This study aimed to apprehend the meaning of the care provided by nurses to newborns in painful procedures and know the interventions performed by nurses to relieve the pain of newborns. Descriptive study carried out in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a public hospital in Fortaleza-CE-Brazil in July 2010. The subjects were ten nurses and the data collection happened through a questionnaire. Data were organized in three categories: The meaning of care facing the pain of newborns; Humanized care with newborns; and Nursing interventions facing the pain of newborns. These were analyzed under the light of the humanistic theory of Paterson and Zderad. It was verified that the care to newborns should be addressed to minimize the stress factors during the painful situation, and the interventions mentioned were predominantly non-pharmacological, involving actions developed with newborns and the Unit environment.
Pain; Infant, newborn; Nursing care