DISCUSSION
A pattern of postoperative pain care on the unit emerged from the data (Figure 3). Nurses gave pain medications regularly even if they were prescribed PRN. The results suggest that pain care is considered synonymous with administering analgesics; non- pharmacological methods are considered the parents’ role. When pain scores were recorded they did not always guide choices for treatment. Action was not always taken when a pain score was 5 or greater. Data presented in Figures 1 and 2 suggest that children’s pain scores did not guide the admin- istration of pain medications. Findings suggest that the biggest influence on practice in this context was the informal policy on the unit of giving analgesics regularly even if they were prescribed PRN. Pain scores were often recorded when nurses gave anal- gesics prescribed to be given at that time,rather than obtaining a pain score and then deciding what inter- vention was needed. Parents and children were sat- isfied with care despite experiencing moderate to severe pain. When these results are compared with those of previous studies,there are many similarities but some important differences