title: Current trends in the development of sedation/ analgesia scales for the pediatric critical care patient.
abstract: Evaluation of pain and sedation in the PICU patient population is challenging. This article provides an overview of sedation and analgesia assessment tools developed for the critical pediatric patient who is mechanically ventilated and pharmacologically paralyzed. Studies reviewed include adult critical care, pediatric, and neonatal patients. No single tool has emerged that can adequately address pain management in the mechanically ventilated pharmacologically paralyzed pediatric patient. Nurses, as an integral part of the health care of critical pediatric patients, should endeavor to develop evidence-based methods for the evaluation of simple yet accurate scales to monitor sedation and pain in the pharmacologically paralyzed pediatric patient.
authors.affiliation: Saint Francis Health System, Tulsa, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Ivy
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Razmus
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000698:Analgesia / Q000451:nursing*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D019148:Neuromuscular Blockade; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012121:Respiration, Artificial / Q000451:nursing*
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives