Confounding factors in infant pain assessment during recovery from anesthesia.

Issues And Purpose: To investigate in what ways infant pain assessments differed between outpatient surgical recovery areas (OPSRA) and other clinical settings that included inpatient postsurgical recovery areas.

Methods: Using a qualitative descriptive design, 8 nurse participants working in OPSRA and 7 nurse participants working in other clinical settings were interviewed.

Results: The assessments of participants in the OPSRA differed from those of other participants and were confounded by effects of a short-acting anesthetic, lower expectations of pain, and several extraneous factors.

Practice Implications: Recognizing infant pain in OPSRA is complex. Nurses working in OPSRA may need to assume leadership to address issues relating to accurate identification of infant pain and alleviating extraneous factors that may influence adequate treatment of pain.