The pain of children with sickle cell disease: the nursing approach

• Autor(a) principal: Campelo,Lívia Maria Nunes
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Oliveira,Nayara Fernandes, Magalhães,Juliana Macêdo, Julião,Alcineide Mendes de Sousa, Amorim,Fernanda Cláudia Miranda, Coelho,Magda Coeli Vitorino Sales
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-71672018000901381
• topic: Anemia, Sickle Cell; Child; Pain; Pediatric Nursing; Nursing Care

ABSTRACT Objective: To describe how nurses identify the pain in children with sickle cell disease (SCD) and to list the strategies used by them in the evaluation and control of pain. Method: This is a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory research, performed through semi-structured interviews with 13 nurses. The interviews were transcribed and after this process the qualitative data were organized according to thematic analysis. Results: This study showed that the nurses can identify pain in children with SCD from the signals they emit, such as: constant crying, restlessness, facial expressions and verbal reports. Pain is difficult to evaluate due to the lack of instruments, such as a pain scale. For pain control they use emotional support, promotion of comfort and the administration of drugs prescribed by the doctor. Final considerations: The nurses recognize the pain of the child and use pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods to control it but have difficulties to assess it.