Abstract:
Patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery have reported considerable unrelieved
pain (Watt-Watson, et al., 2001). Nurses’ pain-related knowledge and practices may be
related to patient satisfaction with pain. The purpose of this study is to examine the
relationship between nurses’ knowledge about pain for postoperative cardiac patients and
quality and intensity of patient’s pain. The study will be a modified replication study of
Watt-Watson et al. 2001. The sample will include 30 registered nurses working with
post-operative cardiac patients and 60 post-operative cardiac patients in a Midwest
hospital. The Toronto Pain Management Inventory (TPMI) will be used to measure
nurses’ pain knowledge. The McGill Pain Questionnaire-Short Form (MPQ-SF) will be
used to measure the quality and intensity of patients’ pain. Permission will be obtained
from Ball State University and the participating hospital. The findings will provide
information for nurses who manage cardiac surgical patients.
