Effectiveness of a learning package on knowledge and attitude of staff nurses regarding pediatric pain management

Abstract

Background : Pain is one of the most common adverse stimuli experienced by children, occurring as a result of injury, illness, and necessary medical procedures. It is associated with increased anxiety, avoidance, somatic symptoms, and increased parent distress. The pediatric acute pain experience involves the interaction of physiologic, psychological, behavioural, developmental, and situational factors. Methodology : A quantitative approach with pre experimental one group pretest posttest design was adopted for the study. The samples from the selected hospitals were selected using convenient sampling technique. The sample consisted of 100 staff nurses. The tools used for data collection was structured knowledge questionnaire and structured attitude scale. Results : The study result reveal that, the post-test mean knowledge scores was found higher [mean=23.48, SD of 4.81] when compared with pre-test mean knowledge score value which was 15.75 with SD of 5.21. The statistical paired ‘t’ implies that the difference in the pretest and post -test value was found statistically significant at 5% level ( P <0.05) with a paired ‘t’ value of 17.82. With respect to attitude of participants the post-test mean attitude scores was found higher [mean=50.08, SD of 8.32] when compared with pre-test mean attitude score value which was 38.22 with SD of 10.98. The statistical paired ‘t’ implies that the difference in the pretest and post -test value was found statistically significant at 5% level ( P <0.05) with a paired ‘t’ value of 13.11. There is partial association between pre-test knowledge scores and no association between attitude scores and socio demographic variables. Conclusion: Study results showed significant improvement in the level of knowledge and attitude regarding pediatric pain management. Thus, it can be concluded that learning package was effective to increase and update their knowledge and attitude on pediatric pain management.