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Determinants of nurses' intention to administer opioids for pain relief
Author(s) -
Edwards Helen E.,
Nash Robyn E.,
Najman Jake M.,
Yates Patsy M.,
Fentiman Belinda J.,
Dewar Anne,
Walsh Anne M.,
McDowell Jan K.,
Skerman Helen M.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
nursing and health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.563
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1442-2018
pISSN - 1441-0745
DOI - 10.1046/j.1442-2018.2001.00080.x
Subject(s) - pain relief , medicine , pain management , nursing , psychology , anesthesia
A statewide cross‐sectional survey was conducted in Australia to identify the determinants of registered nurses' intention to administer opioids to patients with pain. Attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control, the key determinants of the Theory of Planned Behavior, were found to independently predict nurses' intention to administer opioids to these patients. Perceived control was the strongest predictor. Nurses reported positive overall attitudes towards opioids and their use in pain management. However, many negative attitudes were identified; for example, administering the least amount of opioid and encouraging patients to have non‐opioids rather than opioids for pain relief. The findings related to specific attitudes and normative pressures provide insight into registered nurses' management of pain for hospitalized patients and the direction for educational interventions to improve registered nurses' administration of opioids for pain management.