Attitude and applications of nurses to evaluate pain

Introduction: This study was conducted to determine the attitudes and practices of the nurses regarding to evaluate pain. Methods: The descriptive study was carried out with 209 volunteered nurses to participate. The data were collected by the researchers in the data collection form prepared in the direction of the literature. Data were evaluated using, number, percent calculation, mean mea- sure and Chi square significance test. Results: It was determined that 35.9% of the nurses included in the scope of the research had a bachelor degree, 44.0% worked in inter- nal medicine services and 45.0% did not receive any training on pain assessment. It was determined that 53.6% of the nurses performed pain evaluation in the clinics and 54.1% did not use the pain assess- ment scale. When considering the attitudes of nurses regarding the use of pain scale, 80.9% stated that "pain evaluation is the priority for patients with pain". Discussion and Conclusion: As a result of the research, it was deter- mined that the nurses did not use the pain scales in the clinics suffi- ciently and did not use the nonpharmacological methods frequently in the nursing practice. For this reason, it may be advisable to develop standardized forms of pain management in hospitals and disseminate its use