Barriers to Pediatric Pain Management: A Brief Report of Results from a Multisite Study

Background: Pain management is essential for the care of hospitalized children. Although multiple barriers have been identified that interfere with nurses' ability to provide optimal pain management, it is not known how pervasive are these barriers across the United States. Aims: This study is the third in a series of studies examining barriers to pediatric pain management. The aim of this study was to examine barriers in different organizations using the same tool during the same period of time. Settings/Participants: A sample of 808 nurses from three pediatric teaching hospitals responded to a survey addressing barriers to optimal pain management for children. Results: Barriers unanimously identified as being most significant included inadequate or insufficient physician medication orders, insufficient time allowed to premedicate before procedures, insufficient premedication orders before procedures, and low priority given to pain management by medical staff. Conclusions: Barriers identified as the most and least significant were similar regardless of hospital location. Revealing similar barriers across multiple pediatric hospitals provides direction for nurses trying to provide solutions to these pain management barriers.