Knowledge, Practice, and factors associated with neonatal pain management among nurses working at West Oromia Public Hospitals, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential damage. Recently, in developing countries including Ethiopia, there is insufficient data regarding the knowledge and practice of neonatal pain management among nurses. Hence, the current study identified the nurses’ knowledge, practice, and factors associated with neonatal pain management at west Oromia public hospitals. Objective This study aimed to assess knowledge, practice, and factors associated with neonatal pain management among nurses at west Oromia public hospitals, Ethiopia 2022. Methods An Institutional-based cross-sectional study design was used to conduct the study from all thirty-five public hospitals in west Oromia, from May 1 to 30/2022. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the study participant. The data was entered into Epi-data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 26 for analysis. Descriptive statistic was presented in text, tables, and charts. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression was computed considering the p-value < 0.05 to identify statistically significant factors. Result This study was conducted with 203 staff nurses’ working in the neonatal intensive care unit with a response rate of 98.5%. 127(62.6%) of the nurses had adequate knowledge regarding neonatal pain management. As a practice, 33(16.3%) of the participant had a good practice. There was a significant association between nurses’ knowledge status and getting training on neonatal pain management at university/college (AOR, 2.31; CI 1.29, 4.27). The knowledge level (AOR, 3.3 CI: 1.14, 9.32), having a pain management policy in place (AOR, 5.44, CI: 1.92, 15.37), and receiving training on neonatal pain management at university/college (AOR, 2.55 CI: 1.09, 5.97) were significantly associated with the practice of nurses. Conclusion and Recommendation: The finding revealed that nurses had inadequate knowledge and practice in neonatal pain management. Though the level of nurses’ knowledge of neonatal pain management is mediocre and the level of nurses’ practice in neonatal pain management is unpredictably low. Therefore, providing training on neonatal pain management at university/college, providing on-job training, and endorsing pain management policy have a paramount role in improving nurses’ knowledge and practice on neonatal pain management.

Knowledge and Practice of Neonatal Pain Management and Associated Factors among Health Care Providers in Neonatal Intensive Care Units of Public Hospitals in North Shoa Zone, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia, 2023

“…Consequently, pain tends to be overlooked in this particular population. These findings align with studies conducted in Ethiopia, specifically in Addis Ababa and western Oromia [ 13 , 16 ].…”

“…Adequate education likely provides professionals with a solid foundation of knowledge and skills necessary for effective pain management in neonates. This finding aligns with a study conducted in Addis Ababa and West Oromia, where a positive association was identified between having adequate knowledge and better neonatal pain management knowledge [ 13 ]. The consistent pattern across studies underscores the importance of education as a key determinant in promoting proficiency and expertise in neonatal pain management among health care professionals.…”

“…In this study, having palliative care and in-service pain management training were significantly associated with good neonatal pain management practice. This is found to be consistent with a study performed in West Oromia where nurses with adequate knowledge were more likely to adopt good neonatal pain management practices than those without adequate knowledge [ 13 ] and with a study conducted in Addis Ababa that showed nurses applying neonatal pain management policies were more likely to implement good practices in neonatal pain management [ 16 ]. These consistent findings across studies underscore the crucial role of education and training in shaping health care professionals' practices in neonatal pain management.…”

“…The outcome of our study indicates a lower percentage compared to studies conducted in Ethiopia, specifically in Addis Ababa, West Oromia, and Mekele, where 68.7%, 62.6%, and 58.6% of nurses demonstrated sufficient knowledge of pain management, respectively [ 13 , 16 , 17 ]. This disparity could be attributed to the fact that the aforementioned studies exclusively focused on nurses working in urban hospitals, whereas our research included doctors, midwives, and nurses working in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) at primary hospitals.…”

“…We included all 135 health care providers working in the NICU of 11 North Shoa public health hospitals, specifically Hakim Gizaw Teaching Hospital [ 13 ], Debre Berhan Specialized Hospital (35), Enat Hospital [ 12 ], Mehalmeda Hospital [ 12 ], Molale Hospital [ 6 ] Deneba Hospital [ 10 ], Ataye Hospital [ 8 ], Shoarobit Hospital [ 12 ], Debresina Hospital [ 8 ], Arerti Hospital [ 9 ], and Mida Hospital [ 7 ].…”