Surgical Nurses' Pain Management Self-Efficacy and Patients' Postoperative Pain Outcomes

This study examines whether surgical nurses' confidence in managing patients' pain (pain management self-efficacy) is related to how well their patients' pain is managed after surgery. Nurses working in general surgery clinics will complete a questionnaire about their own pain management self-efficacy, and the surgical patients under their care will complete a separate questionnaire about their postoperative pain outcomes. Each patient's responses will be linked to the nurse who cared for them, creating nurse-patient pairs, in order to explore how nurse-level factors relate to patient-level pain outcomes. This is an observational study: no treatment, medication, or intervention is provided or tested; participants only complete questionnaires.

Inclusion Criteria: Surgical Nurses: * Currently employed as a registered nurse * Working in the general surgery clinic where the study is conducted * Actively involved in postoperative patient care * Employed in the relevant clinic for at least 3 months * Voluntarily agrees to participate in the study Surgical Patients: * 18 years of age or older * Has undergone a surgical procedure * Receiving postoperative care in the general surgery clinic where the study is conducted * Within the first 24 postoperative hours * Able to communicate in Turkish * Conscious and cognitively able to answer study questions * Voluntarily agrees to participate in the study Exclusion Criteria: Surgical Nurses: * On extended leave or medical report during the data collection period, resulting in no active clinical care * Does not complete the data collection form during the study period Surgical Patients: * Followed in the intensive care unit * Impaired consciousness that prevents assessment * Serious cognitive or communication impairment that prevents communication * Underwent emergency surgery * Unable to complete the study data collection forms