“I Feel Your Pain”: A Research Study Addressing Perianesthesia Health Care Providers' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Pain

Patients' feedback about their perianesthesia experience at an acute care 609-bed teaching hospital in Washington, DC, indicated that pain management was an area in need of improvement. A nonexperimental descriptive study related to pain management was conducted in the perianesthesia areas to assess the knowledge and attitudes of health care providers. McCaffrey and Ferrell's 38-item self-report questionnaire was given to anesthesia providers, preoperative nurses, Phase I nurses, and Phase II nurses (N=138). Seventy-two participants responded, yielding a 52% response rate. Results showed a statistically significant difference between the scores of the anesthesia care providers and the preoperative area nurses and between the Phase I nurses and the preoperative nurses. No statistically significant differences were found between the anesthesia providers, and Phase I and Phase II nurses, indicating that at this hospital, nurses who provide postoperative care have similar knowledge and attitudes regarding pain as the anesthesia providers.

Keywords: pain management, pain knowledge, pain attitudes, pain perceptions, perianesthesia care, research