Jamie M. Lorenc, MSN, BSN, RN, VA-BC: No financial relationships to disclose
Children tell us that the #1 reason they are scared to go to see the doctor is because they are afraid of getting a needle stick. Those needles sticks mean a lot more than just a really hard few minutes at the doctor’s office, it means those kids learn to be afraid of the doctor and grow up distrusting healthcare. Ultimately, if these common painful experiences are left unaddressed, patients are at risk for needle phobias, greater pain and distress during future needle sticks, and avoiding health care when they become adults. This presentation will discuss how to assess needle stick comfort in pediatric patients, techniques to provide comfort needed, and the process of establishing a contingency plan when basic comfort measures are not enough. The presentation will explain how the CMH Vascular Access team created and established these comfort measures and a contingency over the past 3 years with first PICC line insertions, then PIV and lab draws.
Learning Objectives:
Define how to implement the use of the pediatric sedation state scale to assess patient comfort during needle stick procedures.
Explain the basic comfort measures offered to all pediatric patients for needle stick procedures as defined by the comfort promise: sucrose or breast feeding, comfort positioning, topical analgesic, and distraction.
Discuss how to create a contingency plan when the basic comfort measures are not enough to maintain adequate comfort.
Explain how to implement and educate on these comfort measures within the Vascular Access and Phlebotomy Teams.
Explain how to collaborate with physicians, sedation team, pain team, APRNs, the operating room, surgeons, and anesthesiology to create and implement the contingency plan.
