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Bone marrow transplant nurses' knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes regarding pain management.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To measure bone marrow transplant (BMT) nurses' knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes regarding pain management.


DESIGN
Descriptive, exploratory.


SETTING
A 32-bed BMT unit in a 567-bed tertiary-care institution located in the midwestern United States.


SAMPLE
39 BMT nurses (20 pediatric, 19 adult). The mean length of BMT experience was 7.05 years.


METHOD
BMT nurses completed a 49-item, investigator-developed questionnaire.


MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Nurses' knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes related to pain management.


FINDINGS
Many BMT nurses had high knowledge levels and positive beliefs and attitudes related to pain management. The mean of correct responses to knowledge items was 79%. Nurses had a high knowledge level of pain assessment, but only 74% indicated that patient self-report of pain is the most reliable indicator of pain. The majority of the nurses' responses were congruent with literature sources regarding the onset of mucositis pain, self-report of pain, and opioid tapering. Most nurses agreed that pain management is rewarding and satisfying; fewer agreed that it is not stressful. Nurses' requests for information focused on opioid therapy.


CONCLUSIONS
The investigators identified specific knowledge gaps. The variability of scores indicated that some nurses are more expert than others regarding pain management and therefore could be resources for other nurses.


IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE
Educational offerings can increase knowledge and promote positive beliefs and attitudes among BMT nurses, thereby enhancing pain management.