Nurses’ experiences of caring for preterm infants in pain: A meta-ethnography
Objective: Preterm infants are subjected to numerous painful procedures during their neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalization. Despite advancements in pain alleviation, nurses remain challenged to provide timely and effective pain management for preterm infants. Greater understanding of t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-10-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Nursing Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352013222000692 |
| _version_ | 1811250840046927872 |
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| author | Tingting Zhao Angela R. Starkweather Adam Matson Shabnam Lainwala Wanli Xu Xiaomei Cong |
| author_facet | Tingting Zhao Angela R. Starkweather Adam Matson Shabnam Lainwala Wanli Xu Xiaomei Cong |
| author_sort | Tingting Zhao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective: Preterm infants are subjected to numerous painful procedures during their neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalization. Despite advancements in pain alleviation, nurses remain challenged to provide timely and effective pain management for preterm infants. Greater understanding of the lived experience of nurses caring for preterm infants in pain could provide novel insights to improve pain management for this vulnerable population. The aim of this meta-ethnography was to synthesize and interpret qualitative findings of nurses’ experiences of taking care of preterm infants in pain. Methods: An extensive literature search in PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, BIOSIS and ProQuest Dissertation and Theses Database was conducted, including studies within the past 10 years. Two nursing researchers conducted data extraction and analysis independently. Inclusion criteria were applied to search for qualitative studies of nurse participants who worked in the NICU taking care of preterm infants. Studies published in a language other than English, articles that did not include qualitative data and qualitative data that could not be extracted from the findings or did not discuss nurses’ experiences were excluded. Critical Appraisal Skills Programme was used for literature quality evaluation. Results: Eight studies remained after further screening according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. These eight studies were conducted from 2013 to 2018 and totally enrolled 205 nurses from Iran, Canada, the United States, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Australia. Five themes emerged on the nurses’ perspectives of taking care of preterm infants in pain: 1) They sense the neonatal pain; 2) Adverse consequences of unrelieved pain; 3) Barriers of managing pain; 4) Concerns of available approaches for pain relief; 5) Failure to work with parents. Conclusions: This meta-ethnography identified nurses’ understanding of pain in preterm infants that can be assessed, and they acknowledged that unrelieved pain could cause developmental deficits in infants. The barriers are lack of training and support on pain assessment and intervention in preterm infants. Optimizing workload and environment, developing age-specified pain assessment and intervention, receiving emotional support and training, and building up a rapport with parents are urgent needs for nurses to provide better care to infants having pain. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T16:10:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2dc49d300ea64d59a75cc81112905774 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2352-0132 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T16:10:44Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Nursing Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-2dc49d300ea64d59a75cc811129057742022-12-22T03:25:54ZengElsevierInternational Journal of Nursing Sciences2352-01322022-10-0194533541Nurses’ experiences of caring for preterm infants in pain: A meta-ethnographyTingting Zhao0Angela R. Starkweather1Adam Matson2Shabnam Lainwala3Wanli Xu4Xiaomei Cong5School of Nursing, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USACollege of Nursing, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USADivision of Neonatology, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Hartford, CT, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USADivision of Neonatology, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Hartford, CT, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USASchool of Nursing, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USASchool of Nursing, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA; School of Nursing, Yale University, Orange, CT, USA; Corresponding author. School of Nursing, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.Objective: Preterm infants are subjected to numerous painful procedures during their neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalization. Despite advancements in pain alleviation, nurses remain challenged to provide timely and effective pain management for preterm infants. Greater understanding of the lived experience of nurses caring for preterm infants in pain could provide novel insights to improve pain management for this vulnerable population. The aim of this meta-ethnography was to synthesize and interpret qualitative findings of nurses’ experiences of taking care of preterm infants in pain. Methods: An extensive literature search in PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, BIOSIS and ProQuest Dissertation and Theses Database was conducted, including studies within the past 10 years. Two nursing researchers conducted data extraction and analysis independently. Inclusion criteria were applied to search for qualitative studies of nurse participants who worked in the NICU taking care of preterm infants. Studies published in a language other than English, articles that did not include qualitative data and qualitative data that could not be extracted from the findings or did not discuss nurses’ experiences were excluded. Critical Appraisal Skills Programme was used for literature quality evaluation. Results: Eight studies remained after further screening according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. These eight studies were conducted from 2013 to 2018 and totally enrolled 205 nurses from Iran, Canada, the United States, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Australia. Five themes emerged on the nurses’ perspectives of taking care of preterm infants in pain: 1) They sense the neonatal pain; 2) Adverse consequences of unrelieved pain; 3) Barriers of managing pain; 4) Concerns of available approaches for pain relief; 5) Failure to work with parents. Conclusions: This meta-ethnography identified nurses’ understanding of pain in preterm infants that can be assessed, and they acknowledged that unrelieved pain could cause developmental deficits in infants. The barriers are lack of training and support on pain assessment and intervention in preterm infants. Optimizing workload and environment, developing age-specified pain assessment and intervention, receiving emotional support and training, and building up a rapport with parents are urgent needs for nurses to provide better care to infants having pain.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352013222000692Neonatal intensive care unitsPremature infantPain measurementParentsPainNursing care |
| spellingShingle | Tingting Zhao Angela R. Starkweather Adam Matson Shabnam Lainwala Wanli Xu Xiaomei Cong Nurses’ experiences of caring for preterm infants in pain: A meta-ethnography International Journal of Nursing Sciences Neonatal intensive care units Premature infant Pain measurement Parents Pain Nursing care |
| title | Nurses’ experiences of caring for preterm infants in pain: A meta-ethnography |
| title_full | Nurses’ experiences of caring for preterm infants in pain: A meta-ethnography |
| title_fullStr | Nurses’ experiences of caring for preterm infants in pain: A meta-ethnography |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nurses’ experiences of caring for preterm infants in pain: A meta-ethnography |
| title_short | Nurses’ experiences of caring for preterm infants in pain: A meta-ethnography |
| title_sort | nurses experiences of caring for preterm infants in pain a meta ethnography |
| topic | Neonatal intensive care units Premature infant Pain measurement Parents Pain Nursing care |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352013222000692 |
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