Factors influencing pain management in children

Abstract

Pain management in children could be improved through increased co-operation between nurses, physicians and parents. Planning time and good routines could facilitate pain management. Education about pain management and children's pain behaviour might also improve nurses' ability to manage pain in children.

Nurses' pain assessment practices with critically ill adult patients

“…Tendencies of not agreeing with patients' statements about pain may stem from nurses' attitudes or knowledge. Nurses' positive attitude towards pain assessment has been found to facilitate good assessment practices (Gimbler-Berglund et al 2008). It has been reported in other studies that nurses still rely on personal judgments and opinions to manage pain rather than using assessment findings (Rose et al 2012;Watt-Watson et al 2001).…”

“…The patient-related factors include fear of drug effects, reluctance to report pain and reluctance to take opioids (Duignan & Dunn 2009). The clinician-related factors include outdated or inadequate knowledge, negative attitudes, inadequate assessment skills, insufficient prescription and analgesics administration (Gimbler-Berglund et al 2008;Wells et al 2008). It has been reported that although relief of pain and suffering is a core principle to all health professionals, in the face of a life-threatening illness or injury, pain management is often forgotten or at the very least under-appreciated by the healthcare members (Gelinas 2007).…”

“…The most commonly cited healthcare system factors include insufficient medication supply, lack of time and competing priorities (Czarnecki et al 2011;Duignan & Dunn 2009). Other healthcare system-related factors include giving low priority to pain management (Bennetts et al 2012), inconsistencies in pain management practices among staff (Gimbler-Berglund et al 2008) and overcrowding (Duignan & Dunn 2009).…”

Clinical Judgment of Pain in the Non-Verbal Child at the PICU- A Phenomenographic Study

“…It was found that they were trying to prevent children from displaying expressions and behaviors deriving from pain. In a study by Gimbler-Berglund et al, (2008) nurses' were found to be ignorant towards procedural pain. These are examples of how caregivers fail to interpret or to give credibility to the child's suffering from pain.…”

“…The alleviation of suffering is the most important part of a nurse's responsibility (Benner et al, 2009). However nurses expresses difficulties in assessing pain in younger children (Gimbler-Berglund et al, 2008). Children who cannot verbally express themselves are exposed to various levels of suffering.…”