Researchers have relied, almost without exception, on adults for qualitative
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limited view of children’s pain experience. The purpose of this article is
to describe the events considered painful by children. Forty-four children
participated in the study. They had been admitted for different reasons into
different wards of a university hospital. The data consisted of qualitative child
interviews and was analysed using inductive content analysis. The pain experience of
children came from four main sources: 1. pain as a symptom of a diagnosed illness,
2. pain caused by medical and diagnostic procedures and basic nursing, 3. pain
caused by accidents and 4. inexplicable pain not caused by a particular illness or
injury. Children are able to report and describe their pain. Children should be
regarded as experts on their pain in order to maximize the options for pain management.
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