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Pain relief for simple procedures in New Zealand neonatal units: Practice change over six years
Author(s) -
Heaton Paul,
Herd David,
Fernando Andrew
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2007.01086.x
Subject(s) - medicine , audit , clinical practice , period (music) , intervention (counseling) , pain relief , pediatrics , physical therapy , surgery , nursing , physics , management , acoustics , economics
Aim: Newborn infants are routinely exposed to pain. We wanted to see how practice regarding pain relief changed over a 6‐year period. Methods: Serial audits were carried out of existing practice and attitudes at three points, over a 6‐year span, in New Zealand neonatal units. Results: Almost all units agreed that many commonly performed procedures were painful over the 6‐year study period. The number of units using analgesia rose markedly over the same period. Conclusions: The fact that a simple, cheap and effective intervention (oral sucrose) has taken more than 6 years to be used routinely in New Zealand highlights the problem of turning evidence into practice.