Sjuksköterskors kunskap om smärta och smärtbehandling
En enkätstudie
Knowledge regarding pain and pain treatment is an essential part within nursing that a nurse is responsible for. Earlier studies have shown that lack of that kind of knowledge often results in inadequate treatment for pain. The purpose with the study was to describe nurses? knowledge regarding pain and pain treatment at a medical unit in a hospital in central Sweden, and to see if there was a distinction in knowledge related to professional experience. Data was collected through a questionnaire with questions referring to pain (6 questions) and pain treatment (6 questions). The questionnaire was given to 108 nurses at a medical unit in a hospital in central Sweden. Fifty-two responded the inquiry; whence 50 were woman and two were men. The main result indicated that the majority of the nurses had propitious knowledge regarding pain and pain treatment, since the mean-score of the questions regarding knowledge were 8,1 (67,6 %) out of 12. Forty-nine nurses reported non-pharmacologic methods to alleviate pain such as TENS, acupuncture and massage. There was no significant distinction in knowledge between nurses whom had been working 1-12 years (25 nurses), and those who had been working 13-39 (26 nurses) years. The majority of the nurses experienced they did not have enough knowledge about pain and pain treatment to be able to give adequate pain relief.