The accuracy of the nurse’s pain assessment

This comparative study was to identify the accuracy of pain assessment tools and to identify the accuracy of pain scores performed by the nurses. Methods: The samples were 31 nurses selected using the convenience sampling method at medical-surgical wards in the selected hospital. Data were collected using demography questionnaires. The accuracy of the selection of the pain assessment tools and pain score is obtained by comparing the assessments made by the nurse with the assessment by the experts on the same patients using Kappa statistical test. Results: There is no difference in pain assessment tools selection between nurses and experts (Kappa coefficient: 0,631; p-value 0,000), and there was a difference in patient pain score between nurse and experts (Kappa coefficient: 0,455; p-value 0,000). Conclusion: This study shows that nurses can choose the right pain measuring instrument to assess pain. But they had difficulty scoring pain levels accurately. Therefore, nurses need to train pain management, including education to select appropriate pain measuring instruments and scoring the pain accurately.