Implementation of a hospice pain-education programme.

Abstract

No studies have explored the pain resource nurse curriculum in the hospice setting. This curriculum offers a structured method to teach pain management to nurses. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of implementing a modified pain resource nurse curriculum on nursing knowledge in a community hospice agency. A modified and condensed version of the pain resources nurse curriculum was presented to community hospice nurses during two educational sessions. A pre-test-post-test assessment was conducted using a modified version of the Nursing Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain tool to assess knowledge growth from the educational sessions. For educational session 1, average correct responses rose slightly from the pre-test to the post-test. However, this increase was not found to be statistically significant. For educational session 2, average correct responses rose an average of 2.6 points. This increase was found to be statistically significant. Based on this pre-experimental study, there is evidence that the pain resources nurse curriculum can provide an instructional framework for teaching hospice nurses. However, further study is needed, including a more rigorous design.