The Impact of an In-service Educational Program on Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Pain Management in an Ethiopian University Hospital

Background: Although pain control for hospitalized patients is a central issue for all health care providers, nurses’ inadequate knowledge and negative attitudes are the major barriers. Educational program is a strategy to improve nurses’ knowledge and attitudes on pain management. However, there is paucity of information on how in-service education program influences nurses’ knowledge and attitudes score for pain management in Ethiopia. The objective of this study was therefore, to investigate the impact influence of an in-service educational program on nurses’ knowledge and attitudes regarding pain management in an Ethiopian university hospital. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted between 1 October and 15 November 2016. Totally 111 nurses working at Jimma University Medical Center , Ethiopia participated in the study. We provided two consecutive days of intensive pain management education with a follow-up training session after one month. Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain was used as a tool for measuring the impact of educational program. Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and results were considered significant at p < 0.05. Result: Of the 111 nurses, who participated in the study, 39.5% were female, 46.8% had a baccalaureate degree, and 67.6% had worked in nursing for 6–10 years. The mean age of respondents was 26.9 (SD ± 5.6) years. On average, participants answered 41.4% of the survey items correctly before the intervention and 63.0% after the intervention. The mean rank score of nurses’ knowledge and attitudes regarding pain significantly improved following participation in the educational program (Z = −9.08, p < 0.001) Conclusion: The educational program improved nurses’ scores for pain management knowledge and attitudes. This may lead to more effective pain management by nurses. Keywords: Nurses, pain management, educational programs, knowledge, attitudes, Ethiopia