Objective: With a child’s less developed ability to express oneself when compared to adults, it is a more challenging task to manage pain in children. Nurses, as those who spend the most time with patients, need to have sufficient knowledge about assessing and managing pain in children. The aim of this study is to determine the knowledge and pediatric practices of nurses working in pediatric clinics on pain management in children.

Methods: This descriptive study was completed with 134 nurses. Study data were captured through using a questionnaire drafted, and rearranged in line with specialist advice, by the researchers. Data were electronically evaluated with percentage, Kruskal-Wallis H and Mann-Whitney U tests using analysis system.

Results: It was determined that 81.3% of nurses had not been trained on pain management in children. It was established that nurses preferred pharmacological methods to non-pharmacological, that 54.5% of them used a combination of pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods to relieve pain in children, and that 16.4% mentioned difficulty in pain management due to lack of time. Nurses’ knowledge of pain management was found to be slightly above the average (maximum 22 points; median ± standard deviation=16.50±2.74; minimum-maximum: 9-21).

Conclusion: The study established that nurses’ level of knowledge about pain management was inadequate, that nurses encountered various challenges in pain management arising from the workplace setting, and that rate of use of non-pharmacological pain treatment methods, an independent function of nursing, is significantly low.

Keywords: Children, non-pharmacological treatment, pain management