Knowledge of pain management protocols among health workers in Jos University Teaching Hospital: A comparative analysis

Abstract

Background: Moderate and severe pain are common symptoms that accompany cancer patients in Nigeria because they often present with advanced diseases. Evidence from literature has demonstrated that health professionals in Nigeria are ill equipped with the skills to  assess or manage pain. Palliative care initiatives to  address this gap include the Pain Free Hospital Initiative (PFHI). This study reports on  the experience of this  study in Jos University Teaching Hospital.

Methods: Scores of Pre and post-test assessments on World Health Organization protocols administered to  medical doctors ,nurses and  pharmacists were analysed in the 14 calendar months that the Pain Free Hospital  Initiative trainings held in Jos University Teaching  Hospital.

Results: A total of 620 health professionals were trained in pain assessment and management between March  2017 and April  2018. The majority of the trainees were nurses (62.1%), 19% were medical doctors and 7.1%  were physiotherapists. Other health care  workers made up 10.6%. The average Pre-test scores that assessed the  knowledge of participants was 46.8 (SD +/- 19.9) and the post test  scores increased to 60.6(SD +/- 23.4) with a  positive significance correlation value of r = 0.552.

Conclusion: The Pain Free Hospital  Initiative training improved the knowledge of health care workers on pain  assessment and management.