Knowledge, Attitude and Practice and Associated Factors Towards Post-Operative Pain Management Among Nurses Working at St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2019

Background : Patients’ recovery after surgery is one of the most important health processes in hospital healthcare. Effective pain management requires precise knowledge; attitude and competent assessment skills on practice. There is limited evidence on nurses’ knowledge, attitude and practice of post-operative pain management (POPM) in Ethiopia. The present study aimed to assess Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Nurses Regarding POPM at St. Paul’s Hospital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Objective : To assess factors associated with knowledge, attitude and practice on postoperative pain management practice among nurses at St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College. Methodology: Descriptive cross-sectional survey will be used. Study Area: St. Paul referral hospital. Source population: All surgical and operation room (OR) nurses of St. Paul’s hospital. Study Period is from April- July 2019. Result: The result of this study shows that generally nurses are knowledgeable in POPM. The result reveals that 23(14%) of surgical nurses have in adequate knowledge and 146 (86 %) have adequate knowledge regarding POPM. in attitude study nurses showed negative attitude towards the questioners they were given. Nurses tend to have poor practice regarding POPM according to this study. Conclusion: The results also show that the nurses have negative attitudes regarding patients experiencing pain and the use of placebo. The study found that the practices of nurses related to POPM pain are at low level. As the nurses are the most important parts in the multidisciplinary approach in pain management, their knowledge and attitude make a big difference on practice POPM. So, there is a need for regular in-service education on pop management according to the recommendation of standard.