Knowledge of the neonatal intensive care unit nursing team about newborn pain

Abstract

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The absence or failure to identify and correctly manage pain impairs the recovery of the newborn admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), with long-term consequences. The objective was to describe the knowledge of the nursing team on pain evaluation and management of term and preterm newborns in the NICU, as well as the daily challenges. METHODS: Descriptive, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, developed in a public general hospital in Sao Paulo. RESULTS: 44 professionals participated; the melody of crying (100%), heart rate (99%) and trembling of hands and feet (90%) were the most pointed changes in the face of pain. Attention deficit in school (95%), less tolerance to pain in adulthood (77%), propensity to develop depression and anxiety in adulthood (73%) were the most reported long-term consequences. Non-nutritive sucking (92%), breastfeeding (88%) and the kangaroo method (79%) were the most widely used non-pharmacological methods. The most prevalent challenges were the absence of medical conduct (23%) and difficulty in assessing specific signs of pain (16%), in addition to an absence of pain notification of 22%. CONCLUSION: The knowledge of the nursing team about pain in patients in the NICU demonstrated clarity of hemodynamic changes, consequences of long-term pain exposure and mastery of non-pharmacological strategies. There is underreporting of the presence of pain and the most reported challenges were the absence of medical conduct after communicating the pain and evaluation of specific signs, directing actions to improve care such as training.