Effective pain management remains a challenge for the nursing profession. While nurses' knowledge of appropriate pain strategies has improved considerably, additional research needs to be conducted into the influence of factors other than knowledge on the management of pain. This study examined the willingness of nurses (n = 157) and nursing students (n = 265) to spend time and energy managing the pain of different groups of patients, when told that all patients had the same degree of pain. The willingness of nurses to spend time and energy in managing patients' pain was used as a proxy for preconceived notions relative to particular groups of patients. A pattern emerged that suggested that nurses' and nursing students' willingness to spend time and energy managing patients' pain in influenced by their perceptions of different groups of patients.