Assessment and treatment of pain in children
Section: TEACHING TO LEARN
Authors
Leticia Solís Carpintero
Position
Enfermera de la unidad de pediatría del Hospital Universitario Príncipe de Asturias de Alcalá de Henares.
Abstract
There are many definitions of the “pain”. According to the International Association for the Study of Pain (1986), pain is “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage. Pain is always a subjective experience”.
McCaffery and Beebe defined pain as: “Pain is what the person says it is, existing when and where the person says it does”. From these definitions we can conclude that pain involves the interaction of a sensory component and a perceptual or experiential dimension of cognitive and emotional origin.
Pain control must be considered a priority to improve the patients’ quality of life.
The aim of this article is to make nurses and other healthcare professionals aware of and not to underestimate the presence of pain in children. Thus, it is necessary to take into account that any pathological picture, treatment or diagnostic intervention that might cause pain in the adult, might cause pain in children as well.
Keywords:
pain; nursing; childanalgesia
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