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Perceptions of procedural pain: parents, nurses, and children
Insights
Children, parents, and nurses perceive pediatric pain differently. Nurses underestimated children's immunization pain compared to self-reports, highlighting a gap in pain perception during healthcare procedures.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric healthcare
- Pain perception research
- Nursing studies
Background:
- Accurate pain assessment in children is crucial for effective management.
- Discrepancies in pain perception among children, parents, and healthcare providers can impact care.
- Understanding these differences is vital for improving pediatric patient outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate and compare the pain perception of children, their parents, and their nurses.
- To identify potential disparities in how these groups perceive procedural pain in a pediatric setting.
Main Methods:
- Exploratory study design involving 40 pediatric triads (child, parent, nurse).
- Pain perception measured using the Oucher scale during routine physical examinations including immunizations.
- Subjects self-reported the child's perceived pain post-immunization.
Main Results:
- No significant difference was found between children's and parents' pain perception scores.
- A significant difference emerged between children's and nurses' pain perception scores (p = .0084).
- Nurses tended to report lower pain scores for children compared to the children's self-reports.
Conclusions:
- Healthcare providers, specifically nurses, may underestimate children's procedural pain.
- Addressing the gap in pain perception between nurses and children is essential for optimizing pediatric pain management.
- Further research is warranted to explore the factors influencing these perceptual differences.
Abstract:
The study's purpose was to determine if children, their parents, and their nurses differ in their perception of pain associated with health care procedures. A convenience sample of 40 subjects was obtained in a pediatric clinic. The subjects were triads of a child, the child's parent, and the nurse. The study utilized an exploratory design. Self-reports of pain were measured using the Oucher scale. Data were collected during a routine physical examination that included an immunization. Subjects rated the child's perceived pain after the immunization. No significant differences were found between the child's and the parent's scores. A significant difference was found between the child's and nurse's score (p = .0084). Initial findings suggest that there are differences in pain perception between nurses and children.