Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Cynthia Fletcher

Abstract

AbstractInsufficient assessment and management of pain among the patient population during their hospital stay may result in ineffective delivery of care, increased length of stay, poor clinical outcomes, and decreased patient satisfaction. The quality report at a local facility showed compliance scores of 78% for administration of pain medication and 79% for reassessment of pain. These scores and the weekly patients’ satisfaction survey results suggested a substandard adherence to the facility’s pain management guidelines. One identified barrier to properly managing patients’ pain was nurses’ lack of knowledge and understanding of the theoretical foundation of pain management. The purpose of this DNP project was to develop a staff education program to increase the nurses’ understanding of acute pain management according to current evidence-based practice and the facility’s guidelines. Knowles’ adult learning theory guided the development of this project. Nineteen medical-surgical staff nurses participated in the education program and completed a pretest prior to participating in the program and a posttest after the program. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the difference between the tests. The average posttest score was 40% higher than the average pretest score indicating that the nurses’ knowledge increased after participating in the education program. Findings support the recommendation to present the program to all nurses during orientation to improve their pain management practices and promote their adherence to the facility’s pain management guidelines. Increasing nurses’ knowledge about pain management has the potential to empower nurses to better manage their patients’ pain to improve care outcomes and increase patient satisfaction.

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