Pain Management in Children with Sickle Cell Anemia

Casey Wade, Verrazano Honors Class of 2018, earned a degree in Nursing. 

My name is Casey Wade and I am a Verrazano student in the graduating class of 2018.  I am a nursing major, so when it came time to start my capstone research project, I knew it would be based in that field.  The title of my project was Assessment and Management of Pain in Pediatric Patients With Sickle Cell Anemia.  The research focused on the meaning of pain, the differences between acute and chronic pain, sickle cell disease, assessment of pain in children, and appropriate ways to manage pain in children.  I chose this topic because I noticed how prevalent sickle cell disease was during my pediatric rotation, and was interested in how these children handle the constant pain. 

Casey with mentor, Professor Schiano

 While doing the research, I was pretty confident because I was able to find a lot of information and studies.  However, it was difficult to determine which studies were relevant to my topic and which were not.  My mentor was able to help me stay focus and organize my thoughts.  I really enjoyed doing the research paper because I wish to become a pediatric nurse, and was very invested in finding answers.  Presenting at the undergraduate research conference showed me that many people were interested in my topic, and were able to recognize the current problem for children in health care.  I think this research can contribute to the understanding of pain in children, possibly finding a way to appropriately care for an underserved population who cannot communicate well or advocate on behalf of themselves.