Monday, May 12, 2008

Sticking Point ADVANCE for Nurses | Editorial (click here)

From IV placement to blood draws to injection of medication, millions of needlesticks are performed on children each year - and for the child, parents and healthcare providers alike, the experience frequently is an unpleasant one.

Although techniques and interventions are available to make the process easier, they often are not employed because of barriers such as lack of awareness, time limitations or availability of supplies.

Recognizing the importance of improving needle pain management in pediatrics, RN VOICE (Registered Nurses for Venipuncture Optimization through Increased Comfort and Education) was established to facilitate solutions.

"There's plenty of information available about the impact of needle pain on children, but there's a huge gap between knowledge and practice," explained Sarah Leahy, BA, RN, RSCN, manager of the Center for Pain Relief at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and member of the RN VOICE steering committee. "You can give people the knowledge but they still don't actually change their practice; the change has to become institutionalized to really be successful."

To bridge the gap from information to implementation, RN VOICE assembled a community of practitioners - nurses, child life specialists, pharmacists and physicians - from across the nation to promote improved needle pain management strategies. The result is a network of experts and a new resource - ManageIVpain.com - through which healthcare providers can access the tools they need to systemize needle pain management measures in their workplaces.

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