Nonpharmacological Methods in Heel Stick Pain

Overview

In the present study, the randomized controlled and experimental design is used because it was aimed to determine the effects of two different warming methods (warming with a thermophore heating pad and warming with a warm towel) performed before heel prick intervention on pain levels and duration of crying in healthy term newborns. Study hypotheses are; Hypothesis 1. Using the thermophore pad warming method in newborns before heel prick reduces the newborn's pain level. Hypothesis 2. Using the warm towel warming method in newborns before heel prick reduces the newborn's pain level. Hypothesis 3. Using the thermophore pad warming method in newborns before heel prick reduces the duration of crying. Hypothesis 4. Using the warm towel warming method in newborns before heel prick reduces the duration of crying

Heel prick, intervention performed to take blood sample from the heel, which is frequently performed in newborns, is a more painful intervention than are other methods of taking blood samples. In several studies, it has been indicated that the use of various non-pharmacological methods such as sucrose administration, breastfeeding, skin-to-skin care, acupressure, swaddling, positioning, non-nutritive sucking, foot reflexology, vibration, laser acupuncture, warming the baby's heel reduce infants' pain during heel prick. This study is a prospective, randomized and controlled trial. In this study aim, was aimed at determining the effects of two different heel warming methods (warming with a thermophore heating pad and warming with a warm towel) performed before heel prick on healthy term newborns' pain levels and duration of cryingin newborns will be examined. The minimum number of newborns to be included in the study was calculated as 150 using the G\*Power (3.1. 9.7) program (margin of error: 5%, confidence interval: 0.95, power: 0.80). The 150 newborns in the sample were randomly assigned into the following three groups in equal numbers via an internet-based program (http://www.randomizer.org): control group (n = 50), thermophore-warming group (n = 47) and warm towel-warming group (n = 50). Data Collection Tools To collect the study data, the "Descriptive Information Form", "Follow-up Form", and "Neonatal Infant Pain Scale" were used.