Knowledge as Predictors of Nurses Attitude Towards Effective Pain Management in Selected Secondary Hospitals in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract:

Nurses’ attitude to effective pain management is unscrupulous, many patients experienced unsatisfactory and unrelieved pain due to the negative attitude of some nurses, this is considered professional misconduct or a violation of fundamental human rights. Therefore, knowledge as a predictor of attitude of nurses towards effective pain management in selected government hospitals in Ibadan. The study employed a descriptive survey research. The study was conducted in three (3) state owned institutions in Ibadan, Oyo State. The total enumeration method was adopted to select a total of 295 nurses on the three selected hospitals. A single questionnaire on knowledge and attitudes of nurses on pain management was used. The research questions were analysed using the simple percentage while the hypothesis was analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coeffient at 0.05 level of significance. The result indicated the mean average age of the nurses is 28.6. 59.7% good level of knowledge towards pain management, 28.8% had fair level of knowledge about pain management. There was significant relationship between knowledge of pain and attitude of nurses toward effective pain management in selected hospitals in Ibadan. The study concludes that knowledge is an important ingredient for positive attitude towards pain management among nurses. It was also recommended that nurses should understand that pain management should be person centered care which include training and re-training of nurses for improved knowledge of effective management of pain.