Neonatal pain: nurses perception of management in one Referral Hospital in Rwanda

Abstract

Background Pain is a foremost distress influencing all aspects of life. Pain is a common symptom of a possible disease process which forces patients to seek out medical care. A co-morbidity of untreated neonatal pain is neurological developmental issues which are sometimes irreversible. The aim of this study was to determine nurse‘s and midwives perception of neonatal pain management. A quantitative descriptive study to examine nurses‘ perception of neonatal pain management with a sample (N= 92) of nurses and midwives. The validated questionnaire (Margolius) is a selfreported questionnaire was completed after informed consent was obtained. Data analysis utilized SPSS 21.0, the descriptive results was demonstrated utilizing tables. Chi Square and Fisher‘s Exact tests measured the association between nurses‘ and midwives perceptions about neonatal pain management and demographic factors. Results The majority of the participants were female 67.4% (n = 62), while 32.6% (n =30) were males. The mean age of the participants was 37 years of age (Standard Deviation=5.6). The majority of participants were diploma trained nurses at 70.7% (n=65) and experience ranging from 5 to 7 years was 41%. Knowledge of neonatal pain management among nurses in the neonatal care areas was statically significant high at 47.8% (n=44), good 31.5% (n=29), and poor 20.7% (n=19). Nurses and midwives perceptions of neonatal pain management was found to be very good at 14.1% (n=13), good at 69.6% (n=64), and poor at 16.3% (n=15).Identified potential barriers of neonatal pain management among participants was found to be a lack of educational opportunities and training 31% (n=29), also barriers were a lack of leadership support (48.9%). Study results demonstrated a lack of relationship between demographic data and levels of knowledge or perception of nurses towards neonatal pain management. Conclusions- Pain perception of neonatal pain management among nurses and midwives was found strong and positive. To further improve neonatal pain management among nurses in referral hospitals, there is a need for leadership support to increase nursing education for the improvement of the quality of life for neonates. This educational support may prevent complications found to be increased with insufficient pain management in neonates.