Changing the relationship among nurses' knowledge, self-reported behavior, and documented behavior in pain management: does education make a difference?

Abstract

An educational program designed to change knowledge in order to change pain management practices and patient outcomes was offered to nurses who provide day-to-day care to patients with cancer in communities in a predominately rural state. A quasi-experimental time-series design was used to measure the effectiveness of the program in changing nurse knowledge, attitude and behavior, and to evaluate the relationships between the outcomes. Data were collected from nurses ( N = 29) and patient charts before ( N = 209) and after ( N = 163) the program. Nurses' knowledge increased, but the change was not statistically significant; the mean percent of correct answer on the three subtests were different and differences persisted throughout the study. Nurses believed that patients should be “pain free”. Documentation of behaviors, for example, practice activities, occurred infrequently and showed little change until 6 months after the program. Increase in documentation of pain-intensity ratings, pain location, number of sites of pain, presence of confusion, anxious or depressed mood, sleep, nausea and vomiting, constipation, and general activity were noted. Documentation of the use of a propoxyphene-containing analgesic decreased; increase in the use of hydromorphone methadone and transdermal fentanyl was noted. Analysis of the relationships between correct responses to nurse knowledge questions and documentation of behavior provided interesting, statistically insignificant results that need to be reexamined in future research. Future programs should emphasize analgesic dosing and calculation of equianalgesic doses. Current practices in chart documentation may provide incomplete information regarding change in practice behaviors; more detailed documentation of pain management practices is needed. Nurses who participated in the program anecdotally reported feelings of increased credibility and effectiveness. Although change in behavior is slow to occur, education does make a difference.