Elaboration, validation and reliability of the safety protocol for pediatric thirst management.
Isadora Pierotti, Leonel Alves do Nascimento, Edilaine Giovanini Rossetto and 2 others
PMID 32696920WHAT IT FOUND
A five-criterion recovery-room checklist was approved by experts and used to assess safety before offering thirst relief to children aged 3 to 12.
Nurse pairs used it on 58 children and rated them very similarly, but thirst outcomes were not tested.
Key findings
01The final protocol used five safety checks: consciousness, movement, airway protection, breathing pattern, and nausea or vomiting.
02The expert judges' ratings met the agreed minimum threshold of 0.80 in one round.
03In 58 children, the protocol was applied 116 times, and nurse raters agreed almost perfectly on every item.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The reliability sample was a convenience sample of 58 children from one hospital, so the agreement may not transfer to other settings or staff. The protocol was developed for children aged 3 to 12 without neurological or mental disorders, so it says nothing about younger children or children who cannot give the needed answers. The pilot used only 6 children to adjust timing. The study tested expert ratings and rater agreement, not whether thirst relief was safe, effective, or free of aspiration, nausea, or vomiting. The authors note that more children, other institutions, and age-stratified testing are needed.
Declared interests
The supplied text reports support from Fundação Araucária and CAPES; it does not state a competing-interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the high agreement as proof that this protocol prevents aspiration or improves thirst. It was tested only for expert approval and nurse agreement in 58 children, not against thirst or safety outcomes.