암 환자의 통증과 통증완화에 대한 간호사의 지식에 관한 연구

Abstract

This study is descriptive research designed to provide basic materials for developing clinical nurses' ability to make more active observation and report of cancer patients' palliation by examining their knowledge of cancer patient's pain and pain-palliation. Data were collected from 247 clinical nurses serving for one general hospital in Gwangju Metropolitan City and one in Daegu Metropolitan City for 15 days from Sept. 1 to 15, 2005. It used measuring instrument developed by Watson(1992), translated by Hyun Ju (1999) and recomposed to be suitable to purpose of this study as research instrument. Research instrument was composed of total 55 items including 8 of general characteristics, 2 of educational experiences of pains, 25 of knowledge of pains and 20 of pain-palliation. Results of this study are as follows. 1. Average rate of right answer of pain was 79.88% and that of knowledge of pain-palliation was 54.85%. 2. On cancer patients' pain ;‘ability to endure pain varied depending on individuals and individual situation' showed the highest rate of right answer (100%) and 'cancer patients' pain was mostly caused by surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy' showed the least rate of right answer rate (67.6%). 3. On knowledge of cancer patients' pain-palliation, the item that ' Tylenol used for pain-palliation was non-narcotic analgesic.' showed the highest rate of right answer (96.8%) and the item that 'when narcotic analgesics were used for pain-palliation, potential of opioid addiction was less than 1%' showed the least rate of right answer (10.9%). 4. Knowledge of cancer patients' pain by general characteristics showed no statistically significant differences depending on age, total working career, current career, position, nursing experience of cancer patients, education, religion and marital status. 5. Difference in knowledge of pain-palliation by general characteristics showed statistically significant difference in clinical nursing experience of cancer patients (t=1.978, p=.049) and type of degree (F=5.380, p=.005) 6. As a result of comparing knowledge of pain depending on presence and absence of experiences of pain-palliation education, scores of group without having pain education (t=-3.130, p=.002) were higher and statistically significant. 7. As a result of comparing knowledge of pain-palliation depending on presence and absence of experience of pain-palliation education, scores of group having pain education (t=2.049, p=.042) were higher and statistically significant. Accordingly, this study finds out that educational contents of cancer patients' pain showed no difference in knowledge between groups with and without education and thus a new approach for education of essence of pain and pain- palliation knowledge in cancer patients is needed.