Abstract

Purpose: To describe the feasibility and clinical utility of the Finnish FLACC scale when assessing children’s pain in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

Design and methods: A non-experimental, descriptive cross-sectional study design was used to describe the feasibility and clinical utility in a Finnish PICU between May and August 2018. The nurses were asked to complete a data collection questionnaire about the feasibility and clinical utility of the Finnish FLACC every time they used the scale to assess pain in children. In total, the data consisted of 157 pain assessments cases. Quantitative data were analyzed statistically and responses to open-ended questions were analyzed using content analysis.

Results: In most cases, the nurses agreed that the Finnish FLACC scale was clearly structured (97%), easy to use (98%), helpful in assessing pain intensity (77%), and useful when reassessing pain after interventions (67%). Nurses found the scale more useable for children over one year old than for younger children. When assessing cry and consolability, pain was easier to score if the child was not intubated.

Conclusions: The Finnish FLACC scale exhibits adequate feasibility and clinical utility when assessing pain in children in a PICU. However, more information is needed about its use during painful short-term procedures and with children under one year old.

Practice implications: The Finnish FLACC scale is a helpful tool for nurses when assessing children’s pain in a PICU. However, the Finnish version of the modified FLACC is needed for use with intubated children in the future.