Evaluation of nurses' knowledge and practices related to postoperative pain management

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge and practices of nurses about pain management. Materials and Methods: The study is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. The research sample consisted of 223 nurses working in 3 private hospitals affiliated to a foundation university in Istanbul. Nurses' knowledge and applications related to postoperative pain management were evaluated with the Knowledge and Application Questionnaire on Postoperative Pain Management. Findings: The average age of the nurses participating in the survey was 25.79 ± 4.30 and 82.1% of them were females. It was determined that 40,4% of the sample was working in the surgical unit and 68,2% of them were undergraduate graduates. Nurses' score of knowledge and application form regarding postoperative pain management was found to be 29,22 ± 4,154,and it was noted that 89,2% of them had previously been trained about postoperative painful patient care or pain treatment and 70,9% received this training, in-service training. It was found out that 67.3% of the nurses were considering patient behaviors when describing the pain severity of the patients, 0.9% of them evaluated the patients according the data gained from other nurses, it was determined that 96% of the nurses noted the definition of the pain described by the patient and 67.7% applicated non-drug intervention ordered for the clinically painful patients. Conclusion: It was determined that the knowledge level of the nurses over postoperative pain assessment was higher than the average level, the majority of them used non-drug interventions for pain relief, and it was determined that they needed training in diagnosing the pain and severity of the pain, and the timing of the administration of medications and medications. Key Words: Pain, Postoperative, Nurse, Pain Administration