  Citation: AL-Sayaghi, K.M.; Fadlalmola, H.A.; Aljohani, W.A.; Alenezi, A.M.; Aljohani, D.T.; Aljohani, T.A.; Alsaleh, S.A.; Aljohani, K.A.; Aljohani, M.S.; Alzahrani, N.S.; et al. Nurses’ Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Pain Assessment and Management in Saudi Arabia. Healthcare 2022, 10, 528. https:// doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10030528 Academic Editor: Robbert Gobbens Received: 30 January 2022 Accepted: 10 March 2022 Published: 14 March 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). healthcare Article Nurses’ Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Pain Assessment and Management in Saudi Arabia Khaled M. AL-Sayaghi 1,2, *, Hammad A. Fadlalmola 3 , Wael A. Aljohani 4 , Ali M. Alenezi 5 , Dalal T. Aljohani 6 , Thana A. Aljohani 6 , Sameer A. Alsaleh 6 , Khalid A. Aljohani 3 , Mohammed S. Aljohani 1 , Naif S. Alzahrani 1 , Ayman A. Alamri 5 , Amraa H. Alhousah 6 and Mumtaz F. Khan 6 1 Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, College of Nursing, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 42353, Saudi Arabia; msejohani@taibahu.edu.sa (M.S.A.); nzahrani@taibahu.edu.sa (N.S.A.) 2 Nursing Division, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sana’a University, Sana’a 1247, Yemen 3 Department of Community Health Nursing, College of Nursing, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 42353, Saudi Arabia; hazzminno345@gmail.com (H.A.F.); kajohani@taibahu.edu.sa (K.A.A.) 4 Nursing Administration Department, King Fahad Hospital, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 42351, Saudi Arabia; waaljohani@moh.gov.sa 5 Nursing Audit Department, King Fahad Hospital, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 42351, Saudi Arabia; al_enazi555@hotmail.com (A.M.A.); ayaalamri@moh.gov.sa (A.A.A.) 6 Nursing Education and Research Department, King Fahad Hospital, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 42351, Saudi Arabia; dalalta@moh.gov.sa (D.T.A.); thanaa@moh.gov.sa (T.A.A.); saalsaleh@moh.gov.sa (S.A.A.); aalhousah@moh.gov.sa (A.H.A.);mumtazm@moh.gov.sa (M.F.K.) * Correspondence: ksayaghi@taibahu.edu.sa or kalsayaghi@yahoo.com; Tel.: +966-500224651 Abstract: Inadequate pain management affects the patient outcome. Pain assessment and manage- ment are fundamental in nursing care, and nurses must be equipped with adequate knowledge and a positive attitude toward pain assessment and management. This study aims to evaluate nurses’ knowledge and attitudes regarding pain assessment and management at King Fahad Hospital, Al- Madinah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey, using a self-administered questionnaire, was conducted from January to February 2020 with 660 registered nurses working in the Emergency Department, critical care units, inpatient and outpatient departments at King Fahad Hospital in Al-Medinah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Of the 660 nurses, 291 responded, resulting in a response rate of 44.09%. The participants’ scores ranged from 17.7% to 100%, with a mean score 45.29%. The majority of the participants (70.1%) had a poor level of knowledge and attitudes (score < 50%). Nurses working in the outpatient department scored significantly higher than the group working in the Emergency Department and inpatient wards. Deficient knowledge and negative attitudes were found and nurses continue to underassess and undertreat pain. Nursing school curricula and in-service continuous education must equip nurses with the required knowledge and attitudes to enable them to manage pain effectively. Keywords: nurses’ knowledge; nurses’ attitudes; pain assessment; pain management; Saudi Arabia 1. Introduction According to the American Pain Society (APS) and the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), pain is “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage” [1,2]. Because pain is a multifaceted and subjective phenomenon influenced by an individual’s culture, beliefs, previous pain experience, and ability to cope [2,3], it is defined as “pain is whatever the experiencing person says it is, existing whenever he says it does”. Pain cannot be verified, and self-report is the only reliable measure to assess the presence and intensity of pain [1,4]. Healthcare 2022, 10, 528. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10030528 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/healthcare