Pain in hospitalized children: pediatric nurses' beliefs and practices

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' pain-related documentations on children (n = 153) were also examined. Results showed inconsistency between what nurses believe about pain assessment and management and their documentation of practice. 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.