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The use of standardized language to describe abdominal pain
1College of Staten Island/City University of New York, Staten Island, NY, USA.
Insights
Standardized language in nursing improves the documentation and visibility of pediatric abdominal pain (AP) care. This study identified key nursing assessments, interventions, and outcomes for managing AP in school settings.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nursing
- Clinical Informatics
- Pain Management
Background:
- Pediatric abdominal pain (AP) assessment is complex due to varied etiologies, nursing perceptions, and symptom presentation.
- A lack of standardized language hinders consistent documentation and visibility of nursing care for children with AP.
- School nurses play a crucial role in managing pediatric AP within educational settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the utility of standardized language in describing pediatric abdominal pain (AP).
- To identify frequently used nursing assessments, interventions, and outcomes for AP in school nurses.
- To enhance the visibility and data-driven monitoring of nursing contributions to pediatric AP care.
Main Methods:
- A descriptive study involving 64 school nurses.
- Utilized an investigator-developed survey to assess the usefulness of standardized language for AP documentation.
- Collected data on assessments, interventions (Nursing Interventions Classification), and outcomes (Nursing Outcomes Classification).
Main Results:
- Identified frequently used assessments for documenting pediatric abdominal pain (AP) complaints.
- Cataloged nursing interventions from the "pain management" classification used for AP treatment.
- Determined relevant indicators from "pain level" and "symptom severity" outcomes used by school nurses.
Conclusions:
- Standardized language enhances the visibility of nursing care for children with abdominal pain (AP).
- Standardized documentation provides valuable data for identifying and monitoring AP trends in schools.
- Implementing standardized language strengthens the evidence base for pediatric pain management in school nursing.
Abstract:
The assessment, diagnosis, and management of abdominal pain (AP) in children is a complex and challenging process. The factors that contribute to this complexity are the varied etiologies of AP in children that may be biological and/or psychological, nurses' perceptions of AP, manifestations of AP in children, and the lack of a standardized language to describe AP. In this descriptive study, 64 school nurses completed an investigator-developed survey to determine the usefulness of standardized language in describing AP. This study identified the most frequently used assessments to document complaints of AP; activities from the Nursing Interventions Classification "pain management" intervention used to treat AP; and relevant indicators used by school nurses from the Nursing Outcomes Classification "pain level" and "symptom severity" outcomes. Use of standardized language to document nursing care will make nursing's contribution to the care of children with AP more visible and provide data that will identify and monitor trends of AP in the school setting.