Evaluation of nurses' knowledge and attitude about pain management ladder method: a descriptive-correlational study

Pain is an unfortunate sentiment associated with damage to the body tissue. Nurses play a crucial role in pain management as one of the care principles. Hence, this study was conducted to determine nurses' knowledge and attitude about the pain management ladder method in 2020.

In this descriptive correlational study, 215 nurses from Kerman Payambar Azam Hospital were recruited using convenience sampling. Data were collected via a questionnaire that assessed the knowledge and attitudes toward the pain management ladder method, and analysis was performed using SPSS23.  

The results of data analysis showed that the participants' knowledge and attitude mean scores regarding the pain management ladder method were 17.08 ± 4.75 and 71.7 ± 6.88, respectively, at the moderate level. The results indicated a positive and significant correlation between knowledge and attitude toward pain management (r= 0.335, p= 0.001). Among the demographic variables, there was a significant correlation between the knowledge mean score and age, work experience, and workplace (p<0.05). However, there was no significant correlation between the attitude mean score and demographic variables.

Regarding our findings, the moderate level of nurses’ knowledge and attitude mean scores were inadequate to manage pain, and the presence of positive correlations between these two variables and some demographic characteristics need more attention for planning training courses.