Sir.—Painful procedures are a necessary part of pediatric care. While health care professionals currently regard pain as a multidimensional phenomenon requiring assessment and treatment, our knowledge regarding the role of parental presence in ameliorating painful experiences for infants and children is limited. The purpose of this study was to assess the attitudes of parents, nurses, and pediatricians regarding parental presence and to determine current practice in our area.
Methods.—Questionnaires were sent to 212 pediatricians in the Intermountain area and to 59 randomly selected nurses who were working on inpatient units at the University of Utah Center for Health Sciences, Salt Lake City, or the Primary Children's Medical Center, Salt Lake City. Outpatient nurses were recruited by including a nurse's questionnaire with those sent to community physicians. Parents were recruited while waiting in the renal, pulmonary, and hematology-oncology clinics at the University of Utah Center for Health Sciences and