Providing an evidence-based, practical guide to care in all areas of children's pain management, Managing Pain in Children offers nurses and other healthcare professionals an introduction to the skills and expertise to manage children's pain effectively. This fully-updated second edition first explores the relevant anatomy and physiology of children, the latest policy guidelines surrounding pain management and ethical issues involved in managing children's pain. Various pain assessment tools available for children and non-drug methods of pain relief are then explored and applied to practice in relation to acute pain, chronic pain, palliative care and the management of procedural pain. The evidence base, assessment techniques, pain-relieving interventions, and guidance for best practice in both hospital and community settings are covered throughout, making this title an ideal resource for all nurses and healthcare professionals working with children.

For the first time, Pediatric Clinics is devoting one issue to two clinically focused topics: Pediatric Palliative Care and Pediatric Hospital Medicine. Dr. Ottolini has organized her section to focus on a variety of issues of relevant to all pediatricians, but which pose special challenge to the Pediatric Hospitalists. As pediatric care has advanced, children who would not have survived infancy are growing into young adults with complex chronic diseases and dependence upon technology. They frequently require hospitalization to address exacerbation of underlying disease processes and procedures to improve their quality of life. The articles are devoted to patient care challenges of troubleshooting malfunctioning technology, co-managing medically complex patients pre and post-op with surgical colleagues, and the Hospitalist's evolving role in performing procedures and sedation in this population of vulnerable patients. Also discussed rare strategies to maximize communication with parents, patients and primary care providers during hospitalization, especially for medically complex patients. Dr. Ullrich and Dr. Wolfe Pediatric have worked to bring relevant articles on palliative care to the pediatrician. While life-threatening conditions in childhood are rare, children with LTC account for a high proportion of pediatric hospital care, and about one half of such children die in the inpatient setting. The number of hospital-based pediatric palliative care programs has increased dramatically over the past decade to meet the palliative care needs of hospitalized children including symptom management, facilitation of communication, decision-making and advance care planning support, and coordination of care. Given these considerations, it is evident that the topics of pediatric palliative care and hospital medicine are fitting counterparts for this comprehensive issue.

In our society's aggressive pursuit of cures for cancer, we have neglected symptom control and comfort care. Less than one percent of the National Cancer Institute's budget is spent on any aspect of palliative care research or education, despite the half million people who die of cancer each year and the larger number living with cancer and its symptoms. Improving Palliative Care for Cancer examines the barriersâ€"scientific, policy, and socialâ€"that keep those in need from getting good palliative care. It goes on to recommend public- and private-sector actions that would lead to the development of more effective palliative interventions; better information about currently used interventions; and greater knowledge about, and access to, palliative care for all those with cancer who would benefit from it.

Drug overdose, driven largely by overdose related to the use of opioids, is now the leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States. The ongoing opioid crisis lies at the intersection of two public health challenges: reducing the burden of suffering from pain and containing the rising toll of the harms that can arise from the use of opioid medications. Chronic pain and opioid use disorder both represent complex human conditions affecting millions of Americans and causing untold disability and loss of function. In the context of the growing opioid problem, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched an Opioids Action Plan in early 2016. As part of this plan, the FDA asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a committee to update the state of the science on pain research, care, and education and to identify actions the FDA and others can take to respond to the opioid epidemic, with a particular focus on informing FDA's development of a formal method for incorporating individual and societal considerations into its risk-benefit framework for opioid approval and monitoring.