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Knowledge, attitudes and practices of neonatal professionals regarding pain management

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Abstract

Pain management is an important issue which impacts the prognosis of neonates in neonatal intensive care units. Evidence has shown that professionals’ knowledge and attitudes regarding pain management can impact the quality of their practice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of neonatal professionals regarding neonatal pain management. A cross-sectional study was performed involving neonatal physicians and nurses, using a research questionnaire to investigate the knowledge and attitudes of professionals as well as to assess their practice of pain management. Research found an apparent discrepancy between the knowledge levels of neonatologists and nurses regarding pain assessment and management, with nurses displaying weaker professional knowledge and more negative attitudes toward pain management than did neonatologists. Additionally, research revealed a lack of knowledge and negative attitudes among participants regarding the provision of sufficient opioid analgesics to sick infants during invasive procedures and even for dying neonates. There is an urgent need for continuing education regarding neonatal pain management with the goal of empowering neonatal professionals; further research is needed into the question of how to translate education into more reliable practice.

Conclusion: This research provides useful information regarding the knowledge, attitudes, and clinical practice of neonatal pain management among neonatologists and nurses and points out some differences in the knowledge levels of these two groups.

What is Known:

•Neonates can perceive and respond to pain stimuli by showing their biological signals similarly to children and adults.

•Untreated or insufficient pain management for high-risk neonates has short-term.

negative effects and may also induce long-term negative effects.

What is New:

•The level of knowledge, the attitudes, and the practices regarding neonatal pain in intensive care are different among neonatal professionals.

•There is an urgent need to provide interdisciplinary continuing education to improve the knowledge of neonatal professionals and encourage them to more highly prioritize neonatal pain management.

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Abbreviations

CVI:

Content validity index

NICU:

Neonatal intensive care unit

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Funding

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Putian University, Putian Nursing University, Putian, Fujian Province, P.R. China

    N.-H. Peng

  2. Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital in Taichung, Hualien City, Taiwan, Republic of China

    M.-C. Lee

  3. Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan, Republic of China

    W.-L. Su

  4. Neonatology Department, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua City, Taiwan

    C.-H. Lee

  5. Center for Faculty Development, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, Republic of China

    C.-H. Chen

  6. Department of Mathematics, Tamkang University, Tamsui City, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Y.-C. Chang

  7. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Hsin Chu Mackay Memorial Hospital, Hsin Chu City, Taiwan, Republic of China

    C.-H. Huang

Authors
  1. N.-H. Peng
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  2. M.-C. Lee
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  3. W.-L. Su
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  4. C.-H. Lee
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  5. C.-H. Chen
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  6. Y.-C. Chang
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  7. C.-H. Huang
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Contributions

N-H Peng contributed to study design, approval of the protocols of this study, data collection, and manuscript writing. Y-C Chang was responsible for data analysis and interpretation of research data. M-C Lee, W-L Su, C-H Lee, C-H Chen and C-H Huang contributed to data collection.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to N.-H. Peng.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This article includes a questionnaire study. The questionnaires were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional ethics committee (REC 104-37).

Statement of informed consent participation in the questionnaire after receiving the invitation implied consent. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Editorial Responsibility: Gregorio Paolo Milani

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Peng, NH., Lee, MC., Su, WL. et al. Knowledge, attitudes and practices of neonatal professionals regarding pain management. Eur J Pediatr 180, 99–107 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-020-03718-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-020-03718-0

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