Barriers to pain management: Comparing the viewpoints between physicians and nurses

Aims and The persistence of pain creates problems such as impaired recovery process and sleep, reduced quality of life, and increased morbidity. In addition in 30-60% of cases, chronic pain can cause emotional problems such as depression. Therefore it is important to identify barriers to pain management. The aim of this study was to compare the viewpoints of physicians and nurses about the barriers to pain management in Gonabad hospitals in 2012. Methods and Materials: This Descriptive - analytic study was conducted with 135 physicians and nurses with census sampling method in teaching hospitals in Gonabad city in 2012. The Data collection tool was a questionnaire made by the researcher and was set in two parts (demographic characteristics and 44 questions in four sections related to organizational, nurse, patient and physician barriers). For data analysis, SPSS was used including Descriptive and inferential tests. The characteristics of the participants in this study were: 63.7% female, % 79.3% married 80.7% nurses, 12.6 % Physicians, and 79.3% with a bachelor’s Degree. The mean age of participants was 31/3 ± 7/3 years. Our results showed that participants consider the barriers related to patients, as the most important barrier to pain management. Identifying pain management barriers would help in overcoming these barriers and it is essential to emphasize the importance of providing information to patients as part of pain management.