Authors (including presenting author) :
Or YL(1), Tsui PY(2), Chen PP(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Department of Anaesthesia, North District Hospital, (2) Department of Anaesthesia, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital
Introduction :
Pain is common and knowledge deficit in pain management has been identified as one of the barriers to effective pain management. To address this knowledge gap, the HO pain management service committee adopted a 4-hour educational program called the Essential Pain Management (EPM) workshop to teach our staff about basic pain management. EPM is recognized by the World Federation of Society of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) and International Association for Study of Pain (IASP) as a pain educational program.
Objectives :
To evaluate the effectiveness of EPM in enhancing staff’s confidence and competence in pain management, and to look for any improvement in knowledge related to appropriate opioid use in pain management.
Methodology :
Participants were asked about their undergraduate training in multidisciplinary pain management. A 25-item true/false assessment test was then administered to participants before and after the workshop. 5 questions specifically addressed the opioid knowledge gap and were marked. A post-course evaluation questionnaire was used to survey participants’ satisfaction and their perceived confidence and competence in pain management.
Result & Outcome :
1120 medical, nursing and allied health staff from 7 clusters participated in the EPM workshop from 2017-2019. 948 participants completed the pre- and post-tests, and 988 completed the evaluation questionnaire. 88.7% participants have not received formal undergraduate training in multidisciplinary pain management, with 96% participants felt that their personal undergraduate training in pain management was not adequate; 95.7% participants felt that undergraduates in all health care professions were not receiving adequate training in multidisciplinary pain management. Over 99% of our participants agreed that EPM provided basic and essential pain management training, and the content is applicable to their workplace. The satisfaction rate was over 99%. Before the workshop, 77% were confident and 76% were competent in managing patients with pain, and this increased to 98% confident and 98% competent after the workshop. Mean scores of questions assessing knowledge on opioid risk improved after the workshop (0.46 vs 0.62, p< 0.005), as well as opioid addiction risks in acute (0.69 vs 0.81, p< 0.005), chronic non-cancer (0.91 vs 0.96, p< 0.005) and cancer pain (0.30 vs 0.57, p< 0.005). Conclusion: The EPM workshop was effective in improving the pain management knowledge of frontline healthcare professionals, especially the awareness of risks of opioid use in pain management.
