One way to help ensure an accurate assessment of your child’s pain is to use a pain assessment tool. Health care professionals use assessment measures to assign a numerical value to pain and parents can do the same at home. By assigning a number to the intensity of the pain or to the disruption that pain is causing, tracking the daily changes in pain is much easier.
A pain diary is also a good tool for keeping track of pain in the longer term.
These downloadable pain assessment tools were written for parents to use to assess pain in their non-communicating children. One is specific to use following their child’s surgery. They are used with permission from the author, Christine T. Chambers, PhD.
Parents’ Postoperative Pain Measure (non-communicating) checklist [PDF]
Parents Pain Measure (non-communicating) checklist (PDF)
Pain Diary