Date of Conferral
2016
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
School
Nursing
Advisor
Oscar Lee
Abstract
Uncontrolled pain has proven effects on both physiological and psychological responses of hospitalized patients. These incapacitating sequelae most often negatively impact patient outcomes resulting in unnecessary suffering and prolong hospitalizations. First line nurses often have preconceived notions about a patient's pain without developing an individualized patient context that considers appropriate pain management knowledge translated from best practice standards. Guided by Bandura's social learning theory and Lippitt's change theory, the purpose of this quality improvement project was to determine if use of the Curriculum Outline on Pain for Nursing from the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) improved nursing knowledge of pain management for hospitalized patients. The Knowledge and Attitude Survey Regarding Pain was given as a pretest and posttest to assess the knowledge of 100 registered nurses from an acute care hospital, before and after an education intervention was provided. The results of the paired pretests and posttests indicated a statistically significant difference t(99) = 0.03, (p < 0.05) following use of the IASP Curriculum. Use of the IASP Outline Curriculum, coupled with sustainability strategies, has a strong probability of impacting nurses' knowledge and subsequently contributing to positive social change for the community of patients expecting optimal clinical outcomes from their nurses.
Recommended Citation
Sweet, Ronda, "Improving Pain Management for Hospitalized Patients" (2016). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 2385.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/2385
