[Pain in newborns and children]

Abstract

Pain is a mechanism of defense in response to damaged tissue in order to determine a response to remove the cause of damage. Attention to pain control is considered a quality index in the pediatric care newborn infants react to pain with changes in cardiac and respiratory rate, blood pressure, blood gas, grimace, palm sweating, crying, sleep/awake rythm. Measuring pain in child is based on: history of the child, changes in behaviour adn vital parameters. Being able to explain pain depends on cognitive and language ability of the child. The role of the nurse who attend the newborn infant in the neonatal intensive care unit is to help baby to cope with acute pain by means of simple manoeuvres like wrapping, non nutritive suction, massage, tactile stimulation.