Painful procedures in low risk neonates

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Low risk neonates feel pain as a result of commonly low invasive procedures performed during their hospitalization. Prevention of pain adverse effects is an important act of health professionals. OBJECTIVES: To verify frequency and to characterize types of painful procedures performed in low risk neonates. METHODS: This is a descriptive and prospective study. Data were collected from 156 medical charts. RESULTS: An average 5.11 painful procedures were performed during hospitalization, the average was 4, the maximum was 17 and the minimum was 2.Average procedures per day were1.29. CONCLUSION: Low risk neonates suffer lots of painful procedures during hospitalization and the nursing team must consider pain prevention as an important element of nursing care. Non-pharmacologic methods must be considered as an alternative for pain relief in isolated and low complex procedures and should be better investigated.