[Testing an instrument measuring Italian nurses' knowledge and attitudes regarding pain].
OBJECTIVE
To test the construct validity, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency of the Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain translated from English to Italian.


METHODS
Validation study.


METHODS
Oncology, long term care wards and hospice of 5 different italian regions.


METHODS
157 nurses divided in four groups according to the setting: students (29), general medical wards (35), oncology (43) and hospice (50).


METHODS
The instrument was translated and adapted from English to Italian by a group of experts in pain and by pilot-testing. It was completed by 90% of the sample and the percentage of correct answers and alpha Cronbach were calculated. The test-retest reliability was measured having the questionnaire completed after a 14 days time interval, by the nurses of medical wards.


RESULTS
The instrument discriminated between levels of expertise. Overall, the average percentage of correct answers was 52.7%: 40.7% for student nurses, 46% for general medicine nurses, 56.3% for oncology nurses and 62% for hospice nurses (P<0.001). Test-retest reliability was r = 0.97 and Cronbach's alfa was 0.69.


CONCLUSIONS
These results contribute to the validity and reliability of the Italian version of the Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain, show a limited knowledge in the four groups of nurses and provide the basis for other studies in oncology and palliative settings.
Catania
Gianluca
G
Infermiere di Ricerca, S.S. Clinical Trials, IST, Genova.
Costantini
Massimo
M
Lambert
Annie
A
Luzzani
Massimo
M
Marceca
Francesca
F
Tridello
Gloria
G
Boni
Luca
L
Bernardi
Matteo
M
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006738:Hospices; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000592:standards*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D009859:Oncology Nursing; D010146:Pain / Q000451:nursing; D059408:Pain Management; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013338:Students, Nursing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014175:Translating