The role of nursing student training status and anxiety in pediatric pain assessment

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examined how nursing students’ training status and their anxiety impacts their assessment of children’s pain. The sample included 100 psychology undergraduate students, 87 beginning nursing students, and 35 advanced nursing students. Participants watched a video of a child receive a finger stick and then rated their own state anxiety and the child’s pain via visual analog scales. Advanced nursing training was related to lower anxiety, which in turn, was related to lower pain ratings. These findings augment our understanding of how nursing training influences personal anxiety during pediatric needle procedures, which may impact pediatric pain ratings.