Stories of Children's Pain : Linking Evidence to Practice

Working with a child in pain is difficult, unavoidable and especially challenging when the child cannot explain what they are feeling. In this important book, Bernie Carter and Joan Simons bring together experience, evidence and research to deconstruct the topic and present the reality of children′s pain.

Each chapter starts with a personal story from a child, a family member or a healthcare professional. The stories are drawn from a wealth of original research, and focus the reader on the individual child and their family. The chapter then goes on to introduce the relevant research, theory and implications for practice, so health professionals can use the evidence to support compassionate, child-centred care.

Among the topics addressed are:

- Ethical dilemmas

- Assessing pain

- Working in different settings

- Inexplicable pain

It is valuable reading for any healthcare student or professional working with children of all ages.

Bernie Carter is Professor of Children’s Nursing at the University of Central Lancashire and Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom. She is a Clinical Professor at the University of Tasmania and Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Child Health Care. She was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in recognition of her contributions to the field of children’s pain.

Bernie’s research and writing focuses on children’s pain experiences and the assessment of children’s pain. She is particularly interested in improving the lives of children with complex health care needs and life limiting/threatening illness. Bernie′s research work draws particularly on narrative and appreciative inquiry and on arts-based methods as a means of engaging with children and eliciting stories of their experiences, hopes, beliefs and concerns. Bernie believes that stories are at the heart of the connections we make with children, families and their experiences of pain.