Pain in children
The RCN has completely revised and updated its guideline on the recognition and assessment of acute pain in children. The revised guideline identifies reliable and valid tools for measuring pain intensity in children, and includes a new section for measuring pain in children with cognitive impairments.
This page provides details of the resources and publications available for this clinical guideline.
Pain in children online resource
The full guideline in a range of formats, along with other with other content to support its implementation, is available as an online resource on the RCN website. Go to Pain in children.
Recognition and assessment of acute pain in children (full guideline)
- Publication type - RCN implementation guidance
- Publication date - September 2009
- Review date - September 2011
- RCN publication code - 003 542
- Availability - web only
- Recognition and assessment of acute pain in children (PDF 5.2MB) [see how to access PDF files]
Quick reference guide and poster
- Publication type - Quick reference poster
- Publication date - September 2009
- Review date - September 2011
- RCN Publication code - 003 547
- Availability - hard copy only
- For a browsable version of the quick reference guide go to: Pain in children downloads
Documents from the 2000 guideline
The following two documents are being updated in line with the recently published guideline and the revised versions will be published in 2010.
The recognition and assessment of acute pain in children: implementation guide
This provides a guide to implementing the clinical guideline in a series of six steps using the clinical audit cycle. (20 pages)
- Publication type - RCN Implementation guidance
- Publication date - March 2001
- Review date - 2010
- RCN publication code - 001 309
- Availability - web and hard copy
- Clinical practice guidelines: The recognition and assessment of acute pain in children: implementation guide (PDF 3.4M)
The recognition and assessment of acute pain in children: Audit protocol
Provides guidance and documentation for undertaking an audit
- Publication type - RCN Audit protocol
- Publication date - September 2002
- Review date - 2010
- RCN publication - 001 597
- Availability - web and hard copy
- Clinical Practice Guidelines: Clinical practice guidelines. The recognition and assessment of acute pain in children: audit protocol (PDF 1.2MB)
For further information and resources to support the implementation of the guideline go to Pain in children.