Non-pharmacological strategies used to reduce procedural pain in infants by nurses at family health centres.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the methods used by nurses working in family health centres to decrease pain during medical procedures in infants. METHODS: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted at family health centres in the county town of Bandirma, and city centres of Karaman and Gaziantep, Turkey, in September and October 2015, and comprised nurses. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews using a questionnaire. SPSS 15 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 144 participants, 71(49.3%) were aged 31-40 years, 74(51.4%) had a bachelor's degree, and 76(52.8%) had worked in a family health centre for 1-5 years. It was observed that 91(63.3%) nurses used contact/massage for decreasing the pain during vaccinations and 72(50.3%) used skin-to-skin contact during heel lance. A statistically significant difference was found between the level of education and use of non-pharmacological methods (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Nurses used different non-pharmacologic methods during invasive procedures.