Behavioral and physiological evaluation of pain in newborns performed by nursing staff

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: In the last few years, pain assessment in newborns (Rn) has become a subject of great interest to professionals of neonatal care. Since there is a language for pain in this age group, its assessment can guide professionals in the implementation of analgesic measures for painful procedures performed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. OBJECTIVE: To recognize physiological and behavioral parameters used by the nursing team to assess pain in newborns. METHODS: cross-sectional study has a descriptive and quantitative approach and was carried out in four reference hospitals in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, from August to October, 2007. A sample of 180 nursing professionals filled in a specific form and data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: the nursing team assesses pain mainly by observing changes in the newborn's behavior, including changes in crying (98.3%), face (78.3%), mood (55%) and body movements (33%). The most frequently physiological changes referred by professionals were cardiovascular and respiratory changes (28.8% and 21.6%, respectively). Such changes were mostly remembered by nurses (40%). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of behavioral assessment of pain in newborns instead of the assessment of physiological aspects, characterizes a knowledge area that has little attention on practice, and that still does not establish a consistent approach with the current literature