knowledge, attitude and practice regarding pain assessment in cancer patients among nurses at uganda cancer institute-mulago

Description

Background: Cancer patients often experience moderate to severe pain, therefore effective pain assessment is required by nurses. Optimum management of pain among cancer patients requires proper assessment of the intensity, location and nature of pain. This ensures comfort to the patient and their care givers. It was therefore essential to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices associated with pain assessment among nurses. Methods: The study used a descriptive cross-sectional research design to study 67 participants, comprising of nurses who were directly handling cancer patients at Uganda cancer Institute. The participants were selected using simple random sampling methods. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was then analyzed using SPSS, and presented in form of frequency tables, graphs and pie-chats. Results: The study revealed that; the majority of the respondents (85%) had a high level of knowledge on pain assessment while 13% and 2% had moderate and low level of knowledge respectively. In addition, majority of the respondents had a positive attitude towards pain assessment, while a third of them had a neutral attitude towards pain assessment. Furthermore, the study indicated that there were good practices regarding pain assessment among the nurses. Conclusion and Recommendation: The findings highlight the need to continuously improve nurses knowledge, attitude and practices through continuous professional development on pain assessment to keep them up to date with current information on assessment of pain among cancer patients.