• Olive Lopez, Pathmawathi Subramanian, Norsiah Rahmat, Lim Chin Theam, Karuthan Chinna, and Roshaslina Rosli.
• Department of Nursing Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• J Clin Nurs. 2015 Jan 1; 24 (1-2): 183-91.

Aims And ObjectivesTo determine the effectiveness of facilitated tucking in reducing pain when venepuncture is being performed on preterm infants.BackgroundPreterm neonates are exposed to a myriad of invasive, often painful, procedures throughout their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit. A growing volume of evidence shows that pain in preterm infants has both short- and long-term deleterious effects. It is within the power and ethical responsibility of neonatal nurses to help premature babies cope with procedural pain.DesignA quasi-experimental study with two groups: control and treatment group.MethodsA study was conducted on a cohort of preterm infants (n = 42), divided into control (n = 21) and treatment (n = 21) groups, to determine the effect of facilitated tucking on pain relief during venepuncture on preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. The severity of pain was measured using the Premature Infant Pain Profile score. The primary outcome measure was reduction in the Premature Infant Pain Profile scores.ResultsThe Premature Infant Pain Profile score for the treatment group was significantly lower (M = 6·62, SD 2·598) than for the control group (6·62 ± 2·60 vs. 8·52 ± 2·99, respectively, t = -2·202, p < 0·05).ConclusionsFacilitated tucking reduced the Premature Infant Pain Profile scores in preterm infants.Relevance To Clinical PracticeThe findings of this study suggest that facilitated tucking is able to alleviate pain; therefore, nurses must be able to carry out facilitated tucking when necessary.© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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