Original Article Published on 03 Oct, 2012

Survey of Nurses’ Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Post Operative Pain Management at a Teaching Hospital in Malaysia

Knowledge & attitude in post operative pain management
Vol. 4 No. 1 : 2009 (47-52)

Ho SE Ho SE
Choy YC Choy YC
Rozainiee A Rozainiee A

Abstract
Post operative pain is an expected adverse outcome following surgery and it often delays mobilization and overall recovery. Acute post operative pain is subjective and cannot be measured directly. The objective of this study was to determine nurses’ knowledge and attitude towards post operative pain management. A cross sectional study was conducted in surgical wards and the Intensive Care Unit of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre from February to April 2008. A 28 item questionnaire which comprised of two domains: knowledge and attitude towards post operative pain management was used. Eighty four respondents successfully responded to the study. Twenty respondents (25%) possessed high level, 58 respondents (69%) possessed moderate level and 5 respondents (6%) had low knowledge level of post operative pain management. Positive attitude towards post operative pain management was reported by 66 respondents (78.5%). There was a significant relationship between nurses’ academic qualifications and attitude towards post operative pain management (χ² =29.96, p <0.05). In conclusion, nurses in UKMMC possessed moderate level of knowledge and positive attitude towards post operative management. Results of this study show the need to enforce continuing medical education in pain management amongst UKMMC nurses in enhancing the quality of post operative care.
Keywords : Attitude, knowledge, nurse, pain management, post operative,
Abstrak
Kesakitan selepas pembedahan selalunya dialami oleh pesakit dan menjejaskan per­gerakan serta melambatkan penyembuhan. Kesakitan akut selepas pembe­dahan adalah subjektif dan tidak dapat dinilai secara langsung. Objektif kajian ini ada­lah utuk menilai tahap pengetahuan dan sikap jururawat terhadap pengurusan kesa­kitan sele­pas pembedahan. Kajian berbentuk keratan rentas ini dijalankan di wad sur­gikal dan unit rawatan rapi  di Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM) ber­mula dari Februari hingga April 2008. Terdapat 28 soalan yang mengan­dungi dua kon­struk iaitu pengetahuan dan sikap jururawat terhadap pengurusan kesa­kitan pesakit. Seramai 84 responden menyertai kajian ini. Hasil kajian menunjukkan 21 (25%) ber­pengetahuan tinggi, 58 (69%) responden mempunyai pengetahuan yang sederhana, dan hanya  5 (6%) responden berpengetahuan rendah terhadap pengu­rusan kesakitan selepas pembedahan. Seramai 66 responden (78.5%) menunjukkan sikap positif ter­hadap pengurusan kesakitan selepas pembedahan. Terdapat hubungan yang signifikan di antara sikap positif dan kelulusan akademik jururawat (χ² =29.96, p <0.05). Kesimpulannya kajian ini menunjukkan jururawat di PPUKM mempunyai  pengetahuan sederhana dan sikap yang positif terhadap pengurusan kesakitan selepas pembedahan. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan keperluan  pendidikan berterusan dalam pengurusan  kesakitan di kalangan para jururawat di PPUKM bagi memperbaiki pengetahuan mereka dalam pengendalian kesakitan demi memperbaiki mutu jagaan selepas pembedahan.
Kata Kunci : jururawat, pengetahuan, pengurusan kesakitan, pos-pembedahan, sikap,

Correspondance Address
Ho Siew Eng, Department of Nursing, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. Email: ho@ppukm.ukm.my


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