Pain in preterm newborns in the NICU: Nursing care

• Autor(a) principal: Santana, Bruna Costa de
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Matos, Elma Leite Borges de, Silva, Larissa Lorrany Brasileiro da, Aredo, Vitor Hugo Gonçalves, Araújo, Andrey Hudson Interaminense Mendes de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista JRG de Estudos Acadêmicos
• Texto Completo: http://revistajrg.com/index.php/jrg/article/view/534
• topic: Dor neonatal; Unidade de terapia intensiva neonatal; Enfermagem neonatal; Neonatal nursing; Neonatal intensive care unit; Neonatal pain.

Understanding pain represents a challenge and a task of great importance in nursing work, especially when dealing with pre-verbal patients, as is the case with newborns (NB). In the context of preterm patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), the ability to understand and interpret pain requires more specific expertise. This study aimed to address nursing care to preterm newborns in the NICU in the treatment of pain. The integrative review methodology was adopted with consultations to studies selected from the Scientific and Technical Literature of Latin America and the Caribbean (LILACS) and Database in Nursing (BDENF), all from the Regional Portal of the Virtual Health Library - VHL, published, preferably between 2018 and 2023 and organized in the form of a PRISMA diagram. The results favored the understanding of the behavior adopted by nurses in dealing with neonatal pain, showing relative unpreparedness among many professionals. The gaps were identified mainly in initial and continuing academic training. In addition to these, another relevant factor identified was the culture in hospital units - the lack of attention due to the treatment of pain in neonates: even with knowledge of the proper conduct in the recognition, management and treatment of pain, it is common for some health units to neglect the correct conduct, sometimes, due to demand in other areas. It was concluded that, although adequate care for newborns in the ICU in pain management is of great relevance for their health.