Pediatric Nurses' Perception of Pain Experienced By Children and Adults

Abstract

Pain is a frequent experience during childhood but our understanding of the experience of pain in children is extremely limited (Eland & Anderson, 1977; Jeans, 1983). There is evidence that children are, in comparison to adults, undermedicated for post operative pain. Eland and Anderson (1977) compared 25 children between the ages of 5 and 8 years with 18 adults who had undergone the same operation. The 25 children received a total of 24 doses of analgesics, of which 11 doses were narcotics. The 18 adults received 671 doses of analgesics of which 372 were narcotic analgesics. Similarly, Beyer, DeGood, Ashley and Russell (1983) found that 50 children (age 1 day to 14 years) who were undergoing open heart surgery were prescribed, and received, far fewer potent analgesics than adults who were undergoing similar surgery. The reasons for the discrepancy between the amount of medication given to children and the amount of medication given to adults following surgery are not at all clear. Among the reasons that have been suggested is that adults, and nurses in particular, do not perceive the pain experienced by children to be as serious as the pain experienced by adults.