Knowledge and attitudes of nurses about pain management in patients with cancer

According to the American Cancer Society more than 1.3 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer each year, and as high as 73% of the hospitalized patients with cancer experience pain. Nurses are in a unique position to be able to assist the patient with management of their pain; however, knowledge about pain management principles and attitudes about pain management and/or patients in pain are variables inherent to each nurse. The purpose of this partial replication of the McMillan et al. (2000) study is to assess the nurses’ knowledge and attitudes about pain management and patients in pain. The conceptual framework is based upon the attitude theorist Rokeach (1970) who described the relationships among knowledge, attitude, and behavior. The sample will consist of 85 nurses working on a medical-surgical unit. Knowledge will be measured by The Pain Management Knowledge Test (PMKT), while attitude will be measured by the following two instruments: The Nurses’ Attitude Survey and The Pain Survey. Findings will provide information about knowledge deficits nurses may have regarding pain medication management and how pain management can be adversely affected by attitudes of nurses.School of NursingThesis (M.S.