The impact of language on the expression and assessment of pain in children

Research Priorities for Children's Nursing in Ireland: A Delphi Study

“…This group of children may have a health profile which lends itself to particular challenges for pain assessment and management. The challenges in assessing and managing pain in children with such impairments are supported in the literature, which suggests that a child's pain experience is multidimensional, influenced by their ability to cope, their mental age, their cognitive and functional ability and their family and social support structures (Azize, Humphreys, & Cattani, 2011;Burkitt, Breau, & Zabalia, 2011;Lynch, Kashikar-Zuck, Goldscheider, & Jones, 2007). This study supports the view that clinicians and researchers need to work together using translational research methods to continue to address the key issue of assessment and management of children's pain.…”

Perceived language proficiency and pain assessment by registered and student nurses in native English‐speaking and EAL children aged 4–7 years

“…We noted that the linguistic barriers when reacting to pain might affect verbal expression of the injury. Indeed, children from EAL background provide less elaborate language in their narratives compared to native speakers (Gorman, Fiestas, Peña, & Clark, 2011;Han, Leichtman, & Wang, 1998;Parke, 2001) and also when talking about pain (Azize, Endacott, Cattani, & Humphreys, 2014;Azize et al, 2011). For example, Azize et al (2014) found that EAL children tended to focus their stories either on using limited vocabulary (albeit very animated) AZIZE ET AL.…”

Living with pain: the experience of children and adolescents in palliative care

“…The fact that the children and adolescents are capable of expressing the characteristics of their pain directly affects how the nurses must alleviate the child's pain (12) . Nurses must understand that children of primary school age communicate pain in concrete terms (24) , like Barney and Valéria.…”

“…Considering the increase in the frequency of chronic diseases in all age groups, it is necessary for nurses and other health professionals to understand through their own accounts the experiences of children and adolescents who are suffering from pain and are receiving palliative care, making it possible to act adequately in the evaluation, management and relief of pain (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17) .…”