Nurses’ knowledge on the use of opioids in postoperative patients

Introduction
Opioids are an important group of analgesics used in the treatment of postoperative pain. Nurses who monitor the patient’s condition and participate in the implementation of the therapeutic plan are the ones who have the most frequent contact with the patient after the procedure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of nurses on the use of opioids in postoperative patients.

Material and methods
The study was conducted in the spring of 2019 in a group of 61 professionally active nurses from the Pomeranian Voivodship. Participation in the research was voluntary. The study used the diagnostic survey method and the questionnaire technique. The authorial online questionnaire was used. The statistical analysis of data used Kruskal-Wallis and U Mann-Whitney tests. A p value ≤ 0,05 was regarded as significant.

Results
Almost all of the respondents were aware of the influence of opioids on the human organism (n = 59, 96.7%) and the scope of their potential side effects (n = 56, 91.8%). The lowest percentage of correct answers was found in questions regarding the potency of selected opioids and the WHO analgesic ladder. The analysis did not reveal any significant influence of sociodemographic (age, place of residence) or work-related factors (place and work experience) or the type of completed pre- or post-graduate education on the level of the respondents’ knowledge.

Conclusions
The nurses showed a satisfactory knowledge about opioids used in professional practice. It is recommended that systematic training be conducted on pain issues in the professional practice of nurses.