Managing pain in children: An observational study

Abstract

This paper describes an observational study which examined how nurses (n=13) managed pain in one surgical ward in the Midlands. The results indicate that, while the nurses were good at giving analgesic drugs, general nursing care related to pain management was poor; for example, pain assessment was not undertaken systematically and non-drug methods of pain relief were rarely used. This was despite the ward being particularly quiet during the period of observation. The majority of prescribed doses of analgesia were within therapeutic levels. The results of the study add weight to the supposition put forward by Francke et al. (1997) that many nurses hold a one-sided view of pain management and believe that the nurse's role in pain management is synonymous with the administration of analgesic drugs. Other nurses hold an integrated view and believe that, in addition to pharmacological interventions, psychosocial and other non-drug interventions may be valuable in pain management. It is also postulated that poor pain management may be due to the stress inherent within nurses' role and associated with caring for children in pain.