Assessment of Nurses' Performance Related to Neonatal Pain in Different Nursing Procedures

Abstract

Neonates cannot verbally communicate their discomfort, however evidence suggests that neonates do experience pain but lack the adaptive mechanisms that modulate painful stimuli in older children. They express their vulnerability to pain and stress through specific behaviors and with physiological and biochemical responses to pain (Anand et al., 2017). Neonates are frequently exposed to acute, repetitive, and chronic pain within the NICU setting because of procedures, surgeries, and disease processes. Preterm neonates, especially those <30 weeks’ gestation, are exposed to 10-15 painful procedures per day at a time when pain is developmentally unexpected (Ranger & Grunau, 2014). Prevention of pain in neonates is an expectation of parents. However, there are major gaps in our knowledge regarding the most effective way to accomplish this. Although it may not be possible to completely eliminate pain in neonates, much can be done to reduce the amount and intensity of pain. The prevention of pain is important not only because it is an ethical expectation but also because repeated painful exposures can have deleterious consequences. These consequences include altered