Using the Oucher Scale
Vanessa Peden Research Nurse, Derbyshire Children’s Hospital, University of Nottingham;
Caroline Saddington Senior Staff Nurse, Children’s Services Queen’s Medical Centre Nottingham, University of Nottingham
Experience with the Oucher scale for pain self-assessment during a research project led Vanessa Peden and Caroline Saddington to consider its use in clinical practice
A long-standing issue within paediatric pain management has been the difficulty of objectively assessing pain in children (Zacharias and Watts 1998). Some of the pain assessment tools that are available for use with children are complicated to use and others have not been validated for use (McArthur and Cunliffe 1998). The validity and reliability of any pain assessment tool requires consideration prior to use, as the recent RCN pain assessment guidelines recommend (RCNI 1999). These guidelines also support the use of children’s self-reporting along with parental and healthcare professionals’ assessment of pain (RCN 1999).
Nursing Children and Young People.
13, 3, 24-26.
doi: 10.7748/paed2001.04.13.3.24.c732
Want to read more?
Already have access? Log in
or
3-month trial offer for £5.25/month
Subscribe today and save 50% on your first three months
RCNi Plus users have full access to the following benefits:
- Unlimited access to all 10 RCNi Journals
- RCNi Learning featuring over 175 modules to easily earn CPD time
- NMC-compliant RCNi Revalidation Portfolio to stay on track with your progress
- Personalised newsletters tailored to your interests
- A customisable dashboard with over 200 topics
Subscribe
Alternatively, you can purchase access to this article for the next seven days.
Buy now
Are you a student? Our student subscription has content especially for you.
Find out more
