This is the second of two OpenLearn courses focusing on the effective management of children’s pain. The focus of the first course was on why pain matters and how a pain management framework can be used to deliver the effective management of children’s pain. This second free course further develops how to improve children’s pain management in hospital, focusing on including parents/carers in the management of the pain.

The course presents the findings from a range of studies involving parent interviews on being included in their child’s pain care, as well as studies involving nurses, parents/carers and children and young people on their views of how children’s pain is managed. The challenges both parents and nurses encounter in managing children’s pain are discussed, focussing in particular on communication. The course includes three short animations conveying key messages on the management of children’s pain. The course concludes with suggestions that may help overcome these challenges between parents/carers and nurses to improve the management of children’s pain in hospital.

There is much discussion about the issue of children and young people’s mental health problems in the media, and we often hear this issue referred to as a ‘crisis’. But what does the evidence say? Are rates of mental health problems rising? In this course you will explore these important questions as well as delving into a case study of a young person with anxiety who is refusing to go to school, which is based on the real-life experiences of a service user of a child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS).

This free course, Supporting older people with learning disabilities and their families, stems from research that explored how to improve the care and support for older people with learning disabilities and behaviours that challenge others, and their families.

Being able to supervise and assess in the workplace are core skills needed by those supporting learners. In the context of this development, this free course, Practice supervision and assessment in nursing, has been designed to support practitioners working with students in workplace settings across nursing provision. Core to these resources are the requirements of the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) – the nursing regulator – to work in different ways to support learners. The principles discussed, however, would apply as best practice to any working environment where employees are seeking to develop themselves under the supervision of others.

This free course will focus on the promotion of effective management of children’s pain, through the use of a pain management framework.

The information presented will enable you to gain knowledge and insight into evidence-based practice, in relation to delivering effective pain management for children.

Why use literature reviews in health and social care? is a free course which introduces and explains how literature reviews can support evidence-based practice in health and social care. A literature review can offer a systematic way in
which to sift through information to produce relevant existing knowledge and discern knowledge gaps. This short course explores different examples of the use of literature reviews that have informed policy and practice; social work with older people,
cessation of cigarette smoking in pregnant women and use of mindfulness therapy with respect to older people with dementia and their carers.