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Sep 7, 2026Keywords:
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Main Article Content
Senior emergency medical care students’ readiness and confidence to practice paediatric pain management
Abstract
Background: Paediatric pain is frequently under-managed in prehospital care despite the
known consequences. Practitioner-related factors, during transition from student to
independent practice, influence pain management decisions.
Aim: This study aimed to explore and describe the elements influencing senior undergraduate
emergency medical care students’ self‑reported attitudes, perceived readiness to practise and
confidence in managing paediatric pain in South Africa and to identify self‑reported barriers
and enablers shaping their approach to paediatric pain management.
Setting: The study was conducted among exit-level emergency medical care students at a
South African university.
Methods: A qualitative, descriptive and exploratory design was employed. Using purposive
sampling, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten final-year Emergency Medical
Care students registered at a South African university within two months of graduation.
Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed inductively using
reflexive thematic analysis.
Results: The authors generated two themes. Theme one: Attitudinal dissonance, reflected a
disconnect between beliefs about paediatric pain management and confidence in practice.
Scepticism towards pain expression, fear of harm and protocol reliance contributed to practice
hesitancy. Theme two: Fear and uncertainty, highlighted perceived educational gaps and
limited clinical exposure, which reduced participants’ perceived practice readiness.
Conclusion: Emergency medical care students’ self-reported paediatric pain management is
shaped by the interaction of attitudes, emotional responses and educational structures within
prehospital training.
Contribution: The study provides South African prehospital education-specific insight into
factors influencing paediatric pain management and supports the need for curriculum
refinement and enhanced learning and teaching methods to improve student preparedness
and patient care.
