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The frequency of painful procedures in neonatal intensive care units in S outh K orea
Author(s) -
Jeong Ihn Sook,
Park Soon Mi,
Lee Jeon Ma,
Choi Yoon Jin,
Lee Joohyun
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of nursing practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.62
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1440-172X
pISSN - 1322-7114
DOI - 10.1111/ijn.12202
Subject(s) - medicine , intensive care , gestation , neonatal intensive care unit , prospective cohort study , neonatal nursing , pediatrics , pregnancy , surgery , intensive care medicine , genetics , biology
This study was to evaluate the performed painful procedures among all sick neonates cared for at two university hospital neonatal intensive care units ( NICUs ) in the R epublic of K orea. This prospective study was done with all newborns admitted to the NICUs between 1 O ctober and 20 N ovember 2010. Data collection was done with self‐administered questionnaire by each nurse for the first 2 weeks of admission and discontinued if the neonate was discharged, transferred or died. The number of painful procedures, according to general characteristics of the neonates, were compared using Mann–Whitney U ‐test and K ruskal– W allis test. Oral suctioning was the most frequently performed procedure, followed by tracheal suctioning and nasal suctioning. The number of painful procedures increased as the gestation period became shorter and birthweight decreased. In conclusion, nurses should reappraise the need for painful procedures, in particular, among neonates with a gestation period of ≤ 27 weeks and babies with ≤ 1000 g of birthweight, and execute their performance only if necessary.