Pain relief for simple procedures in New Zealand neonatal units: practice change over six years.
OBJECTIVE
Newborn infants are routinely exposed to pain. We wanted to see how practice regarding pain relief changed over a 6-year period.


METHODS
Serial audits were carried out of existing practice and attitudes at three points, over a 6-year span, in New Zealand neonatal units.


RESULTS
Almost all units agreed that many commonly performed procedures were painful over the 6-year study period. The number of units using analgesia rose markedly over the same period.


CONCLUSIONS
The fact that a simple, cheap and effective intervention (oral sucrose) has taken more than 6 years to be used routinely in New Zealand highlights the problem of turning evidence into practice.
Heaton
Paul
P
Yeovil District Hospital, Yeovil, UK. paul.heaton@ydh.nhs.uk
Herd
David
D
Fernando
Andrew
A
D000698:Analgesia; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D009520:New Zealand; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires