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Assessment and management of children's pain in community hospitals
Author(s) -
Caty Suzanne,
Tourigny Jocelyne,
Koren Irene
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of advanced nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.948
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1365-2648
pISSN - 0309-2402
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2648.1995.22040638.x
Subject(s) - pain management , medicine , medline , nursing , physical therapy , political science , law
Registered nurses ( n = 72) working in 10 paediatric units in community hospitals in north‐eastern Ontario, Canada, participated in a descriptive study investigating how nurses assess and manage pain in children A four‐part questionnaire was used to collect the self‐reported data Twenty‐five (36%) of the respondents defined pain as an individual and personal experience and another 25 (36%) respondents defined pain as a more or less localized sensation or discomfort resulting from the stimulation of specialized nerve endings In response to three different clinical situations, the subjects’ mean pain ratings were 5 72 for an infant, 7 34 for a 3‐year‐old, and 7 29 for a 12‐year‐old child The criterion ‘nurses’ judgment’was cited as being used frequently in both the assessment and decision making process, however, there was indication that some of the current knowledge in the assessment and management of pain in children was not known or being used