[Pediatric pain management: what do German nurses know?].

BACKGROUND

In order to provide efficient pain treatment clinicians need to know the latest developments in pain management and to implement this knowledge into clinical practice. The knowledge of pediatric nursing staff with regards to pediatric pain management has not yet been investigated. In this study we therefore investigated nurses' knowledge of pediatric pain management strategies.

METHODS

Nursing staff knowledge was analyzed using the German version of the PNKAS-Sr2002. This questionnaire was distributed to 310 pediatric nurses and the response rate was 51.3% (n=159). Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to examine whether educational level and work experience had an influence on knowledge. Independent from work experience the educational level of nurses is important for their knowledge in pediatric pain management.

RESULTS

On average nurses obtained a mean individual test score of 69.3%. Nurses with advanced qualification and nurses with 6-10 years work experience obtained the highest scores.

CONCLUSION

Pediatric nurses must be trained more efficiently in pediatric pain management so that an adequate pain management is available for children and adolescents.