Turkish pediatric surgical nurses' knowledge and attitudes regarding pain assessment and nonpharmacological and environmental methods in newborns' pain relief.

Effective pain management requires accurate knowledge, attitudes, and assessment skills. The purpose of the present study was to describe Turkish pediatric surgical nurses' knowledge and use of pain assessment and nonpharmacologic and environmental methods in relieving newborn's pain in hospital. The sample consisted of 111 pediatric surgical nurses employed in pediatric surgical unit in 15 university hospitals located in Turkey. A questionnaire was used to measure the nurses' knowledge and use of pain assessment, nonpharmacologic, and environmental methods. Data were analyzed with the use of descriptive statistics. Of the nurses that participated in the study, 83.8% were between the ages of 20 and 35 years, 54.1% had a bachelor degree, and 75.7% had a nursing experience ≤10 years. 50.5% stated that physiologic and behavioral indicators used in the assessment of pain in infants. The most commonly used nonpharmacologic methods were giving nonnutritive sucking, skin-to-skin contact, and holding. The most commonly used environmental methods were avoiding talking loudly close to the baby, minimal holding, care when opening and closing of the incubator, avoiding making noise when using wardrobe, drawers, trash, or nearby devices, such as radio and television, avoiding sharp fragrances, such as alcohol, perfume, near the baby, and reducing light sources. Although Turkish pediatric surgical nurses used some of the nonpharmacological and environmental methods in infant's pain relief, there remains a need for more education about pain management and for more frequent use of these methods in clinical care.

Efe E ，Dikmen Ş ，Altaş N ，Boneval C ... -  《-》

Knowledge and attitudes regarding pain management of pediatric nurses in Turkey.

Nurses play an important role in managing children's pain. The nurse's accurate assessment, appropriate intervention, and evaluation of pain relief measures are necessary for positive patient outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine the level of knowledge and attitudes of pediatric nurses regarding the child's pain. The Pediatric Nurses' Knowledge and Attitude Survey (PNKAS) was used to evaluate the nurses' knowledge and attitudes. The PNKAS consists of 40 questions. In this study, 29.9% of nurses had a diploma and 40.6% associate's, 25.0% bachelor's, and 4.5% master's degree, and respondents had an everage 6.1 years pediatric nursing experience. The total mean score on the PNKAS scale was 38.2%. The highest score was 65%, and the lowest score 15%. The findings of the survey show that pediatric nurses in Turkey have insufficient knowledge regarding pain management and could benefit from additional education on that issue.

Ekim A ，Ocakcı AF 《-》

Nursing assessment of infant pain.

Reyes S 《-》

Nurses' Knowledge, Attitudes and Clinical Practice in Pediatric Postoperative Pain Management.

Despite readily available evidence to guide practice, children continue to experience moderate to severe pain in hospital postoperatively. Reasons for this may include attitudes of nurses toward pain management and their lack of knowledge in key areas. To identify nurses' knowledge and clinical practice of pediatric postoperative pain management and whether there is a link between knowledge and practice. A descriptive cross-sectional study including a questionnaire and observations was conducted in postanesthesia care (recovery) units in six university hospitals in Norway. Nurses completed the Pediatric Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain Questionnaire-Norwegian Version (PNKAS-N). We observed their clinical practices using a structured observational tool and field notes. Nurses completed the PNKAS-N (n = 193) and were observed (n = 138) giving postoperative care to 266 children (70 hours per unit, 416 hours in total). The mean PNKAS-N score was 29 (standard deviation 4.2) of 40. We identified knowledge deficits, mainly in pharmacologic management, such as in risk of addiction and respiratory depression. We found that, overall, pain was assessed using validated tools in 19% of the children; this fell to 9% in children aged <5 years. More than 66% of children received an inadequate dose of morphine postoperatively. Nurses have knowledge deficits about pediatric pain management and do not always use their knowledge in practice, particularly in relation to pain assessment. There is a need to improve nurses' knowledge of pediatric pain management and to test interventions that support the use of that knowledge in practice.

Smeland AH ，Twycross A ，Lundeberg S ，Rustøen T ... -  《-》

Nonpharmacological methods in relieving children's postoperative pain: a survey on hospital nurses in Finland.

Pölkki T ，Vehviläinen-Julkunen K ，Pietilä AM 《-》