Canadians across the country mark Remembrance Day
Today Canadians will remember and honour the sacrifice of men and women in uniform who gave their lives in service of the country's values and principles.
The Health Standards Organization has released a new set of guidelines to help hospital workers -- particularly for those who can't communicate when they're hurt.
It's the first national standard in the world focused on pediatric pain.
Emergency physician and pediatric pain researcher Dr. Samina Ali says for a long time, doctors believed young children's nervous systems were so underdeveloped they couldn't feel or remember pain.
"In the mid-'80s, babies were receiving open heart surgery with no anesthesia," said Ali, who is also a professor of pediatrics and an adjunct professor of emergency medicine at the University of Alberta.
"Even if those little ones don't have the words at that time, their bodies remember and we see the long-term consequences of that in their physical and psychological development."
Since then, the country has made major strides toward managing the pain of young patients, and standardizing the approach across the county is another huge step, she said at a technical briefing on Monday morning.
Kids in hospital experience an average of six painful procedures per day, said Katie Birnie, a psychologist and associate scientific director for Solutions for Kids in Pain.
That number is closer to 14 for babies in intensive care.
The new standards lay out 34 criteria to stay on top of pain management for young patients, including mandating incident reports when a patient experiences preventable, untreated and unmanaged pain.
The standards also recommend ongoing training for health-care providers, and making sure each patient is being constantly assessed for their pain and whether treatments are working.
Accreditation Canada and the Health Standards Organization will make the guidelines available to hospitals and health workers for free, but hope they could one day form the basis of policy and training for health-care professionals.
Dr. Justina Marianayagam, a pediatric resident at B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver, said she remembers one lecture on pain management in her four years of training, which lasted about an hour.
"If I think about it from a training standpoint, there's a huge need," said Marianayagam, who experienced chronic pain as a child.
About one in every five children have chronic pain, said Birnie.
"It puts them at increased risk for mental-health issues, substance use and socioeconomic disparities into adulthood," she said. Pain can also affect a child's emotions, their friendships, their family relationships, sleep and how they function physically.
Children who are Black, Indigenous or otherwise experience discrimination and inequity are disproportionately impacted, she said.
"We know that Black children are less likely than white children to receive pain care in North America," Ali explained, even when it comes to injuries like broken arms and appendicitis.
That's why the new guidelines encourage organizations to assess and evaluate the equity of their pain management services for kids.
The newly published standards follow a 2021 action plan by the Canadian Pain Task Force for Health Canada, which called for a more consistent approach to pain management across the country.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2023.
Today Canadians will remember and honour the sacrifice of men and women in uniform who gave their lives in service of the country's values and principles.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump says that Tom Homan, his former acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, will serve as "border czar" in his incoming administration.
Researchers are uncovering deeper insights into how the human brain ages and what factors may be tied to healthier cognitive aging, including exercising, avoiding tobacco, speaking a second language or even playing a musical instrument.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 2022 Dobbs decision eliminated the federal right to abortion, miscarriage management has become trickier and in some cases, deadlier.
The union representing some 1,200 dockworkers at the Port of Montreal has overwhelmingly rejected a deal with their employers association.
It was the first time that Canadian UN peacekeeper Michelle Angela Hamelin said she came up against the raw emotion of a people so exasperated with their country's predicament.
Applause erupted over and over at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg Sunday as the son of Murray Sinclair, a former judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into residential schools, spoke about his father.
A children's book written by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been withdrawn from sale after it was criticized for causing offense to Indigenous Australians.
A man who was critically injured in a police-involved shooting in Hamilton late Sunday afternoon has died in hospital, says the province鈥檚 police watchdog.
A congestion crisis, a traffic nightmare, or unrelenting gridlock -- whatever you call it, most agree that Toronto has a congestion problem. To alleviate some of the gridlock, the Ontario government has announced it plans to remove bike lanes from three major roadways.
For the second year in a row, the 鈥楪ift-a-Family鈥 campaign is hoping to make the holidays happier for children and families in need throughout Barrie.
Some of the most prolific photographers behind CTV Skywatch Pics of the Day use the medium for fun, therapy, and connection.
A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.
As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.
A group of women in Chester, N.S., has been busy on the weekends making quilts 鈥 not for themselves, but for those in need.
A Vancouver artist whose streetside singing led to a chance encounter with one of the world's biggest musicians is encouraging aspiring performers to try their hand at busking.
Ten-thousand hand-knit poppies were taken from the Sanctuary Arts Centre and displayed on the fence surrounding the Dartmouth Cenotaph on Monday.
A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.