Investigating the relationship between complementary and alternative therapy attitudes and pain management self-efficacy in surgical nurses: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Effective pain management is central to surgical nursing, yet nurses often face challenges in practice. Self-efficacy influences nurses' ability to manage pain, whereas attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) may also shape clinical decision-making. However, little is known about how CAM attitudes are related to surgical nurses' pain management self-efficacy. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between complementary and alternative therapy attitudes and pain management self-efficacy among surgical nurses.

Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted with 153 surgical nurses working at a foundation university hospital in a metropolitan city in Turkey. Data were collected using a descriptive questionnaire, the Pain Management Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, and the Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire. Associations were analyzed with multiple linear regression.

Results: Higher holistic health attitudes significantly and negatively predicted comprehensive (B = - 0.497, p = 0.001), evaluative (B = - 0.104, p = 0.009), supplemental (B = - 0.072, p = 0.035), and total self-efficacy scores (B = - 0.674, p = 0.001).

Conclusion: This study revealed that surgical nurses' favorable holistic health attitudes were associated with lower pain management self-efficacy. Recognizing this gap highlights the need to integrate evidence-based CAM content into undergraduate and continuing education and to develop institutional protocols that support holistic approaches. Such strategies may enhance nurses' competence and confidence, ultimately improving patient-centered pain care. Future longitudinal and interventional studies are needed to confirm whether embedding CAM education strengthens self-efficacy in clinical practice.

Clinical trial number: Not applicable.