Pain Management Case Study Essay

During my time in clinicals on a pediatric floor, I have participated in the discharge of patients and their parents. Pain management and comfort were two of the few topics that parents expressed concern about after discharge teaching. While the nurse attempted to address these issues, it felt as though the parents left the hospital without full confidence in how to manage their child’s pain. It became clear that parents needed further, specific discharge education on pain management when their children were prescribed at-home analgesics. Rony, et. al. reflected these sentiments in their study in which they examined how parents view pain management at home. In this longitudinal study, Rony, et. al. investigated how 132 parents of children ages 2 to 12 assessed and managed post-operative pain of their children in the home after elective outpatient surgery. The investigators gave parental attitude surveys during the morning of the surgery, and then monitored attitudes for 48 hours postoperatively through a pain assessment/management diary. The results demonstrated that parents only gave a median …show more content…
The nurse will observe the parent, ask questions where appropriate, and assist in any issues that the parent encounters during their demonstration. Through this demonstration, tactile learners will be stimulated and auditory/visual learners will be reinforced. The nurse should be prepared for errors in methods of assessment and administration, as well as knowledge of pain and medications. In order to effectively remediate the situation, the nurse should review the problem areas with the parent and together they both should demonstrate the second phase of discharge teaching. This will ensure correction of knowledge gaps and reinforce the discharge