Parents' Voice in Managing the Pain of Children with Cancer during Palliative Care

CONTEXT: Pain experienced by children can adversely affect their growth and development. Pain is a major health problem for cancer patients and remains an unresolved problem. AIM: To know how the experiences of mothers managing their children's pain during palliative care following cancer diagnosis. BACKGROUND: Pain experienced by children can adversely affect their growth and development. SUBJECT AND METHODS: Using qualitative methods within a descriptive phenomenological approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with parents (mostly mothers) of eight children diagnosed with cancer. The data were collected using the snowball sampling method. RESULTS: Participants experienced in managing the pain of children with cancer. Analysis of the results identified 8 themes: the dimensions of pain experienced by children undergoing palliative care; mothers' physical and psychological responses; mothers' emotional responses; barriers encountered by mothers when taking care of their child at home; mothers' interventions to reduce their child's pain; mothers' efforts to distract their child from pain; giving encouragement when the child is in pain; and mothers' efforts and prayers to make their child comfort. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that the child's pain is the main cause of mothers' stress and pressure and also affects the daily lives of mothers and children. Along with the most effective intervention, nurses need to provide mothers and children with adequate information about cancer pain.