Nursing students' knowledge of and views about children in pain

it is important to evaluate the outcomes of the given education to gain kno wledge about the abilities of our students to meet the needs of nursing pra ctice. Pain associated with different illnesses and procedures is one of th e most common symptoms that children experience in the hospital. The purpos e of this study was to evaluate the views and knowledge base of graduating nursing students in the area of taking care of children in pain. The data w ere collected with a purpose-designed Likert-type instrument from all nursi ng students that graduated during one year from the child nurse specializin g program in Finland (n=85), with a response rate of 86%. Results indicate that students have mainly positive views and attitudes towards taking care of children in pain. The views and attitudes differ when older and younger students and students from different schools are compared. Students lack kn owledge especially in the area of pain medications as well as in the assess ment of pain. In the knowledge section, the results did not differ greatly when different schools, younger and older students or previous working expe rience and no working experience were compared. In some of the researched s chools, many of the students felt a lack of confidence about their knowledg e. There is a need for more detailed education in the area of taking care o f children with pain. (C) 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.