Nurses' perception and management of post operative abdominal pain among school age children

ABSTRACT

Pain defines as unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Many factors may distort the nurses' perception of children's pain which creates an intense need for assessing nurses' perception and management of children during post operative pain. This study aims to identify nurses' perception and management practices of children's pain after abdominal surgery. The study was conducted at the Pediatric Surgery Department at Tanta University Hospitals and Surgery Department at Damanhour National Medical Institution. Convenient sample of 90 nurses working with school age children with post abdominal surgery pain. Two tools were used to collect the necessary data. The first tool was a questionnaire sheet, which included demographic data In addition questions for assessment of nurses' perception of children's postoperative, methods used for assessment and management of children's pain. The second tool was observation checklists to assess nurses' identification of behavioral clauses of pain, nurses' performances during assessment of pain intensity and during management of post operative pain in children by pharmacological and non pharmacological measures. The present study revealed that the nurses' perception of children's postoperative pain is lacking and inadequate for providing effective nursing care for children during pain experience and children were poorly managed for postoperative pain in the studied hospitals. It can be concluded that nurses did not play any role in the decision regarding pain management just they were carrying out the physician's prescriptions. The study recommended in service training and continuing education should be provided for all nursing personnel working in the pediatric surgical department