Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pain is a multidimensional experience, and its management depends on both the professional’s sensitivity and their ability to choose strategies for measurement and relief. The nursing team plays a fundamental role in this process since the assessment of pain in a systematic way provides the right therapeutic measures to the child. The present study aimed to evaluate pain and analgesia in the medical records and to understand the perception of the nursing team regarding the management of pain in hospitalized children. METHODS: Qualitative, descriptive, exploratory research carried out in a tertiary level state university hospital. Data collection included patients hospitalized in a pediatric inpatient unit and a semi-structured interview with 24 members of the nursing team. A thematic analysis proposed by Minayo was used for data analysis. The analysis was performed following the Social Communication Model of Pain. RESULTS: Eighty medical records were analyzed, and although pain is considered the fifth vital sign, most of the nurse prescriptions for pain remain blank in the medical records The participants’ reports resulted in three categories: the naturalness of the pain in hospitalized children; the responsibility of the nursing team before the 5th vital sign; pain management. CONCLUSION: Paying attention to the painful process of a child requires some skills from the professional to identify, assess, use proper instruments, understand the feelings involved in the process, and entail care in the prioritization of pediatric pain management.
Highlights
The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage”[1]
A child in pain may be exposed to the destabilization of other vital signs (SSVV), and the verification of pain as the 5th vital sign allows the identification of discomfort and instability signs
Children have particularities in pain manifestation; professionals need to understand the stages of their development and the variations of age groups to be able to use assessment instruments and pain management strategies according to these particularities[6]
Summary
The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage”[1]. Considering that pain management involves, from the moment of its identification in the nursing record, the multidimensional aspects of those who feel it and the professional who assists and the use of appropriate instruments for its evaluation, this study permeates the question of how the nursing team is perceiving the pain management of hospitalized children. In this context, the objective was to analyze the nursing and medical teams’ recordings regarding the assessment of pediatric pain and to identify the perception of the nursing team regarding the pain management of hospitalized children in the light of the Social Communication Model of Pain
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