1

NURSING CARE OF THE CHILD TO PROMOTE COMFORT

OUTCOMES
1. Describe the major methods and techniques of pain management for children.
2. Identify common facts & fallacies about pain in children.
3. Discuss research findings related to the under-medication of children; and that
refute misconceptions about pain in children.
4. Identify National Health Goals related to pain management in children that nurses
can help the nation achieve.
5. Use critical thinking to analyze ways nursing care for a child in pain could be
more family centered.
6. Identify variables that may intensify or modify the childs response to painful
stimuli.
7. Describe pain assessment strategies (especially with acute, recurrent, and
chronic).
8. Describe common pediatric pain assessment scales (i.e. FACES, FLACC).
9. Identify physiologic and behavioral responses to pain by developmental level.
10. Discuss non-pharmacologic interventions used to relieve pain in children.
11. Implement nursing care related to a child in pain such as suggesting an alternative
therapy.
12. Formulate nursing diagnoses for a child in pain.
13. Evaluate outcomes for achievement and effectiveness of care of a child in pain.
14. Discuss current trends in pre/post medication and treatment of pediatric patients
and their effects on nursing outcomes.
15. Plan nursing care for a child in pain.
16. Discuss management for Opioid-induced side effects in children.
REQUIRED READING/ACTIVITIES
Care of Children: RN Edition 8.0, ATI Content Mastery Review Module
Ch 9: pp 73 81.
Essentials of Pediatric Nursing, (9th ed).
Ch 7: pp. 144 181 (Pain Assessment and Management in Children).
Ch 11: pp. 367 368 (Colic Paroxysmal Abdominal Pain).
Ch 18: pp. 560 563 (Fear of Pain and Suffering- skip table on 561).
Ch 24: pp. 784 785 (Recurrent and Functional Abdominal Pain).
Ch 26: p. 890 (Leukemia: Relieve pain).
Essentials of Pediatric Nursing, Study Guide (9th ed.).
Ch 7
Pediatric Facts
pp. 54 58, 121

Journal Articles:
Ellis, J.A., Blouin, R. & Lockett, J. (1999). Patient-controlled analgesia:
Optimizing the experience. Clinical Nursing Research; 8:283.
Li, H.C.W., Lopez, V., Lee, T.L.I. (2006). Effects of preoperative therapeutic play
on outcomes of school-aged children undergoing day surgery. Research in
Nursing & Health. 30:320-332.
CLINICAL COMPETENCIES
1.

Select and utilize an age-appropriate pain assessment tool for a child at risk for or
experiencing discomfort.
Plan and implement appropriate nursing care for a child to meet comfort needs.
3.
Evaluate the effectiveness of pain management strategies.