3.2 Improving the communication between parents/carers and nurses

The inclusion of parents/carers in the care of their child has now been endorsed by the World Health Organisation, who on their Patient Safety Day 2023 recognised the ‘crucial role patients, families and caregivers play in the safety of health care. Evidence shows that when patients are treated as partners in their care, significant gains are made in safety, patient satisfaction and health outcomes’ (Paisley, 2023).

Like parents/carers, nurses recognise that communication is central to managing a child’s pain in hospital, and that the nurse has a role to be proactive in encouraging parents/carers to be involved. To aid this and empower parents/carers, a parent’s/carer’s judgement should be given the benefit of the doubt and parents/carers should let the nurse know when their child is in pain.

However, in the study by Simons et al. (2024), parents recounted negative experiences such as having their concerns dismissed, not being listened to when their child was in pain or being told their child was not due any more medication. They also reported their child being in pain when the nurses gave the lower dose of analgesia, or when nurses avoided giving morphine when it was prescribed.

Figure 5 Nurse should encourage parents/carers to be involved in their child’s pain management

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Two adults and a healthcare professional sitting/standing by a bed with a young girl in it. All are smiling.

Figure 5 Nurse should encourage parents/carers to be involved in their child’s pain management

Simons et al. (2024) also found that nurses were aware of comments made to parents by professionals that were unhelpful, such as ‘There’s nothing we can give him’ and recognised that such responses can seem defeatist and negative. Offering alternative pain relief through nonpharmacological methods, such as distraction, could help the child to feel more comfortable, although some nurses suggested that ‘there’s numerous drugs that you can give’ and using an ‘escalation policy’ when a child is in pain could help the situation. Policies such as this allow nurses to work flexibly to attempt to relieve a child’s pain in a more holistic way.

Nurses as well as parents made a number of suggestions about ways to communicate key information to parents/carers, such as posters to explain about pain (Simons et al., 2024). Posters allow parents/carers to gain a helpful insight into pain and its management, which could help them feel more confident. You can view an example of a poster here [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

Nurses also suggested that parents/carers could feel more empowered if they understood how hospitals worked, what the normal routines are and who to approach to get help when a child is in pain.