Asia Pacific Journal of Pediatric and Child Health

Abstract Ref Number = APCP1265

Poster Presentation

INDONESIAN NURSES POSOPERATIVE PAIN CARE IN HOSPITALIZED CHILDREN; AN OBSERVATIONAL QUALITATIVE STUDY

Henny Suzana Mediani,Ikeu Nurhidayah,Ai Mardhiyah,Sri Hendrawati,Yanti Hermayanti, Faculty of Nursing Universitas Padjadjaran

Background : Pain management practices in children continue to be ineffective in Indonesian hospitals with children continue to experience unrelieved pain post-surgery despite the evidence to guide practice being readily available. The aim of this study was to examine the pain-management practices of nurses who care for children experiencing post-operative pain in a surgical ward in a general teaching hospital in Bandung Indonesia Material : A naturalistic, qualitative approach was undertaken to observe 16 participating nurses who cared for 16 children post-surgery. Each nurse was observed continuously during three to four shifts of 5 h each over a 2-month period. Content analysis was performed to interpret the results. Results : We found that, in general, the nurses did not routinely and comprehensively assess the extent to which the children were in pain and that they rarely used non-pharmacological interventions. However, the nurses readily provided analgesic drugs as needed to the children, especially during the first 48 h post-operative period. Our findings support those of previous studies that found that the role of nurses in pain management is primarily administration of analgesic drugs. However, such pain-management practices do not conform to what professional bodies or studies provided the “current recommendations.” Conclusions : We found that pain-management practices by nurses in a pediatric surgical ward in an Indonesian hospital were inadequate, and therefore we recommend that additional training should be undertaken to improve their performance and ability to provide post-surgery care for pediatric patients who are in pain. These findings increase our knowledge concerning the complexities of pain assessment and management of hospitalized children and may serve as the foundation for developing new strategies and integrated models for pediatric pain management.

Keywords: children's pain observational study post-operative pain care