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Nurses' perspectives on pain management in pediatric care: systematic review and meta-synthesis

Majd Elmobasher1, Hui Tao1, Jing Guo2

  • 1School of Nursing, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China.

Frontiers in Pediatrics
|May 25, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Pediatric pain management is complex for nurses, with challenges including family involvement and cultural factors. Addressing these barriers requires targeted, culturally sensitive strategies to improve care quality.

Area of Science:

  • Nursing Research
  • Pediatric Healthcare
  • Pain Management

Background:

  • Pediatric pain is frequently misinterpreted, underdiagnosed, and inadequately managed.
  • Undertreated pain affects 50%-70% of pediatric patients, impacting health and well-being.
  • Nurses' perspectives on pediatric pain management barriers and facilitators are crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify, appraise, and synthesize qualitative studies on nurses' perspectives of pediatric pain management.
  • To develop a conceptual understanding of facilitators and barriers from the nursing viewpoint.
  • To inform strategies for improving pediatric pain care.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic review of qualitative studies using the SPIDER framework.
  • Literature search across CINAHL, PubMed, and Nursing journals.
  • Nine studies were included, with findings assessed using GRADE-CERQual.

Main Results:

  • Five themes emerged: nurses feeling 'Defeated by Pain,' the necessity of 'Family Participation,' tension between 'Evidence-Based vs. Experience-Based Assessment,' challenges in 'Pharmacological vs. Non-Pharmacological Interventions,' and 'Culture-Related Pain Management.'
  • High confidence was found for 'Being Defeated by Pain' and 'Pharmacological vs. Non-Pharmacological Interventions.'
  • Moderate confidence was found for 'Family Participation,' 'Evidence-Based vs. Experience-Based Assessment,' and 'Culture-Related Pain Management.'

Conclusions:

  • Nurses encounter multifaceted challenges in pediatric pain management.
  • Culturally sensitive strategies are needed to enhance nursing competence.
  • Targeted interventions can improve the quality of pediatric pain care.
Abstract

Keywords:
barriersmeta-synthesisnurses' perspectivesnursing practicepain assessmentpediatric pain managementqualitative research

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