Effects of a Nurse Promotion Program on Pain Management Practices and Pain Response in Preterm Infants Undergoing Retinopathy of Prematurity Eye Screening
Keywords:
Nursing practice, Pain management, Preterm infants, Retinopathy of Prematurity, ScreeningAbstract
Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is a condition characterized by abnormal development of the blood vessels in the retina. It is most common in premature infants. The screening process for ROP is known to cause significant pain in these infants. This quasi-experimental study, employing a two-group pretest-posttest design, aimed to evaluate the effects of a nursing promotion program for pain management in preterm infants undergoing ROP screening on nursing practices and infant pain responses. The participants consisted of 20 nurses working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the Neonatal Critical Care Unit (NCCU), with 54 instances of ROP screening in preterm infants. The research instruments comprised two parts: (1) the intervention tool, which was the nursing promotion program for pain management in preterm infants undergoing ROP screening, and (2) the data collection tools, including a nursing practice observation form and a neonatal pain assessment scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, the Mann-Whitney U test, and the Friedman test.
The results revealed that after participating in the program, the experimental group had a significantly higher median pain management practice score for preterm infants undergoing ROP screening compared to before the program (Mdn = 20.00, IQR = 1.00 vs. Mdn = 15.00, IQR = 2.00) (Z = -2.345, p = .019). Additionally, the median pain scores of preterm infants in the experimental group at 1 minute and 5 minutes post-screening were significantly lower than those of the control group (Z = -4.453, p < .001; Z = -3.767, p < .001).
Supporting the implementation of the nursing promotion program based on the PRECEDE-PROCEED Model can enhance the efficiency of nursing practices and reduce pain in preterm infants.
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