Nurse's Experiences of Pain Management in Children

Pain Management is an important children right and a priority in treatment. Pain alleviation prevents severe complications and side effects and provides the children, a normal growth and development. Nurses are the key personnel who have the most interactions with pain experiencing children. They can prevent further problems by assessing and managing pain. Studying their experiences could play a valuable role in managing pain. The present study aimed at exploring the experiences of nurses of pain management in hospitalized children. A phenomenology study was recruited to conduct the study. In-depth interviews were undertaken with a theoretical purposive sample of 19 nurses working in medical-surgical and infection pediatric wards in a hospital in Esfahan. The data analysis using Coallizzi seven-stages method. Nurses` experiences were studied in two main areas of assessments and interventions. Three major themes were identified namely: the ability of detection, reaction and beliefs. The sub-themes included: being aware of pain reality, caregiver role, medication dependency, having tolerance, interpersonal interaction, beliefs regarding placebo, negative attitude to mother’s attendance during procedures. Nurses’ experiences reflect their abilities and knowledge of pain, the influential factors and understanding the mother role. Studying their experiences is a valuable contribution in better pain management. So, it’s necessary to pay more attention to the pain subject in nursing curriculum and providing pain management educational programme to train experienced nurses. The role of physician and their participation should be considered in managing children’s pain. The required facilities and condition for applying standards of pain management should be provided as well.