Nurses’ knowledge and attitudes toward pain assessment and management for adult sickle cell disease patients during sickling crisis

Abstract

In the kingdom of Bahrain an estimated 18,000 people suffer from Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) and many experience periodic episodes of sickling crisis. Research studies that examine the knowledge and attitudes of nurses toward pain assessment and management of SCD patients are limited especially in the Middle East. This study aims to assess the level of knowledge and attitudes of nursing staff regarding pain assessment and management of patients with SCD during sickling crisis. A quantitative study design was utilized to recruit a convincence sample of 30 staff nurses working in adult SCD wards in one of governmental hospital in the Kingdom of Bahrain. A modified version of Nurses’ Knowledge and Attitude Survey questionnaire regarding Pain was used to examine the research variables. The results of the study showed that a mean score of knowledge was 15.8 out of 33 (47.8% out of 100%). This finding indicates that staff nurses had poor knowledge and negative attitudes toward SCD pain assessment and management. The findings showed no significant difference in the mean score of knowledge in relation with nationality (p = .693), age (p = .966), level of education (p = .732), years of experience (p = .887), and previous training courses or workshops on pain management (p = .877). This study suggests the need for implementing of specific strategies to effectively educate the staff nurses about pain assessment and management, and integrate pain management as a major component of the hospital in-house training programs.