TY - JOUR
T1 - Oncology nursing certification
T2 - Relation to nurses' knowledge and attitudes about pain, patient-reported pain care quality, and pain outcomes
AU - Beck, Susan L.
AU - Brant, Jeannine M.
AU - Donohue, Rebecca
AU - Smith, Ellen M.Lavoie
AU - Towsley, Gail L.
AU - Berry, Patricia H.
AU - Guo, Jia Wen
AU - Al-Qaaydeh, Sharifa
AU - Pett, Marjorie A.
AU - Donaldson, Gary
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by the ONS Foundation/Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative 58299. Beck, Brant, Smith, Towsley, and Berry contributed to the conceptualization and design. Beck, Brant, Smith, Towsley, Berry, and Al-Qaaydeh completed the data collection. Pett, Donaldson, and Guo provided statistical support. Beck, Donohue, Guo, Pett, and Donaldson contributed to the analysis. All of the authors contributed to the manuscript preparation. The authors gratefully acknowledge Kim Butler, MD, for her support in project implementation as a premedical student and the oncology nurses and patients from the Huntsman Cancer Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT; St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings, MT; and the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright 2017 by the Oncology Nursing Society.
PY - 2016/1
Y1 - 2016/1
N2 - Purpose/Objectives: To (a) compare pain knowledge and attitudes between nurses with oncology certified nurse (OCN®) status, non-OCN®-certified nurses, and nurses ineligible for certification and (b) examine the relationships among OCN® status, nurses' knowledge and attitudes about pain, patient-reported quality of nursing pain care, and pain outcomes. Design: Prospective, correlational survey design. Patients were nested within nurses. Setting: Six inpatient oncology units in three hospitals: St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings, Montana; Norris Cotton Cancer Center at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire; and Huntsman Cancer Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. Sample: 91 nurses in three states (28 OCN®-certified nurses, 37 noncertified nurses, and 26 not eligible for certification). Certification status was validated for 105 nurses who were matched with a sample of 320 patients. Methods: Nurses completed a survey, and matched adult patients who were experiencing pain rated their pain care quality and pain experience during the past shift. Main Research Variables: Demographic characteristics, certification status, and responses to the Nurse Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain (NKASRP), Pain Care Quality Survey-Nursing, and modified Brief Pain Inventory (Short Form). Findings: OCN®-certified nurses scored significantly higher on the NKASRP (82% correct) compared to non-OCN® eligible nurses (76%) and non-OCN® ineligible nurses (74%) (p < 0.001). Only 43% overall achieved a benchmark of 80% correct. No statistically significant relationships existed between (a) certification status and pain care quality or pain outcomes or (b) NKASRP and care quality or outcomes (p > 0.05). Conclusions: OCN®-certified nurses' knowledge and attitudes related to pain management were superior to noncertified nurses. Neither knowledge and attitudes nor OCN® status were associated with pain care quality or pain outcomes. Implications for Nursing: Knowledge is necessary but insufficient to improve patient outcomes; providing optimal pain care requires action. Sustained efforts to improve cancer pain management are indicated.
AB - Purpose/Objectives: To (a) compare pain knowledge and attitudes between nurses with oncology certified nurse (OCN®) status, non-OCN®-certified nurses, and nurses ineligible for certification and (b) examine the relationships among OCN® status, nurses' knowledge and attitudes about pain, patient-reported quality of nursing pain care, and pain outcomes. Design: Prospective, correlational survey design. Patients were nested within nurses. Setting: Six inpatient oncology units in three hospitals: St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings, Montana; Norris Cotton Cancer Center at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire; and Huntsman Cancer Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. Sample: 91 nurses in three states (28 OCN®-certified nurses, 37 noncertified nurses, and 26 not eligible for certification). Certification status was validated for 105 nurses who were matched with a sample of 320 patients. Methods: Nurses completed a survey, and matched adult patients who were experiencing pain rated their pain care quality and pain experience during the past shift. Main Research Variables: Demographic characteristics, certification status, and responses to the Nurse Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain (NKASRP), Pain Care Quality Survey-Nursing, and modified Brief Pain Inventory (Short Form). Findings: OCN®-certified nurses scored significantly higher on the NKASRP (82% correct) compared to non-OCN® eligible nurses (76%) and non-OCN® ineligible nurses (74%) (p < 0.001). Only 43% overall achieved a benchmark of 80% correct. No statistically significant relationships existed between (a) certification status and pain care quality or pain outcomes or (b) NKASRP and care quality or outcomes (p > 0.05). Conclusions: OCN®-certified nurses' knowledge and attitudes related to pain management were superior to noncertified nurses. Neither knowledge and attitudes nor OCN® status were associated with pain care quality or pain outcomes. Implications for Nursing: Knowledge is necessary but insufficient to improve patient outcomes; providing optimal pain care requires action. Sustained efforts to improve cancer pain management are indicated.
KW - Nurse certification
KW - Oncology
KW - Oncology nurses
KW - Outcomes
KW - Pain
KW - Pain attitudes and knowledge
KW - Pain care quality
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U2 - 10.1188/16.ONF.67-76
DO - 10.1188/16.ONF.67-76
M3 - Article
C2 - 26679446
AN - SCOPUS:84989158712
SN - 0190-535X
VL - 43
SP - 67
EP - 76
JO - Oncology Nursing Forum
JF - Oncology Nursing Forum
IS - 1
ER -