Introduction:

Moderate or severe pain in hospitalized children is common but is often poorly evaluated and managed.

Objective:

To analyze the knowledge of the nursing team on pediatric pain assessment instruments.

Methods:

A descriptive-exploratory, qualitative study involving nurses and nursing technicians from the urgency and emergency sectors, medical clinic, and Intensive Care Unit of a pediatric reference hospital in southwestern Maranhão. Data were collected, between November 2019 and March 2020, through individual interviews, saturation occurred with the 20th participant. A thematic content analysis was carried out.

Results:

most of the participants were female, between the ages of 23 and 58 years old, brunettes, and had worked between 5 months to 20 years at the pediatric clinic. The nursing team considers the adequate assessment of childhood pain to be of great importance. From the data analysis emerged the following categories: Understanding of professionals on the importance of assessing childhood pain; Lack of knowledge of professionals about assessment instruments and their lack of application in the hospital environment; Strategies used to relieve pain; The perspectives of nursing professionals in coping with pediatric pain.

Conclusion:

The nursing team should know and use pediatric pain assessment instruments as well as encourage non-pharmacological practices in line with pharmacological strategies for pain relief in hospital environments.