Skip to content

Neonatal Intensive Care Nurses' Assessment of Preterm Infants' Pain and Sedation

Neonatal Intensive Care Nurses' Assessment of Preterm Infants' Pain and Sedation: Inter-Rater Reliability

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06885437
Enrollment
190
Registered
2025-03-20
Start date
2023-01-02
Completion date
2023-03-25
Last updated
2025-03-20

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Nurse Care Coordination

Keywords

preterm, nurse, pain, N-PASS

Brief summary

The aim of this study was to investigate the consistency of NICU nurses' assessment of pain and sedation using NPASS in preterm infants in the NICU

Detailed description

The experience of pain is a common occurrence for infants in NICUs, with many undergoing painful procedures for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Effective pain management is a critical issue, as repeated painful experiences and stress in the early stages of life have the potential to have adverse short- and long-term effects on infant health. Although the importance of assessment and management of pain in neonates is well known, these practices still need to be improved in the NICU. Firstly, pain and sedation assessment with reliable tools is needed to provide adequate pain management practices. Because the evaluation of the pain and sedation level directs the treatment, thus avoiding inadequate or unnecessary treatment applied to the infants. However, the assessment of pain in newborns is a challenging endeavor, due to the inability of this age group to communicate, the existence of variations in pain responses based on age, the lack of training in the recognition of pain in premature infants, and the practical limitations of current assessment tools. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the inter-rater reliability of the N-PASS in a clinical actual setting. In this context, there needs to be consistency between assessors in pain assessment. As a result, the aim of this study was to investigate the consistency of NICU nurses' assessment of pain and sedation using NPASS in preterm infants in the NICU.

Interventions

OTHERPain and sedation assessment with the N-PASS scale by each nurse

After a painful procedure, the infant's N-PASS pain and sedation scores were assessed simultaneously by three observers (two researchers and the patients' head nurses) independently and blinded.

Sponsors

Acibadem University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
CASE_ONLY
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Working as a nurse in the NICU for at least six months and agreeing to participate in the study * Preterm infant

Exclusion criteria

* Less than six months of NICU experience * Term infant

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
N-PASS score observed by different nurses at the same timeNPASS score will be assessed once daily for 10 days by different nurses at the same timeThe N-PASS scores were assigned by three observers (two researchers and nurses).Each patient's primary nurse and the two researchers were given 1 minute to independently record the patient's total N-PASS score. Observers recorded post-assessment pain and sedation scores separately after each assessment. The nurses and two researchers remained blind to each other's evaluations and submitted the forms they filled out individually.The N-PASS, , includes four behavioral items (crying irritability, behavior state, facial expression, extremities tone) and one vital signs item (changes in heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation). Each pain criterion is scored on a scale of 0, 1 and 2. The maximum score on the N-PASS is 11 for preterm infants under 30 weeks and 10 for preterm infants over 30 weeks. Pain intensity is categorized as no pain (0-3), mild pain (4-7) and severe pain (8-11).

Countries

Turkey (Türkiye)

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026