KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF NURSES TOWARDS PAIN MANAGEMENT IN UNIVERSITY OF BENIN TEACHING HOSPITAL

Abstract

Pain management remains a critical component of quality nursing care, yet inadequate knowledge and negative attitudes among nurses continue to compromise effective pain relief globally. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and influencing factors regarding pain management among nurses at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was employed, and a simple random sampling technique was used to select 255 registered nurses from various clinical units including medical wards, surgical wards, intensive care units, pediatrics, accident and emergency, outpatient departments, and theatre. Data were collected using a validated structured questionnaire covering socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, and influencing factors, and were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0 with descriptive statistics and chi-square test. Findings revealed that 78% of nurses had good knowledge of pain management (grand mean = 1.8), while 66% demonstrated positive attitudes (grand mean = 2.9). However, knowledge gaps were noted in opioid classification (73.3%), and attitudinal barriers included misconceptions about timing of medication administration (27.1%), fear of opioid addiction (35.3%), and doubts about patient credibility (38.1%). Favorable influencing factors were reported by 78% of nurses (grand mean = 3.1), particularly continuing education and multidisciplinary support (mean = 3.4 each), while major barriers included high workload (84.3%), inadequate staffing (84.3%), lack of training (86.3%), and absence of clear hospital policies (78.4%). There was no statistically significant relationship between knowledge and attitudes (χ² = 2.44, p = 0.118). The study concludes that although nurses demonstrated good knowledge and positive attitudes, existing gaps and systemic barriers require improvement through continuous education, policy development, and institutional support. Keywords: Pain, management, nurses, knowledge, attitudes, factors.

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Resource ID

urn:uuid:bcabb99b-f340-4061-ba49-660967199875