Abstract
Introduction: Pain management in the 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.
Keywords : Education, Pain Training Programs, pain
management