Improving pain management in an hospital ward by implementing an
educational intervention: A prospective cohort study
Abstract
Introduction: the Pain management in internal medicine ward is a common
problem. Studies have shown that the evaluation of pain and its
documentation by the medical staff is inaccurate and tends to
underestimate the level of pain reported by patients. In addition,
Physicians often report lack of knowledge and misconceptions regarding
pain management. Objectives: To assess the impact of a structured pain
educational program on knowledge, skills and abilities [KSA’s] of
internal medicine ward physicians in pain management. Methods: Eleven
physicians from Internal medicine ward B at Bnai-Zion Medical Center, a
tertiary academic center in Israel, participated in a pain educational
program. Questioners regarding pain KSA’s, were completed before and
after the educational intervention. Concomitantly, a pain management
protocol was implemented in the department. Results: There was a 55.5%
(P.value = 0.003) improvement in the overall satisfaction of the
physicians regarding pain management in the internal ward on a 1 to 6
Likert scale (1-strongly disagree, 6-strongly agree) .In a modified
KnowPain50 [KP50] questionnaire that assesses physicians KSA, the
average score for all physicians improved by 15.3% (P.value = 0.012)
after the intervention. Conclusion: A targeted educational intervention
on pain management can improve physician’s KSA, and this we belive may
lead to a better treatment for patients suffering from pain in the
hospital scenerio.