| Learning Objective #1: appreciate the components of nursing judgment that contribute to positive pain management outcomes. | |||
| Learning Objective #2: delineate components of evidence-based practice that contribute to positive pain management outcomes in children with cerebral palsy. |
Objectives: In 1993, Shriner's Hospital for Children in Erie, a 30 bed pediatric orthopedic hospital, began a pain management committee and started instituting new postoperative pain management strategies. Nursing management began collecting data on pain scores and side effects. Data was also gathered examining the degree of concordance between children with cerebral palsy and nurses' pain ratings. Both a Spearman's Rho and Kappa analysis suggested an overall high level of concordance (contrary to what has been cited in the literature). This study seeks to identify nursing practices that contributed to the above findings. Design: 53 questionnaires were distributed as part of a multi-centered pain study. In addition, three questions were attached with the author's permission. 25 of the 53 distributed surveys were returned. Huth and Moore's 1998 middle range theory of acute pain management in children was the theoretical framework of this study. Sample: Surveys were distributed to Registered Nurses in the inpatient nursing departments, OR nurses, PACU nurses, and outpatient clinic nurses. Outcome Variables: Demographic data from the nurse participants were collected. Multiple choice and open-ended questions were given to evaluate the nurses' assessment strategies in non-verbal children, e.g. "What serves as the basis for your objective pain rating?" Methods: Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze the demographic data. Descriptive statistics and content analysis will be done to analyze the survey quesions. Findings: Analysis will provide knowledge regarding strategies nurses' use to assess pain in non-verbal children with cerebral palsy after orthopedic surgery. Discussion will focus on what variables impact nursing judgment regarding pain management. Conclusions/Implications: Results of this analysis will help to delineate aspects of nursing judgment that impact positive pain management outcomes in non-verbal children. This will further support the use of nursing judgment as an important component of evidenced-based nursing practice.
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Back to 14th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
10-12 July 2003