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Cancer Pain Management Among Oncology Nurses: Knowledge, Attitude, Related Factors, and Clinical Recommendations: a Systematic Review

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Abstract

The current study evaluated the oncology nurse’s knowledge, attitude, related factors of cancer-related pain management (CPM), and clinical recommendations for improving knowledge and attitude. In this systematic review, international databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Web of science (WOS), Science Direct, and Scopus) were searched for relevant studies published in English language from March 30, 2000 to March 30, 2018. The quality of the studies was evaluated using the Hoy instrument. Out of 888 initial studies, 12 studies performed on 3574 participants were included in the final stage of the review. Based on the results, most studies indicated that nurses had a poor (n = 4) or moderate (n = 4) knowledge of CPM. The lowest and the highest knowledge levels were 28.5% and 75%, respectively. According to most studies, nurses had a fair (average) (n = 4) or negative (n = 3) attitude toward CPM. The important factors related to the nurses’ knowledge of CPM included previous pain-related education programs (n = 7) and having work experience with cancer patients (n = 4). The most important barrier was the deficit in staff’s knowledge of pain (n = 2). The important clinical recommendations for improving nurses’ levels of knowledge included the implementation of educational programs (n = 9), training programs (n = 3) on CPM and including CPM topics in nursing curricula (n = 5). This systematic review showed that most nurses had poor knowledge of CPM and a fair attitude toward CPM, indicating the importance of considering the barriers to knowledge, strengthening the positive relevant factors, and using clinical recommendations based on clinical guidelines such as including CPM topics in nursing curricula and implementing educational programs on CPM to improve the knowledge, attitude, and skills of oncology nurses. The results of the present study could be used by policymakers to provide care for cancer patients and manage their pain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Internal Medicine and Nephrology, Clinical Immunology Research Center, Ali-Ebne Abitaleb Hospital, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran

    Salehoddin Bouya

  2. Student Research Committee, Nursing and Midwifery School, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Abbas Balouchi

  3. Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran

    Abbas Balouchi & Abdolghani Abdollahimohammad

  4. Clinical Immunology Research Center, Ali-Ebne Abitaleb Hospital, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran

    Abdulbaset Maleknejad

  5. Department of Midwifery, Zabol University of Medical Science, Zabol, Iran

    Maryam Koochakzai

  6. Department of Maternal & Child Health Nursing, College of Nursing, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

    Esra AlKhasawneh

Authors
  1. Salehoddin Bouya
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  2. Abbas Balouchi
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  3. Abdulbaset Maleknejad
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  4. Maryam Koochakzai
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  5. Esra AlKhasawneh
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  6. Abdolghani Abdollahimohammad
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Correspondence to Abdulbaset Maleknejad.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Bouya, S., Balouchi, A., Maleknejad, A. et al. Cancer Pain Management Among Oncology Nurses: Knowledge, Attitude, Related Factors, and Clinical Recommendations: a Systematic Review. J Canc Educ 34, 839–846 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-018-1433-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-018-1433-6

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