The greatest barrier to a 3-year-old client’s ability to self-assess h

The greatest barrier to a 3-year-old client’s ability to self-assess her pain is:

1. A limited vocabulary
2. Increased separation anxiety
3. Reluctance to talk to strangers
4. Inability to grasp the concept of pain

ANSWER

ANS: 1
Young children who have not developed full vocabularies have difficulty verbally describing and expressing pain to parents or caregivers. Toddlers and preschoolers are unable to recall explana-tions about pain or associate pain with experiences that occur in various situations. The remaining options may have an effect on self-assessment of pain, but only to a limited degree.