Background: Pediatric nursing demands knowledge and clinical skills, particularly in pain assessment and management, yet many students struggle to translate theory into practice. This study examined nursing students' pediatric nursing competency and knowledge of pediatric pain management. Method: A descriptive and correlational design was used with 246 nursing students. Data were collected through the Pediatric Nursing Competency Scale (PNCS) and the Pediatric Pain Management Knowledge (PPMK) Scale. Analyses included descriptive statistics, t -tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and regression. Results: Mean PNCS and PPMK scores were 144.28 ( SD = 24.48) and 108.67 ( SD = 15.93). Competency scores were higher among seniors and students who had taken a pain management course. PPMK scores were higher among female and moderate-income students. PNCS and PPMK showed a moderate positive correlation ( r = .341, p < .01). Awareness ( β = .357, p < .001) and barriers ( β = .244, p = .019) subdimensions significantly predicted competency, explaining 31.3% of the variance (Adjusted R 2 =.293). Conclusion: Strengthening pain education may enhance pediatric nursing practice.
Kutahyalıoglu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.