Although pain management practices have recently been
emphasised for children with critical illness in China, routine
pain assessment and the use of consistent or standardised
pain protocols are not further implemented in paediatric
critical care settings (Lin et al. 2008). Barriers, such as the
Chinese philosophy regarding pain endurance, government
policies for narcotic drug control and personal beliefs and
experiences of pain control among healthcare professionals
and parents, challenge current pain management practice
(Liu et al. 2007). Unlike in Western countries, in China
people are encouraged to bear pain because it is considered a
natural part of a disease, making people reluctant to seek
pain treatments. Furthermore, government regulations concerned
with drug abuse have restricted the accessibility of
opioids. In addition, fears of drug addiction and dependency
among healthcare providers and parents have also compromised
appropriate clinical pain management with opioids
(Liu et al. 2007).