Neonatal nurses' perceptions of pain management.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the perceptions of nurses in neonatal units on pain management, meet the educational profile and describe the use of pain assessment tools and non-pharmacological management for treatment.

METHODS: Cross-sectional descriptive multicentre study, developed during the months of February to September 2015, in the neonatology services of three hospitals at the Community of Madrid, Spain. Data collection was performed through an ad hoc questionnaire on paper or electronically using Survey Monkey platform.

RESULTS: The sample consisted of 142 professionals, with a response rate of 55%: 47.9% (68) confirmed they had received specific training in pain management; 39.5% (56) stated that pain is regularly assessed in the unit; only 43.6% reported using validated scales, the most used being the Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP). As for the non-pharmacological management, swaddling and non-nutritive sucking it is the most used, followed by sucrose. Intravenous cannulation was identified as the most painful procedure.

CONCLUSIONS: Pain management is in the process of improvement, because of training and because there is little pain assessment using validated scales. The improvement in the use of non-pharmacological management for the relief of pain in minor procedures is noteworthy.