ARE CHILDREN GIVEN INSUFFICIENT PAIN-RELIEVING MEDICATION POSTOPERATIVELY

The literature often suggests and assumes that children are under-medi cated postoperatively, A review of the literature leads to the conclus ion that only a few studies answer the question of whether children's pain is relieved insufficiently. The lack of consensus on expected pai n intensity after surgery and caution about prescribing analgesics cou ld explain why analgesics are often prescribed on a pro re note (pm) b asis. Prescription on a pm basis, in fact, means that the nurse makes the decision whether or not an analgesic should be administered. Some studies suggest, however, that nurses under-medicate children and that postoperative pain is relieved insufficiently. In some situations, nu rses under-estimate the child's pain, while in others, nurses' attitud es, beliefs and knowledge regarding pain relief strategies play an imp ortant role. On the basis of this review of the literature standard pr escription of pain medication instead of pm is recommended, Furthermor e, research on the incidence and prevalence of pain in children and on the effectiveness of analgesic administration postoperatively is warr anted.