Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena
| Thesis Title | Fighting for pain in the newborn: nursing assessment activities and non-pharmacological strategies |
|---|---|
| Name | Bandini Francesca |
| Supervisor(s) | Gelati Luca |
| Academic Year | |
| Thesis type | Non research thesis |
Abstract
Focus of the problem: The infant pain has been underestimated for years because of incorrect prejudices. The nervous system was believed to be too immature and not yet developed in order to receive a painful stimulus.
Object: The numerous neonatology researches have indisputably proved that the newborn, even the little premature, feels pain and such pain must be prevented and treated. Nurses have the means to evaluate and manage it. They know the newborn’s non-verbal reactions which express suffering and have been combined in validated scales to monitor te procedural pain. In order to manage it, the non-pharmacological therapy must be absolutely considered. There are strategies and techniques that tend to modify those factors that increase or make the painful feeling more distressing and dramatic; and that interfere with the perception of pain, mostly through modulation.
Method: The nursing activity in neonatal intensive care unit in Modena Polyclinic Hospital has been analyzed together with literature search in database from which numerous scientific articles have been selected and examined.
Thesis aim: The aim of the thesis points focus on the nursing importance of evaluation actions, management and contrast of neonatal pain.
Critical issues: The pain influences the development of the newborn’s central and peripheral nervous system. Analgesia is essential; pharmacological anesthetics and analgesics must be used with caution as posology, method of administration and side effects are different from an adult.
Conclusions: The presence of non-pharmacological nursing strategies enable the manegement of stress and pain during skin breaking procedures. In the first days of life the memory of pain is drawn and it will be imprinted for the rest of life. The nurse is the first observer, the professional being at direct contact with newborn’s suffering and therefore the one who can first start an action for preventing and combating pain.