Impact of an Educational Program on Pediatric Nurses’ Practice Regarding Non-Pharmacological Pain Management in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Newborns in the neonatal intensive care units (NICU) can be exposed to many painful procedures and treatments. Aim: This study was to improve nurses’ practice regarding non-pharmacological management of pain in newborns in neonatal intensive care units. Subjects and Method: A quasi-experimental research design was utilized in this study. The subjects of the study consists of all the nurses working in the NICUs in Port Said hospitals (N=40) affiliated to the Ministry of Health, including El-Nasr general hospital, Port Said general hospital, Port Fouad general hospital and El-Tadamon health insurance hospital. The data were collected using a observational checklists Conclusion: the nurses had statistically significant improvements in applying non-pharmacological pain management during painful procedures in newborns included; venous and arterial puncture, cannulation and umbilical catheter insertion. However, there were inadequate total scores regarding nurses' practice. Recommendation: continuous training courses should be provided to nurses in order to keep their practice regarding non- pharmacological pain management up to date. Also, nurses should be encouraged to attend