Neanaa M. Fayed^1,, Fatma A. Abd El-Rasek¹

Pain is a natural and unavoidable part of childhood. It is the most common side effect of hospitalization. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of core competencies based educational guideline on pediatric nurses' decisions related to pain management. A quasi-experimental design was used. The study was conducted in the Pediatric Department of El-Menoufia University and Shebin El-Kom Teaching Hospital in Shebin El-Kom city. A convenient sample of 60 registered nurses from the above-mentioned settings was selected. One tool used in this study is the Knowledge and Attitude survey regarding pain questionnaire. It included five parts; part one contains socio-demographic data of studied nurses, part two involves 4 yes /no questions, part three involves 25 true/false questions, part four: contains 8 multiple–choice questions, Part five contains two cases –based scenarios. The results of the study showed that the nurses' knowledge and reported practice about assessment and management of pain were 8.666±4.065 pre-intervention compared to 18.616±2.40 and 15.05±2.86 on the post and follow up intervention respectively. The study concluded that implementation of core competencies based educational guideline improved pediatric nurses` level of competent knowledge, decisions and reported practices regarding assessment and management of pain in children. Therefore, the study recommends that Core competencies based educational guide training must be implemented at all pediatric units to provide nurses with competent knowledge and skills regarding effective assessment and management of children pain.

core competencies, pain management, pediatric nurses