Apparently Nurses, on the Whole, Are Under-Educated

Apparently nurses, on the whole, are under-educated regarding the severity, etiology, ramifications, and other sequalea of chronic pain. A study conducted by Ferrel, McCaffery, and Rhiner (1991) discovered that lack of education of health care professionals, including nurses, is often cited as the cause for inadequate treatment for pain and for insufficient empathy in regards to chronic pain. Nurses (in this regard) often underestimate the severity and resilience of chronic pain and equate it with 'regular' pain, but by doing so, they lack sufficient empathy with patients and deal with the problem in a misguided fashion. Opoid analgesics, for instance, should be more frequently used as intervention. Instead, use of opiod analgesics is minimized due to fear of creating opoid addiction. Furthermore, cognitive therapy is one of the psychotherapeutic interventions that are relied on when, in fact, cognitive therapy has been shown to be ineffective with chronic pain.

Nurses receive only a basic education about pain, in general, and chronic pain in particular, and, oftentimes, parts of this rudimentary information is not only dated but also erroneous. As evidence of this point, Ferrel, McCaffery, and Rhiner (1991) reviewed fourteen nursing textbooks published since 1985. Reviewed textbooks included eight pharmacology manuals, and six medical surgical texts. All of these textbooks featured fundamental information on pain only, most of them skimpy and inadequate and content analysis found that only one textbook correctly defined opiod addiction and correctly assessed the likelihood of opiod addiction following use of opiod analgesics for pain control.

Moreover, the majority of the textbooks were unclear and ambiguous in their treatment and vocabulary of pain -- some of them seemed unfamiliar with the subject themselves; they confused issues, and several erroneously defined opiod addictions as consequent to employment of opiods for pain relief. If the nursing textbooks themselves are misguided as to treatment of chronic pain, it is no wonder that nurses, in turn, have erroneous and skimpy information of the subject.

To remedy the situation, Ferrel, McCaffery, and Rhiner (1991) proposed that nursing educators use the American Pain Society publication "Guidelines for Analgesic Use" until textbooks are produced that carry the correct information. My proposal extends to the recommendation that nursing students, in general, be presented with more comprehensive, up-to-date, and more accurate information on the subject of chronic pain. Nurses can change this situation by publicizing the problem and amplifying the need to work on it.

They can do so by appealing to associations that are actively dedicated to implementing change and progress in the nursing occupation (such as American Nurses Association and the Canadian Nursing Association). The media, too, can be employed. One of the media resources that seems most valuable is that called 'Do Gooder TV' which enables nonprofit organizations to present information focusing around videos and other documentary evidence to large audiences. Once visitors see these compelling stories, DoGooderTV gives them a direct way to make some change and to address the situation. Writing in journals such as 'Nurse Week' can also draw attention to the problem.