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Barriers to Pediatric Pain Management: A Brief Report of Results from a Multisite Study
Michelle L Czarnecki1, Andrea Guastello2, Helen N Turner3
1Jane B. Pettit Pain and Headache Center, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Insights
Nurses face significant barriers to effective pediatric pain management, including insufficient physician orders and time constraints. These challenges are consistent across U.S. pediatric hospitals, highlighting a need for systemic solutions.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nursing
- Pain Management
- Healthcare Quality
Background:
- Effective pain management is crucial for hospitalized children.
- Identified barriers hinder nurses' ability to provide optimal pediatric pain care.
- The prevalence of these barriers across the U.S. was previously unknown.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate barriers to pediatric pain management.
- To examine these barriers across different healthcare organizations.
- To utilize a consistent methodology for comparison.
Main Methods:
- Survey administered to 808 nurses.
- Study conducted across three pediatric teaching hospitals.
- Utilized a standardized tool to assess barriers.
Main Results:
- Key barriers included insufficient physician medication orders.
- Lack of time for premedication before procedures was significant.
- Low priority given to pain management by medical staff was a major concern.
Conclusions:
- Identified barriers were consistent across hospitals, irrespective of location.
- Consistent findings provide a clear direction for developing solutions.
- Addressing these barriers is essential for improving pediatric pain management.
Background:
Pain management is essential for the care of hospitalized children. Although multiple barriers have been identified that interfere with nurses' ability to provide optimal pain management, it is not known how pervasive are these barriers across the United States.
Aims:
This study is the third in a series of studies examining barriers to pediatric pain management. The aim of this study was to examine barriers in different organizations using the same tool during the same period of time.
Settings/Participants:
A sample of 808 nurses from three pediatric teaching hospitals responded to a survey addressing barriers to optimal pain management for children.
Results:
Barriers unanimously identified as being most significant included inadequate or insufficient physician medication orders, insufficient time allowed to premedicate before procedures, insufficient premedication orders before procedures, and low priority given to pain management by medical staff.
Conclusions:
Barriers identified as the most and least significant were similar regardless of hospital location. Revealing similar barriers across multiple pediatric hospitals provides direction for nurses trying to provide solutions to these pain management barriers.
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