The effect of an integrative nursing program on pain of school-age children with leukemia undergoing lumbar punctures

The purpose of this quasi-experimental research was to examine the effect of an integrative nursing program on pain of school-age children with leukemia undergoing lumbar punctures. The Gate Control Theory provided the conceptual framework for this study. The subjects were 30 leukemia children aged between 8-12 years old undergoing lumbar punctures with the pain scores of two or over and being treated with chemotherapy at Khon Kaen Hospital. The first 15 children were allocated based on a simple random sampling of the control group and the last 15 children in the experimental group. The research instruments of this study were a pain assessment form and an Integrative Nursing Program. Children in the treatment group received integrative nursing care. The experiment was divided into three periods, namely pre-trial, post-trial, and follow-up periods. The data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and t-test. The findings of this research revealed that children undergoing the Integrative Nursing Program had significantly less pain than children receiving conventional nursing care at the statistical level of .05. The children received integrative nursing care had significantly less pain in post-trial and follow-up periods than the pre-trial period at the statistical level of .05