Nurses' willingness to maximize opioid analgesia for severe cancer pain, and its predictor

GOALS OF WORK: The effectiveness of cancer pain management (CPM) is influenced by nurses' willingness to maximize opioid analgesia for severe cancer pain. The purposes of this study were to identify the willingness of nurses to provide maximum-dose opioids whenever needed for CPM and to determine its associated predictors. METHODS: This multicenter study was conducted among the entire total of registered nurses in seven large hospitals in Korea. Its overall response rate was 41.6%, and the data from 930 who responded (40.1%) were analyzed. We utilized a three-step, multidimensional, multiple logistic regression to identify the predictors of nurses' willingness. MAIN RESULTS: Only 255 nurses (27.4%) indicated that they recommended the maximum dose of opioids whenever it was needed. The respondents who were more likely to recommend morphine showed the following characteristics: older nurses (odds ratio, OR, 1.57; confidence interval, CI, 1.13-2.19); they knew the effectiveness of opioids for CPM (OR 1.53; CI 1.06-2.20); rarely concerned about a patient's addiction to opioids (OR 2.16; CI 1.48-3.15), or to a family member's addiction (OR 1.81; CI 1.20-2.73); prior experience with pain assessment tools (OR 1.62; CI 1.11-2.37); practical experience caring for cancer patients with pain over 51% (OR 1.55; CI 1.09-2.19). CONCLUSIONS: Our multicenter study suggested that in order to improve nurses' willingness to recommend opioids liberally in CPM: (1) attitudes about fear of opioid addiction must be changed; (2) the efficiency of opioids in CPM must be taught; and (3) implementation of pain assessment tools must be undertaken