Journal of child health care : for professionals working with children in the hospital and community
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J Child Health Care · Sep 2011
Uncovering pain in critically ill non-verbal children: nurses' clinical experiences in the paediatric intensive care unit.
Critically ill paediatric patients are frequently exposed to pain that is required to be assessed and treated effectively. The most reliable resource for assessing pain is the child itself, but children in the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) are commonly unable to communicate their needs, requiring professional caregivers to uncover and interpret pain. However, nurses and paediatricians do not have sufficient knowledge of how critical illness affects childrens' signs of pain. ⋯ Subtle expressions of pain were recognised when focus was patient-oriented. These findings support the necessity of actively looking for pain deriving from various perspectives and considering diverse caring needs when doing so. Acknowledging pain makes pain visible.