Background

Suboptimal pain control in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) remains despite theoretical advances. Paying attention to the views and suggestions of those who directly face the challenges of neonatal pain control in NICUs can help the improvement processes. Nurses are continuously present at patients’ bedsides and play a vital role in optimal pain management.

Objectives

This study aimed to study nurses’ views of the quality of pain control in NICUs and the existing barriers.

Material and methods

The cross-sectional, descriptive method was utilised to study 140 nurses that worked in three NICUs in Iran. They were selected using convenience sampling and filled out a questionnaire. The information was analysed using descriptive statistical methods.

Results

The results showed that although most participants had good knowledge of the basic concepts of neonatal pain, some of them had problems in some areas, such as using neonatal pain assessment tools. 40% of them thought that pain was not managed properly in the NICU. The participants also mentioned barriers to proper neonatal pain management, including work overload, inappropriate professional knowledge, lack of organisational structure, poor collaboration of team members and low pain prevention.

Conclusions

. It is necessary to improve the quality of caregiving with respect to pain management in the NICU. There were individual, inter-professional and organisational barriers that have to be sufficiently understood to allow for the taking of significant steps to improve pain control in NICUs.