Evaluating Knowledge, Practices, and Barriers of Paediatric Pain Management among Nurses in a Tertiary Health Facility in the Northern Region of Ghana: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study.

Abubakari Wuni,Brenda Abena Nyarko,Solomon Mohammed Salia,Jauharatu Mohammed,Mudasir Mohammed Ibrahim,Imoro Tonsagri,Samaku Nabila Seini,Iman Iddriss,Marco Carotenuto

doi:10.1155/2020/8846599

Abstract

Background Pain is a major source of distress for children on admission, parents, and clinician. Hospitalized children continuously experience unrelieved pain; hence, the provision of effective pain management is an integral and important part of the nurse's role. Adequate knowledge and positive practices of nurses regarding pain management among children are key if optimal pain management is to be achieved among paediatric cases. However, there is a paucity of published data on paediatric management among nurses in the northern part of Ghana. Aim The current study, therefore, evaluated nurse's knowledge and practices and identified the barriers to paediatric pain management in the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana. Methodology. This was a descriptive cross-sectional facility-based study that employed a quantitative approach to data collection. A total of 180 nurses were selected conveniently from 10 selected wards of the hospital for the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire. The data were subsequently analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23.0. Logistic regression analysis was done to determine the association between the dependent and independent variables of interest. Results The findings revealed that the majority (61.1%) of all the nurses had an overall good knowledge of paediatric pain management while 57.8% demonstrated good practices of pain management. From the study, the most reported barriers to paediatric pain management by the nurses were insufficient knowledge in pain management (76.1%), inadequate paediatric pain assessment tools (73.9%), and inadequate staffing (72.2%). In further analysis, critical care nurses were 5.87 times more likely to engage in good practices of paediatric pain management than paediatric nurses (OR = 5.87 (95% CI : 1.07–32.00), p=0.041). Conclusion The majority (61.1%) of all the respondents showed good knowledge of pain management and 57.8% demonstrated good pain management practices. Despite the high knowledge and practice, factors such as insufficient knowledge in pain management (76.1%), inadequate paediatric pain assessment tools (73.9%), and inadequate nurse staffing (72.2%) affect effective pain management. Paediatric pain management should be treated as a priority, and hence more efforts should be put in place to curtail the barriers that hinder its practice.

Highlights

Pain is a major source of distress for children on admission, parents, and clinicians [1]
Setting. e study was carried out at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) which is located in the Tamale metropolis. e hospital is the largest health facility (800-bed capacity) in the northern region and serves as the only tertiary referral facility for Savana, North Eastern, Upper West, and Upper East regions, and neighboring Burkina Faso. e Tamale Metropolitan Assembly was established by a legislative instrument (LI 2068) and was subsequently elevated from Municipal Assembly into a Metropolis in 2004 with Tamale as the capital
Data were collected from 10 selected wards of the hospital because these wards in one way or the other take care of children’s conditions. ese units were classified into paediatric units and nonpaediatric units. e paediatric units consisted of the main children’s ward, the children’s emergency ward, and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). e nonpaediatric wards included wards that nursed both adults and children and included general surgical ward, ENT ward, neurosurgical ward, plastic surgery, intensive care unit, orthopedic ward, and the main theatre recovery

Summary

Introduction

Pain is a major source of distress for children on admission, parents, and clinicians [1]. Hospitalized children continuously experience unrelieved pain; the provision of effective pain management is an integral and important part of the nurse’s role. Adequate knowledge and positive practices of nurses regarding pain management among children are key if optimal pain management is to be achieved among paediatric cases. There is a paucity of published data on paediatric management among nurses in the northern part of Ghana. Aim. e current study, evaluated nurse’s knowledge and practices and identified the barriers to paediatric pain management in the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana. E findings revealed that the majority (61.1%) of all the nurses had an overall good knowledge of paediatric pain management while 57.8% demonstrated good practices of pain management.

Methods

Results

Conclusion