knowledge and attitude of nursing students in Mahabad Cityin management of pediatric pain in 2021-22

Adequate knowledge and positive attitude of nurses are effective in better assessment and management of pain in children, and have positive consequences for children during hospitalization. The aim of this study is to determine the level of knowledge and attitude of nursing students as future nurses in pediatric pain management.

This research is a cross-sectional descriptive study. Census sampling design is used and samples include 55 third-year undergraduate nursing students of Mahabad School of Nursing (affiliated to Urmia University of Medical Sciences) and the Faculty of Nursing of Islamic Azad University, Mahabad Branch in 2021-22. Data were collected through the PPKAQ questionnaire. The translation and reverse translation processes were performed to prepare the Persian version of the questionnaire and evaluate the face and content validity of the instrument. To determine the reliability, the test-retest method and internal consistency of the instrument were used. Data analysis was performed by descriptive and inferential statistical methods through SPSS software version 26.

The results of this study showed that the participants got the highest score in the dimension of non-drug pain relief methods and the lowest score in the dimension of drug pain relief methods. The attitude score of the students was 10.0±3.19 with a range of 0-16 and the knowledge score was 24.22±8.76 with a range of 0-38. The average total score of correct answers was 34.11±22.52 with a range of 0-52, equivalent to 48.19%, which is significantly less than the acceptable standard (80%) for pain management.

This study showed that nursing students do not have sufficient knowledge and favorable attitude towards pain management in children. Based on these results, there is an urgent need to improve child's pain management education to prepare nursing students well to meet the pain needs of vulnerable children and their families.