Pediatric nursing in pain therapy

Key position. Pediatric nursing owns a key position in pain therapy, due to its patient centered tasks and special kind of labor repartition between m edicine and nursing. However, it is to admit that this key position obtains various forms of appearance in the different settings of pediatric nurses' s practice. Pain questionnaires. The difficulties within the correct assessment of chil dren's pain by nurses refer to the application of valide pain questionnaire s and continuous documentation. A prototype of pain prevention in nursing i s the 'minimal handling' concept. Effective psychologic measures of pain pr evention and relief are not only intrinsic and extrinsic focussing of aware ness but also just holding the patient's hand. 'Cutaneous stimulation' and 'counterirritation' should be mentioned as physical techniques. Coping ability. Close contact with friends or parents is one of the most im portant factors enhancing the patient's coping ability. If confronted with their own child in pain, parents often feel helpless which may result in an xiousness, overprotection, and inadequate support. Thus both parents and ch ildren need professional training to face painful procedures and behave in a supportive manner. There are numerous non-medical techniques which either by themselves, or in combination with analgetics, have the potential to su bstantially add to quality of life of the paediatric patient in pain.