title: Pain assessment and management in the NICU: analysis of an educational intervention for health professionals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to study the perception of a Neonatal Intensive Care team on pain assessment and management before and after an educational intervention created and implemented in the unit.
  
  
  METHODS
  intervention study developed as action research, in three phases. In Phase 1, a quantitative study was performed to identify how professionals perceive pain management in the unit. In Phase 2, an educational intervention was carried out, using the Operational Group (OG), which defined strategies to be adopted to seek improvements in pain assessment and management. In Phase 3, the initial questionnaire was reapplied to assess professionals' perceptions about the subject after the intervention. All professionals directly working in newborn care were included.
  
  
  RESULTS
  the perception of professionals about pain management and assessment in the unit showed a statistically significant difference between the two phases of research, highlighting the increase in frequency of reference for evaluation and use of some method of pain relief procedures for most analyzed procedures. Participation in training (one of the strategies defined by the operational group) was reported by 86.4% of the professionals. They reported the use of scales for pain assessment, established by the protocol adopted in the service after the intervention, with a frequency of 94.4%. Changes in pain assessment and management were perceived by 79.6% of the participants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the professionals involved in the educational intervention observed changes in pain management in the unit and related them to the strategies defined and implemented by the OG.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, PE, Brazil. Electronic address: claymar@globo.com.
authors.forename: Carmen L G de
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Aymar
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luciane S de
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas de Olinda (FACHO), Olinda, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cândida M R dos
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas de Olinda (FACHO), Olinda, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Emilly A C
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.affiliation: Maternal-Child Departament, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sônia B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Coutinho
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D010465:Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Analgesia; Dor; Educação em saúde; Health education; Neonatal Intensive Care Units; Pain; Professional practice; Prática profissional; Unidade de Terapia Intensiva Neonatal