Is hands-on experience more effective than didactic workshops in postgraduate cancer pain education?
BACKGROUND
This study examined the nurse outcomes of a cancer pain education program for nurses of patients from 11 different ethnic groups.


METHODS
Four hundred ninety six home, hospital, and hospice nurses participated in a one-day workshop or two half-day workshops on cancer pain assessment and management. Of these, 116 were randomized to participate in a bedside-precepted visit with an oncology nurse specialist with pain specialization and a focus group to discuss attitudinal issues. Eighty-six nurses served as controls. Pre-, post- and one-year follow-up tests were administered.


RESULTS
Attitudes, knowledge, and application skills significantly improved for workshop-only and enriched-model nurses relative to controls.


CONCLUSIONS
For postgraduate nurses, daylong cancer pain education workshops were, in the group studied, as effective as hands-on experience in improving cancer pain knowledge and changing attitudes. Both the workshop-only and the enriched-model nurses relative to controls had significantly improved knowledge and changed attitudes towards optimal pain management.
Lasch
K E
KE
Health Institute, New England Medical Center, Department of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
Wilkes
G
G
Lee
J
J
Blanchard
R
R
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001900:Boston; D003479:Curriculum; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing*; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000193:education*; D010146:Pain / Q000451:nursing*; D011231:Preceptorship