Chronic pain affects around 1 in 5 adults in Europe, yet it remains poorly managed and under-treated, prolonging the suffering for patients and increasing the risk of complications.
A lack of knowledge about pain medicine is a key barrier to effective pain treatment and management, yet evidence suggests that pain education is not prioritised in a number of countries across Europe. Just to highlight the main critical issues: pain teaching is inconsistent and limited, and typically incorporated into other subjects. There is no dedicated teaching on pain in 7 out of 10 medical schools in Europe. Even where pain teaching is dedicated and compulsory, only 0.2% of undergraduate medical teaching is allocated to pain.
Pain Nursing Magazine has entirely devoted the section “Focus on” on pain nursing education, with a careful analysis of the situation in United Kingdom, France and Italy, with the aim to raise awareness on the issue.
