Managing children's pain is a crucial role for nurses, however there have been conflicting studies about nurses' pain assessment and treatment responses.

In the July-August 2008 issue of Pediatric Nursing, Ruth A. Griffin and co-authors report results from a national survey of nurses that explored how nurses rated children's pain levels and how much analgesia they would recommend.

To obtain results, the researcher mailed questionnaires to 700 RNs, with 334 responding. The survey presented three cases and asked the nurses how they would rate each child's pain level, the dose of medication they would recommend and if they would use any nonpharmacologic pain relief methods (breathing, distraction with music or toys, etc.). The researchers also considered the nurses' backgrounds, such as level of education, clinical experience and personal experience with intense pain.

The most important finding, according to the authors, was that the nurses evaluated children's pain at the same high levels at which the children reported it. In addition, there was no link between the nurses' backgrounds and the pain treatments they chose. The authors note that the results contrast with previous studies, perhaps because "this study relied on a more representative national sample of nurses than in earlier work." They recommend continued research because "much remains to be learned about pain management decision made by nurses and other providers."

"Nurse Characteristics and Inferences About Children's Pain"
Ruth A. Griffin, RN; Denise F. Polit, PhD; and Mary W. Byrne, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN
Pediatric Nursing, July-August 2008

Pediatric Nursing