Nursing theoretical references that support the assessment of the patient with pain in neonatal and pediatric intensive care

Abstract

Introduction: Pain is an almost constant symptom of the patient admitted to the Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units, its adequate therapeutic treatment requires a correct nursing assessment supported by theories and conceptual models.

Objective: To identify the nursing theoretical references that support the assessment of the patient with pain in the Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units.

Methods: Integrative review of documents published in the SciELO, Dialnet, BDENF, Elsevier, IBECS, LILACS, Medline/PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases, from 2018 to 2022. The keywords identified in DeCS were used: “Pain”, “Intensive Care Units, Neonatal”, “Intensive Care Units, Pediatric”, “Nursing Theory”, “Models, Nursing” and the Boolean AND operator. The inclusion criteria were: theses or articles published in full texts in English and Spanish, available in specialized sites and scientific journals of health sciences.

Conclusions: Scientific evidence shows studies that support their research on the multidimensional theory of pain, the theory of cognitive development, the theory of symptom management, Kolcaba's comfort theory, Dorothy Johnson's behavioral nursing care system theory, and Watson's Theory for the humanization of care.