Journal of pediatric nursing
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Multicenter Study
Nursing activities and outcomes of care in the assessment, management, and documentation of children's pain.
This study describes how assessment and documentation of children's acute postoperative pain is managed by nurses in university hospitals in Finland. A survey was conducted of 303 nurses working in children's wards of university-affiliated hospitals, and at the same time a retrospective chart review of 50 consecutive cases of operation of acute appendicitis was carried out. Charts were analyzed by content analysis, and the results of the survey are reported with percentage distribution and nonparametric statistical calculations. ⋯ The documentation of pain care is unsystematic and does not support the continuity of care. There is a clear need for development of assessment and documentation practices in the studied hospitals. Future research should look at the postoperative care of pain at home as well as care in non-university-affiliated hospitals.
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A descriptive design was used to gather information regarding nurses' beliefs and documentation practices related to pain assessment and management in children. Pediatric nurses (n = 260) from eight hospital units completed a child and pain survey. ⋯ Nurses believed that assessment is the first step toward alleviating pain in children. However, it was not evident in their documentations that nurses used developmentally appropriate tools for assessment or for evaluation of children's responses to pain management strategies.