Stollery Children's Hospital Achieves ChildKind Certification: A Milestone in Pediatric Pain Care

The Stollery Children’s Hospital has earned the prestigious ChildKind International (CKI) certification, joining an elite group of institutions recognized for excellence in pediatric pain prevention, assessment, and management. This achievement underscores the hospital’s unwavering commitment to alleviating pain and enhancing comfort for its young patients.

ChildKind certification is awarded to healthcare institutions that demonstrate adherence to five core principles: institutional commitment to pain prevention and treatment, ongoing education on pain management, use of evidence-informed assessment tools, implementation of comprehensive pain management protocols, and continuous quality improvement through self-monitoring.

Many Department of Pediatrics members and Stollery staff have been instrumental in helping to achieve this certification, including Dr. Samina Ali, Professor of Pediatrics and Adjunct Professor of Emergency Medicine, whose research focuses on improving children’s pain and distress, particularly in emergency settings, and Angela Bokenfohr who is the CKI Nurse for the Stollery.

Those involved have developed pain education resources and hosted a Pediatric Pain Symposium for the past 2 years; last year, over 200 clinicians attended. On top of that, these presentations were recorded and saved in a repository that can be used for ongoing education.

The Stollery’s dedication to pediatric pain care aligns with the hospital’s broader mission to provide compassionate, evidence-based care, and it is not something that is singularly achieved but something that will continue as part of the patient and families’ journey, requiring regular monitoring and support.

This certification is a testament to the hard work and commitment of the entire Stollery team and Department of Pediatrics members in prioritizing the comfort and well-being of patients and their families.