KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS NON-PHARMACOLOGICAL PAIN MANAGEMENT AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG NURSES WORKING IN BENISHANGUL GUMUZ REGIONAL STATE HOSPITALS, WESTERN ETHIOPIA, 2017

Abstract

Introduction: Worldwide millions of people are suffering from pain. Nonpharmacological therapy has an important role in the treatment of pain and recognized as a

valuable, simple, help to lessen the dosage of analgesic drugs need, decreasing the side effects, reducing drug dependency and reducing health care costs however, knowledge and attitude of nurses greatly affect the use of non-pharmacological pain management methods. Objective: The study aimed to assess knowledge and attitude towards nonPharmacological

pain management and associated factors among nurses working in Benishangul Gumuz Regional State hospitals, western Ethiopia, 2017. Method: - Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 1 to May

st , 2017.Two hundred sixteen nurses selected by using simple random sampling. Data collected by using pretested self-administered structured questionnaire. Collected data checked, coded and entered to EPI-INFO version 7 and exported to SPSS version 20 for further analysis. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression used. Results: A total of 209 professional nurses participated in the study with 96.7% response rate. This study shows that 51.2 % adequate knowledge and 47 % Conclusion and recommendations: Nurses in Benishangul gumuz regional state hospitals were unfavorable attitude but relatively they have adequate knowledge about non-pharmacological pain management. Work experience, level of education, nurse to patient ratio and taking educational course were associated with nurses’ knowledge and positive relationship between nurses to patient ratio, training and knowledge of non-pharmacological pain management were associated to nurses’ attitude. Therefore, efforts better to focus on innovative nurses’ educational strategies, train and balance 1:6 nurses to patient ratio Key words: Attitude, Associated factors, Knowledge, Nurses, Non-pharmacological pain management