a baseline information to guide the development and implementation of the content for a sustainable educational programme (short-course) for nursing students and nurses in Ghana.<h4>Methods ...[more]

PMID: 31600329

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Project description:Pain is one of the commonest reasons why children visit the hospital. Inadequately treated pain in children can negatively affect their physical, psychological, and social well-being; it also places financial burden on families of affected children and healthcare systems in general. Considering the eventual suffering of vulnerable children and their families if nursing students are insufficiently educated and ill-prepared, the current study aimed at assessing final year nursing student's knowledge and attitudes pertaining to pediatric pain. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 final year undergraduate nursing students at a private university college in Ghana. In addition to their ages and gender, the students responded to the 42 individual items on the Pediatric Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Survey regarding pain (PNKAS) instrument. Descriptive statistical analysis was aided by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25 software. The mean age of the final year nursing students was 29 years (range of 21 to 47 years); a majority of them were females (78%). Participants had an average (SD) correct answer score of 44.0% (10.6%). Good pediatric pain knowledge and attitudes were observed in items that were related to the individualized and multidimensional nature of the pain experience and its treatment, benefits of pre-emptive analgesia, pharmacodynamics, and pain assessment. Poor pediatric pain knowledge and attitudes occurred in items that focused on pain perceptions, opioid drug administration, useful pain medications, pain physiology, and nonpharmacological pain management interventions. Final year nursing students have insufficient knowledge and attitudes toward children's pain management. Areas of good and poor pediatric pain knowledge and attitudes should be considered when designing and implementing educational interventions on this subject. Curricular revisions should be made on existing nursing curriculum to lay more emphasis on children's pain management and use educational interventions that support knowledge translation for improved care.

Project description:BackgroundAccurate knowledge and good pain evaluation and documentation practices should be present for efficient pain management. In this study, we aimed to assess the knowledge and practices of nurses relating to the management of cancer pain in Palestine, and to determine the barriers to efficient pain control in cancer patients.MethodsA cross-sectional survey took place at 8 hospitals across Northern West Bank. A convenience sample of 220 Nurses working in governmental and private hospitals in West Bank/Palestine was studied. For that purpose, a questionnaire was developed to assess knowledge, practices, perceived barriers, and delaying processes relating to cancer pain management (CPM).ResultsIn total, 220 questionnaires were completed with a response rate of 88%. Participants' mean age was 30.34?years. Overall, 69.5% worked in governmental hospitals, 26.8% worked in the private sector and the remainder worked in both governmental and private sectors. The correct response rate to questions that assess knowledge relating to cancer pain control was calculated and a mean knowledge score was found to be 5.1 with a standard deviation of 2.1. A relationship between the knowledge score and the sample characteristics was made and showed that males scored significantly higher (p?=?0.001) than females with median scores of 6 [4-7] and 5 [3-6] for males and females, respectively. Inadequate pain assessment (76.8%), insufficient knowledge of pain control (70.5%) and strict regulation on opioid use (69.5%) were the most frequently perceived barriers. Nurses reported that they would assess pain on every round and check all items related to pain assessment. Contacting the physician for the prescription of opioids was cited as the main delaying process by 56.4% of participants.ConclusionsThis study allowed us to recognise the knowledge deficit and the barriers to effective management. On the other hand, the analysis has shown good pain documentation practices among nurses. Those knowledge deficits demonstrate the need for more education about CPM. The improvement of coordination and communication between physicians and nurses seems to play a crucial role in CPM, as contacting physicians was cited as the most delaying process in CPM by nurses.

Project description:BackgroundDementia care requires inter-disciplinary collaboration starting from formal health professional education. Yet, little is known about how undergraduate medical and nursing students perceive dementia care in China. The aim of this study was to investigate undergraduate medical and nursing students' dementia knowledge, attitudes and care approach in China.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted. Students enrolled in a 5-year Bachelor of Medicine Program and a 4-year Bachelor of Nursing Program from four universities with campuses across Eastern, Western, Southern and Northern China were recruited into the study. Three validated instruments, Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS), Dementia Care Attitude Scale (DCAS) and Approach to Advanced Dementia Care Questionnaire (ADCQ), were used to examine students' dementia knowledge, attitudes and perceived care approach. Data were collected using a self-administered survey.ResultsThe number of medical and nursing students completing the survey was 526 and 467 respectively. Students' overall knowledge about dementia was poor, but attitudes were generally positive. The overall mean score of students' dementia knowledge examined by the ADKS was 19.49 (SD?=?2.82) out of 30, students' attitudes to dementia was 29.92(SD?=?3.35) out of 40, and students' person-centred care approach of dementia was 5.42 (SD?=?2.20) out of 13. Medical students demonstrated higher dementia knowledge scores and showed less positive attitude scores than nursing students (p <?0.05). Students would not apply a person-centred care approach. There were no statistically significant differences in the mean scores of ADCQ between nursing students and medical students.ConclusionsStudy results highlight the urgent need to implement an inter-disciplinary approach to increasing dementia education among Chinese medical and nursing students, and ensuring that students have adequate knowledge, attitudes and experience in the care of people with dementia.

Project description:Background: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, the aim of this study was to assess the emergency nurses´ knowledge, attitude and perceived barriers regarding pain management. Methods:A cross-sectional quantitative study design was applied to determine the nurses´ knowledge level, attitude and the perceived barriers related to pain management. Hundred twenty-six nurses from the emergency departments of seven referral hospitals of Eritrea participated in the study. Data were collected in August and September 2017. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to summarize and elaborate on the results. Result:In general, the knowledge level and attitude of the emergency nurses was poor. The participants' correct mean score was 49.5%. Nurses with Bachelor's Degree had significantly higher knowledge and attitude level compared to the nurses at the Diploma and Certificate level of professional preparation (95% CI?=?7.1-16.7 and 9.4-19.1; p?<? 0.001) respectively. Similarly, nurses who had previous training regarding pain scored significantly higher knowledge level compared to those without training (95% CI =1.82-8.99; p?=?0.003). The highest perceived barriers to adequate pain management in emergency departments were measured to be overcrowding of the emergency department (2.57?±?1.25), lack of protocols for pain assessment (2.45?±?1.52), nursing workload (2.44?±?1.29) and lack of pain assessment tools (2.43?±?1.43). There was no significant difference in perceived barriers among nurses with different demographic characteristics. Conclusion:The emergency nurses' knowledge and attitude regarding pain management were poor. Nurses with higher educational level and nurses with previous training scored significantly higher knowledge level. This indicates the need for nursing schools and the ministry of health to work together to educate nurses to a higher level of preparation for pain assessment and management.

Dataset Information

Nursing students and nurses' knowledge and attitudes regarding children's pain: A comparative cross-sectional study.

Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Nursing students and nurses' knowledge and attitudes regarding children's pain: A comparative cross-sectional study.

Similar Datasets

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