Objective To investigate the knowledge level and the attitude of nurses about the pain management in a third-grade class-A hospital in Hunan province and the influencing factors. Methods The questionnaire was used to collected information in 520 nurses. The data were analyzed by descriptive analysis, t test, variance analysis and multivariate regression analysis. Results Totally 489 questionnaires were taken back, and the effective recovery rate was 94.04%. The correct answer rate was 18% - 83% with the average rate of (51.41 ± 11.07) %. The pain know-
ledge level of the nurses were not significantly influenced by age, title, education, working years, continuous education in the third-grade class-A hospital of Hunan province. Whether or not getting pain knowledge from academic journals and receiving pain knowledge education in the school were two key variables of correct answer rate (P = 0.024). Conclusions It is necessary to improve the basic knowledge level of pain management in nurses and to train them urgently.