Nurses' knowledge and attitudes about pain in hospitalized patients.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to measure knowledge and attitudes of nursing about pain management in patients before education, immediately after, and 6 months later. The end-point measure was Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems quarterly scores and percentile rank. DESIGN: This longitudinal, quasi-experimental, quantitative study used survey method with pretest and posttest scores to measure immediate learning and 6 months later to measure sustained changes in knowledge and attitudes for nurses in this facility. SETTING: The setting was a 360-bed acute care community hospital in the midsouth. SAMPLE: The sample consisted of approximately 206 bedside nurses who worked in an acute care facility and 164 final posttest participants. METHODS: The survey was used in a group setting immediately prior to a didactic learning experience. Immediately after the session, a posttest survey was administered. The 6-month follow-up occurred via an online module developed by the principal investigator. A repeated-measures analysis of variance, a pairwise comparison with a paired t test, and a Bonferroni correction were performed to determine if sustained knowledge and attitudes have changed. FINDINGS: Posttest scores were significantly higher than pretest scores on the Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain immediately after a didactic education session and 6 months later (P < .017). CONCLUSIONS: Six months later, scores remained higher than pretest or immediate posttest scores. IMPLICATIONS: Nurses with a stronger knowledge base may lead to better pain management, improved outcomes, and higher patient satisfaction scores.

A clinical learning experience: enhancing baccalaureate nursing students' self-efficacy in meeting the psychosocial needs of clients with dementia.

Today's health care landscape requires expert nursing care for clients with dementia. Unfortunately, most nursing students dislike providing dementia care. Lack of students' self-efficacy may account for some of the negativity surrounding dementia care, and learning activities to increase self-efficacy may be one means for increasing positive feelings. The purpose of this article is to describe and evaluate a clinical learning activity designed to increase the self-efficacy of students in meeting the psychosocial needs of clients with dementia. The experience involved 39 baccalaureate nursing students and included the implementation of a therapeutic activity in a long-term care setting. Evaluation involved discussing the activity before and after implementation, observing the students perform the activity, administering a survey before and after the activity, and completing a clinical log addressing the major objectives. Evidence from the evaluation suggests that the experience promoted increased self-efficacy in students.