Objective: Chronic pain represents a complex health issue with biopsychosocial dimensions that requires a multidisciplinary approach for effective management. Knowledge deficits and negative attitudes of nurses toward patients with chronic pain constitute significant barriers to quality pain care and adversely affect patient outcomes. This study aimed to determine the attitudes of nurses toward patients with chronic pain.
Materials and
Methods: This descriptive study was conducted with 216 nurses working in a training and research hospital. Data were collected using a participant information form and the attitudes of healthcare providers toward patients with chronic pain scale. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences for Windows, Version 22. Descriptive statistics, Student’s t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Mann–Whitney U-test, and correlation analysis were used. All results were evaluated at a significance level of p<0.05.

Results: It was found that 57.4% of the nurses had not received training on chronic pain management, 55.1% considered themselves competent in managing chronic pain, and 65.3% had a family member with chronic pain. The nurses’ overall mean score on the attitudes toward patients with chronic pain scale was 3.40±0.46. Among the subdimensions, the sensitivity subscale mean score was 3.99±0.71, and the misconceptions subscale mean score was 2.96±0.77.

Conclusion: It was observed that nurses’ attitude scores toward patients with chronic pain were at a moderate level. It was determined that receiving education on chronic pain and the unit in which the nurses worked had a positive effect on the total attitude score.