This research article is valuable in clinical research and nursing practice for several reasons: first, it is well written, therefore it is easy to read and understand; secondly, the description of the study samples, treatments, statistical analysis, randomizations and results are presented in a clear manner. These positive attributes of the paper will allow other researchers to reproduce the experiments in their own settings, and makes the interpretation and comparison of research results easier. Researchers publish their work to contribute to the knowledge pool, and this paper successfully achieved this end.
The topic under study is also significant because immunization is a very important procedure that children must undergo, and the use of oral analgesics that taste good will be more to reduce the pain is good news for parents, children, and clinicians, who will all benefit from the not dealing with the stress that pain in children bring. The sample population, children, is of utmost significance to any nation. If exposure to pain will produce neurological effects that will negatively affect their psyche, then efforts must be maximized to reduce pain at all costs.
The thought that a common and safe compound can give relief to painful, but routine procedures, gives the medical community a reprieve from looking for expensive and complicated treatments. This research is therefore very commendable for the procedural ease in achieving momentous gain. Consideration of benefits, harm and costs The benefits of using sucrose to alleviate pain were enumerated in the paper to be as follows: inexpensive, readily available, easy to administer, acceptable to parents, and sweet. The cost of performing such a research is therefore inexpensive because the treatment itself is inexpensive.
The benefits of the research are numerous and cannot be given a tag price. Acute pain is one adverse stimulus that children should not experience, but cannot avoid during early childhood. It leads to stress and anxiety for parent and children. Pain should be assessed and treated as a multi-factorial experience, and doctors are tasked with assuaging and treating pain. It is recommended that physicians should use a multimodal approach when faced with pain in children (American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, 2001).
Recognizing the importance of pain management in infants, The American Academy of Paediatrics Committee on Fetus and Newborn, and Section on Surgery, and The Canadian Paediatrics Society, Fetus and Newborn Committee (2006), came up with an effective pain-prevention policy for implementation in neonates aimed at reducing the exposure of neonates to painful procedures, presenting objective ways of neonatal pain assessment, finding effective ways of preventing and treating pain for minor procedures and reviewing the appropriate methods to treat pain associated with major procedures.
Although these guidelines are for neonates only, it can be applied to young infants undergoing routine and repetitive procedures like immunizations. Application to patient care The study results have a very strong application to patient care. Immunization is a painful procedure, and due to this fact, some parents do not adhere to the recommended immunization schedule because they do not like to subject their children to the ‘ordeal’.
Finding ways to reduce pain and calm the infants during and after immunization is therefore a primary concern. The study points to a very inexpensive and apparently effective way of reducing pain during the procedure. Pain management that will prove successful will therefore have many benefits in patient care: parental adherence to the schedules will improve, resurgence of preventable diseases is avoided, and neurologic effects of the pain in children will be prevented.
The study also points to the improvement of patient care by health professionals through the improvement of pain assessment and management techniques. Attempts in evaluating a painful event must consider that pain recognition in preverbal infants is subjective. Therefore, many factors can influence the observer’s assessment (Cassia, Balda, & Guinsburg, 2007). This study showed that a simple pain scale is effective in assessing pain based on behavioural responses.
Using the correct and systematic pain scales that have been previously validated will make the pain assessment uniform and consistent among health care professionals (Cassia, Balda, & Guinsburg, 2007). Therefore, the care regimen recommended for the patient will be consistent and thus, effective.
References American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Fetus and Newborn and Section on Surgery and Canadian Paediatric Society, Fetus and Newborn Committee. (2006). Prevention and management of pain in the neonate: an update. Pediatrics, 118, 2231-2241.