Barriers That Impede the Provision of Pain Care to Neonates by Nurses in Jordan

Objective: To describe perceived barriers to neonatal pain care and suggest strategies to overcome these barriers among NICU nurses in Jordan. Design: Descriptive study. Setting: Eighteen NICUs in Jordan. Participants: One hundred eighty-four neonatal nurses. Methods: Nurses completed a questionnaire on perceived barriers to neonatal pain care. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: One of the main issues that hindered the effective practice of neonatal pain care was the underuse of structured pain measurements, especially for painful procedures (72%). Furthermore, participants indicated minimal knowledge about pain medication for neonates (66%) and feared adverse effects (50%). The participants received inadequate training about neonatal pain care during their initial orientation (24%) and while in service (19%). Participants perceived low interprofessional appreciation of any input into pain care decisions (72%). Finally, only 39% of participants supported the involvement of parents in pain care for their neonates, and 82% were against it during painful procedures. Conclusion: Efforts to improve neonatal pain care should focus on improving nurses' knowledge about neonatal pain, increasing competencies and involvement in pain management options, and improving channels of professional communication about neonatal pain.