The Journal of perinatal & neonatal nursing
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J Perinat Neonatal Nurs · Oct 2003
Meta AnalysisManagement of pain from heel stick in neonates: an analysis of research conducted in Thailand.
The heel stick procedure is the most common painful procedure performed in preterm and full-term neonates. Various nonpharmacologic interventions have been used for pain relief. However, the magnitude of the effect of different interventions has received little attention. ⋯ Swaddling in full-term newborns was found to have the largest mean effect size (dmn = 0.79). However, the moderate-to-large effect sizes (dmn = 0.5-0.75) of positioning in preterm newborns tended to exist throughout the poststick period while the effect sizes of other interventions decreased over time. The effect sizes of these interventions for physiological responses varied.
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Health care providers including nurses and childbirth educators are crucial resources for childbearing families for accurate and current information regarding nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic interventions available for pain management in labor. All medications that are administered to laboring women have maternal and fetal effects. In order to assist women in the decision for relief of labor discomforts, health care professionals must be knowledgeable of the chemical actions and adverse effects of all medications offered to women in labor. This article discusses various types of therapeutic options used for pain management for the relief of labor discomfort.
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J Perinat Neonatal Nurs · Oct 2003
ReviewNeuraxial analgesia for labor and birth: implications for mother and fetus.
Women are better educated today on issues related to labor and childbirth. Pain management options for the woman in labor have changed dramatically over the last decade. ⋯ The shift from regional anesthesia with significant motor-blockade during labor, where the woman is a passive participant during the labor and birth, to a collaborative approach for pain management, where the woman becomes an active participant, has resulted in a new philosophy of analgesia for labor and birth. This article provides a review of current neuraxial analgesia/anesthesia techniques used for pain management in labor and birth and their implications for the perinatal nurse.
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This study compared how nurses perceived their assessment of infant pain and how the pain was actually assessed in an intensive care unit. A descriptive design was used to collect data about nurses beliefs and documentation practices related to pain assessment in infants. An anonymous subset of the unit nurses (n = 24) responded to a questionnaire regarding infant pain assessment. Pain assessment documentation of the unit nurses was examined in a retrospective chart review (n = 107). Results showed an inconsistency between what nurses believe about infant pain as sessment and the documentation practice in the unit. According to the questionnaire, the nurses believed that pain assessment was important to providing effective pain relief and that nurses are capable of assessing infant pain. However, it was not evident in the documentation that nurses used pain tools or other means to document their evaluations of infant pain or the infant's response to pain medication interventions. ⋯ Greater consistency of nurses in documenting pain assessment, thereby improving care provider communication of an infant's pain experience, is needed to improve the standard of care in managing infant pain.