Predictors of Nurses' Intentions to Administer As-Needed Opioid Analgesics for Pain Relief to Postoperative Orthopaedic Patients in the Acute Care Setting.

Background: Patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery experience severe postoperative pain that is frequently undertreated. No study was found that examined the predictors of nurses' intentions to administer as needed (PRN) opioid analgesics for postoperative pain relief.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine what constructs from the Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM) can predict nurses' intentions to administer PRN opioid analgesics for pain relief to hospitalized postoperative orthopaedic patients.