Knowledge and Attitudes of Nurses about Pain Management in Turkey

Background: Despite the growing awareness on pain management, mild and severe pain is still common among hospitalized patients. Inadequate treatment has been mostly linked to health care workers' failure to assess patients’ pain and to intervene appropriately.Objective: To determine the pain management knowledge and attitudes of the nurses working in training and research hospital in Turkey and their relationship to demographic and educational factors. Methods: Descriptive and cross-sectional study design was used. The Nurses’ Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain (NKASRP) was used to determine the pain-related knowledge and attitude of the nurses. Results: A total of 246 nurses were included in the study. The percentage working at a surgical unit was 48.8% and 77.2% were staff nurses. Only 11.8% had taken a pain management course and 31.7% had read a book or journal on pain. The rate of correct responses to the NKASRP scale was 39.65% while the mean number of correct answers to all questions was 15.86±7.33 with a range of 0 to 37. A statistically significant difference was found regarding education level, working unit, whether a pain management course had been taken, whether a book or journal on pain had been read, and the evaluation of the nurse's efficacy regarding pain (p<0.05). Conclusion: We found that the nurses did not have adequate knowledge and the positive attitude for pain management although it is a very important part of patient care. We suggest that results be taken into account when the content of graduate and postgraduate training programs is determined and guidelines are prepared

Evaluating the Effect of Health Education Intervention on the Health Beliefs and Behaviors of First-Degree Female Relatives of Breast Cancer Patients

Background Breast cancer risk increases by 80% in the presence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations in the same family. In particular, a woman whose sister or mother has breast cancer has a 2- to 5-fold higher risk of developing breast cancer compared with other women. For this reason, recommendations should have been made regarding breast cancer prevention and/or early detection for women with first-degree family history of breast cancer. Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of health education, which was provided to first-degree female relatives of breast cancer patients, on their health beliefs and behaviors. Study Design and Methods The study sample included 50 women with a first-degree relative being treated for breast cancer in the chemotherapy and radiotherapy unit of a university hospital. A one-group pretest-posttest design was used. The pretest consisted of the health belief model scale and a questionnaire regarding the women's sociodemographic information and breast cancer screening behaviors. After the pretest, the patients received health education regarding breast cancer risk factors and screening methods. The posttest was conducted 3 weeks after the education using the same assessment tools. Results After education, there were statistically significant increases in rates of practicing breast self-examination, having clinical breast examinations, and undergoing breast ultrasound/mammography compared with pretest results. Conclusions Health workers should possess knowledge and experience about breast cancer which will enable them to effectively undertake an educational role, especially for high-risk groups such as women with first-degree family history of breast cancer

JanuaryApril). Sleep quality of patients hospitalized in the Coronary Care Unit and the Affecting Factors

Abstract Backgrounds: Intensive care units have many factors that cause sleep disorders in patients. Most of the times, due to the environment and the conditions, patints have to remain with less sleep. Objective: The aim of this descriptive study was the quality of sleep and the affecting factors in patients hospitalized in Coronary Intensive Care Unit (CICU). Methods: Nine questions were included in the data collecting form about the socio-demographic and disease characteristics of the patients. To determine the sleep quality and the affecting factors of the patients a 1-10 point scale was use