{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T07:31:21Z","timestamp":1786433481584,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"AOSIS","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]],"date-time":"2026-08-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786492800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Paediatric pain is frequently under-managed in prehospital care despite the known consequences. Practitioner-related factors, during transition from student to independent practice, influence pain management decisions.\nAim: This study aimed to explore and describe the elements influencing senior undergraduate emergency medical care students\u2019 self-reported attitudes, perceived readiness to practise and confidence in managing paediatric pain in South Africa and to identify self-reported barriers and enablers shaping their approach to paediatric pain management.\nSetting: The study was conducted among exit-level emergency medical care students at a South African university.\nMethods: A qualitative, descriptive and exploratory design was employed. Using purposive sampling, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten final-year Emergency Medical Care students registered at a South African university within two months of graduation. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed inductively using reflexive thematic analysis.\nResults: The authors generated two themes. Theme one: Attitudinal dissonance, reflected a disconnect between beliefs about paediatric pain management and confidence in practice. Scepticism towards pain expression, fear of harm and protocol reliance contributed to practice hesitancy. Theme two: Fear and uncertainty, highlighted perceived educational gaps and limited clinical exposure, which reduced participants\u2019 perceived practice readiness.\nConclusion: Emergency medical care students\u2019 self-reported paediatric pain management is shaped by the interaction of attitudes, emotional responses and educational structures within prehospital training.\nContribution: The study provides South African prehospital education-specific insight into factors influencing paediatric pain management and supports the need for curriculum refinement and enhanced learning and teaching methods to improve student preparedness and patient care.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4102\/hsag.v31i0.3421","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T07:08:13Z","timestamp":1786432093000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Senior emergency medical care students\u2019 readiness and confidence to practice paediatric pain management"],"prefix":"10.4102","volume":"31","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-0415-0473","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Suzan-Lynn","family":"Smit","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/056e9h402","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Cape Peninsula University of Technology"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5871-1011","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dirk","family":"Bester","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/056e9h402","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Cape Peninsula University of Technology"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3045-1227","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ryan E.","family":"Matthews","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/056e9h402","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Cape Peninsula University of Technology"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2580","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref0","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Abdullah, N., Majiet, N. & Sobuwa, S., 2024, \u2018The prehospital paediatric emergency care burden managed by a public ambulance service in the Western Cape, South Africa\u2019, BMC Emergency Medicine 24(1), 234. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s12873-024-01146-z","DOI":"10.1186\/s12873-024-01146-z"},{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Afzal, M.S., Khan, A., Qureshi, U.U.R., Saleem, S., Saqib, M.A.N., Shabbir, R.M.K. et al., 2021, \u2018Community-based assessment of knowledge, attitude, practices and risk factors regarding COVID-19 among Pakistanis residents during a recent 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