Nurses knowledge, attitudes and practices towards pain assessment and management in intensive care units at Kasama General hospital, Zambia.

Critically ill patients, have challenges reporting pain given their physical state. The complex nature of critical illness and diverse needs of patients may impact on the effectiveness of pain assessment and management in the intensive care units (ICU). Effective pain assessment culminates in effective pain management and nurses play an important role in ensuring effective pain management. Existing literature has shown a gap in the practice of pain assessment and management and efforts have been made to try to mitigate the inefficiencies among nurses, yet their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) in this domain remain variable and impact patient outcomes. This study assessed the nurses’ knowledge, attitudes and practices towards pain assessment and management of patients in ICUs at Kasama General Hospital. The study employed a quantitative cross sectional analytical study design. A population of 53 Participants was selected using census sampling method. A self-administered questionnaire was used following approval of the study by the local Ethics Committee. Written consents were obtained before commencement of the study. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 26 employing Binary Logistic regression and chi square. The results revealed significant associations (P ≤ 0.05) between gender (P = 0.014), years of experience (P = 0.046), and attitude (P = 0.002) to practice of pain assessment and management. Binary regression also revealed that females (AOR: 6.247, 95% CI: 1.19-32.70, p = 0.030), nurses with more than 10 years of experience (AOR: 3.962, 95% CI: 1.26-23.5, p = 0.002) and nurses working in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (AOR: 3.504, 95% CI: 0.001-11.51, p = 0.019) and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (AOR: 6.098, 95% CI: 2.85-5.82, p = 0.002) had significantly increased odds of good practice. In addition, having positive attitude (Attitude: AOR: 2.007, 95% CI: 2.33-23.3, p = 0.016) and possessing knowledge (AOR: 3.267, 95% CI: 0.99-2.47, p = 0.004) about pain assessment and management was significantly associated with higher odds of good practice. This study revealed that pain assessment and management practices among nurses at Kasama General Hospital are influenced by their knowledge levels and type of attitudes. Therefore, it is recommended that professional development programs be intensified and educational opportunities on pain management and assessment increased for nurses working in the ICUs.

Key words: Pain management, pain assessment, Intensive care units, Nurse’s Knowledge, Nurses attitudes and practice