Knowledge and beliefs regarding pain in a sample of nursing faculty

Pain is a significant problem impacting between 50 per cent and 80 per cent of cancer patients and affecting overall quality of life. Studies have documented that nurses and other health care professionals are inadequately prepared to care for patients in pain. Several reasons have been identified including inadequacles in nursing and medical education, absence of curriculum content related to pain management, and faculty attitudes and beliefs related to pain. This article presents data from a cross-sectional mail survey that consisted of a self-administered knowledge and beliefs questionnaire and a self-reported pain curriculum questionnaire. Faculty from 14 baccalaureate nursing schools in the United States participated in the study. The study suggests that in baccalaureate schools of nursing, faculty knowledge and beliefs about pain and the curriculum content related to pain may be less than optimal.