Abstract
Background
The increasing use of neonatal intensive care resources to maintain the lives of sick infants can generate painful stimuli and cause distress for them. However, this pain is not always perceived by the professionals involved in the care, although there is already an increasing interest on the part of the professionals involved in care.
Objective
To evaluate the perception of health professionals, who works in a neonatal unit related to newborn pain.
Method
Qualitative research of the exploratory type was carried out in a reference hospital in neonatal care of a capital of the Northeast. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with all professionals working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and / or Intermediate Care Unit in direct care of the newborn. Content Analysis was used in the thematic modality and the results were grouped into categories.
Results
36 interviews were conducted. The professionals interviewed acknowledged that neonatal pain was historically neglected and that scientific evidence today confirms its existence. It was identified lack in the training in the theme and fragility in the application of the knowledge in the practice.
Conclusion
The professionals have knowledge about neonatal pain; however they still use little physiological parameters and have little knowledge of current scientific literature. The main challenge is the need for systematic use of scales that guarantee the evaluation of pain.
Keywords:
pain; newborn; perception of pain; patient care team