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"Getting better from my hurts": toward a model of the young child's pain experience
1Children's Hospital Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Insights
Hospitalized children's acute pain experiences were explored using qualitative methods. The core psychosocial process identified was "getting better," significantly shaping their overall hospitalization experience.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nursing
- Qualitative Research
- Pain Management
Background:
- Acute pain is a common and distressing experience for hospitalized children.
- Understanding children's perspectives is crucial for effective pain management.
- Previous research has often focused on physiological measures rather than subjective experiences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore and understand the lived experiences of acute pain in hospitalized children.
- To identify children's responses to pain, influencing factors, and associated meanings.
- To develop a theoretical model of the young child's pain experience.
Main Methods:
- A qualitative grounded theory approach was employed.
- Data were collected through participant observation, interviews (including play interviews), chart reviews, and reflexive journaling.
- The constant comparative method guided data analysis with 11 pediatric surgical patients aged 2.5 to 6.5 years.
Main Results:
- The children's pain experience was found to be central to their overall hospitalization experience.
- "Getting better" emerged as the fundamental psychosocial process children utilized to cope with pain.
- A preliminary model illustrating the young child's pain experience was developed.
Conclusions:
- Pain significantly influences how young children perceive and manage their hospitalization.
- The "getting better" process highlights the importance of psychosocial support in pediatric pain care.
- Further research is needed to refine the model and explore interventions based on this process.
Abstract:
A qualitative grounded theory method was used to examine hospitalized children's experiences of acute pain. Understanding the children's pain experiences included identifying children's responses, factors influencing children's responses, and the meanings children associated with their pain experiences. A sample of 11 surgical pediatric patients, 2-1/2 to 6-1/2 years of age, participated. Data collection methods included participant observation, informal and formal interviews, play interviews, hospital chart reviews, and use of a reflexive journal. Data analysis was based on the constant comparative method. Findings revealed that the pain experience determined how the overall hospitalization was experienced by the children. "Getting better" was identified as the basic psychosocial process children used to deal with the pain. A beginning model of the young child's pain experience was developed and is presented here.