PURPOSE
To explore premature infants' pain response to routine procedures in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
METHODS
The participants were 56 preterm infants who showed 149 pain responses to 8 high frequency routine procedures which were evaluated using the Premature Infant Pain Scale (PIPS). Videotaped recording was used for data collection. Data were analyzed with descriptive analysis, paired t-test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient.
RESULTS
PIPS scores for each procedure were as follows; for removal of central catheter dressing, 6.17 (2.04), venous sampling, 6.12 (2.87), intramuscular injection, 6.05 (2.38), insertion of a peripheral line, 5.38 (2.16), insertion of feeding tube, 4.40 (1.34), heel stick, 4.33 (1.23), insertion of central line, 4.00 (2.12), and endotracheal suctioning, 2.90 (1.25). PIPS score was negatively correlated with gestational age (r=-.218, p=.007) and birth weight (r=-.249, p=.002) among general characteristics of the infants.
CONCLUSION
The majority of 8 routine procedures were found to be painful for premature infants in the NICU. Therefore, adequate pain management related to procedures should be provided to premature infant in the NICU.

Citations

• Perceptions on Pain Management among Korean Nurses in Neonatal Intensive Care Units
  Ihn Sook Jeong, Soon Mi Park, Jeon Ma Lee, Yoon Jin Choi, Joohyun Lee
  Asian Nursing Research.2014; 8(4): 261.     CrossRef
• Effect of Optimal Humidification for Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants During Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure
  Jung-Sook Kim, Eun-Jung Lee
  Journal of Korean Academy of Child Health Nursing.2011; 17(2): 145.     CrossRef

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to describe quality of life (QOL) in Korean school-age children by identifying dimensions and attributes of QOL from the child's point of view.
METHOD
In-depth interviews with focus questions were used for the study. Twelve children, aged 10 to 13 years, were recruited from Seoul and rural areas. The interviews were audio-taped and transcribed before content analysis. The data were analyzed for themes and attributes. The researchers read the data together and discussed their conclusions until a consensus was reached.
RESULTS
Eight dimensions, 57 subdimensions and 101atttributes were identified for QOL in school-age children. The eight dimensions of QOL were physical, social, emotional, learning, leisure, family, self-value, and material aspects.
CONCLUSION
The study results can be utilized in developing reliable instruments to measure quality of life specific to school-age children. It is proposed that a consistent and unified policy should be established by school, family, and community for the purpose of improving the QOL of school-age children.