The effect of an Acute Pain Service on Nurses Knowledge and Beliefs about post-operative pain

The management of post-operative pain has been an area of concern for many years, with many studies focusing on the knowledge and beliefs of nurses working in this area. Following the report of the Royal College of Surgeons & College of Anaesthetists (1990) in the UK, there has been a rapid expansion in the development of Acute Pain Services (APS) in an attempt to counter these concerns. This descriptive study considers the possible impact the introduction of an APS had on the knowledge and beliefs of nurses working in the surgical area. A closed-answer questionnaire was used to replicate an earlier study (Mackintosh, 1994) which took place before the introduction of the APS. Findings demonstrate a consistent but mainly statistically non-significant trend in all areas towards an improved knowledge base and more appropriate beliefs about pain.