Pain assessment tools: children’s nurses’ views

Abstract

The persistence of inadequate treatment of pain in children could be due to lack of knowledge and nurses' failure to assess and manage pain effectively. It is recognized that effective pain assessment leads to more satisfied children and families. This study explored children's nurses' views on the use of pain assessment tools in a tertiary referral centre. Almost two-thirds of nurses did not have a preference for a pain assessment tool, but nearly three-quarters of nurses surveyed agreed that the introduction of pain assessment tools would improve documentation. When nurses were asked how much time they needed for education on these tools, 83 percent wanted only two hours, although almost half stated lack of knowledge or education as the main obstacle to use of a pain assessment tool. The inconsistencies in these replies could reflect the conflicting demands between the nurses' need to increase their knowledge of pain assessment while managing a heavy workload.

Externalizing the Private Experience of Pain: A Role for Co-Speech Gestures in Pain Communication?

“…one patient's '8' might be another patient's '3' on a 1 -10 scale, suggesting that the scores on these tools are relative only to the sufferer and are not comparable across people (Ho, et al, 1996). One study also revealed that over 50% of nurses were concerned that such tools were subjective, inaccurate, and subject to problems of under-and over-treatment (Simons & MacDonald, 2004), a concern that is supported by empirical evidence that pain is often underestimated on the basis of these measures, especially at high levels (Sjötröm, Haljamäe, Dahlgren, & Lindström, 1997). This has obvious implications for treatment as if pain is underestimated then patients are likely to receive inadequate treatment and pain relief.…”

“…Other research revealed that nurses perceive numerous barriers to the use of current assessment tools, including inadequate training and lack of knowledge, concerns about the extra time and work involved and the possibility of patients becoming frustrated at being given too much paperwork (Simons & MacDonald, 2004). Taken together with the suggestion that these tools tend not to provide more detailed information about the pain experience than that obtained by verbal self-report and the fact that they are not widely utilized within clinical practice suggests that there is an urgent need for alternative approaches.…”

“…The fact that these tools are subject to interpretation issues at two distinct stages means that, to some extent, these measures are more problematic than simple verbal self-report. and there is no single guideline for the UK (Simons & MacDonald, 2004;Wood, 2008).…”

Doutor, acho que meu bebê está com dor: avaliação da dor de lactentes por profissionais de saúde

“…12 The continuous support of a multidisciplinary pain team and collaboration with "local champions" can help sustain new pain assessment practices. 13 How can we apply Elias's findings 2 to a busy neonatology practice?…”

A experiência da enfermeira de unidade de terapia intensiva neonatal na utilização de instrumentos de avaliação da dor em neonatos

“…Estudos realizados com as enfermeiras de UTI Neonatal e UTI Pediátrica corroboram os achados desta pesquisa, elegendo a falta de recursos humanos e a escassez de tempo, como fatores dificultadores para a aplicação dos instrumentos de avaliação da dor neonatal (27,45,(56)(57)75) .…”