Nurses' personal pain experiences and their pain management knowledge.
BACKGROUND
This study examined nurses' personal experiences with pain and whether nurses' personal pain experiences were associated with initial pain management knowledge and ability to learn more about pain management.


METHODS
This descriptive correlational study was a secondary analysis of a study that used a one-group pretest-posttest design to examine the effect of a pain management education program on nurses' pain management knowledge. The sample consisted of 177 nurses who answered yes to having had a personal pain experience requiring treatment.


RESULTS
Nurses reported 13 types of pain, with pharmacological interventions comprising 94.4% of the pain treatments. Nurses' previous personal pain experiences were negatively related to their initial pain management knowledge (r = -.23, p < .01).


CONCLUSIONS
Nurses' personal pain experience may impact their learning of pain management knowledge and should be considered when designing pain management education.
Wessman
A C
AC
New Britain General Hospital, Connecticut, USA.
McDonald
D D
DD
D000328:Adult; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology*; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*