Comparing the effect of non-nutritional sucking and maternal voice on venous blood sampling pain in neonates

Objective: Relieving pain in newborns is one of the main goals of nursing care, and in this context, non-pharmacological methods of pain relief have always been of interest to nurses. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of non-nutritional sucking and mother's voice on venous blood sampling pain in infants. Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 105 infants aged 3 to 10 days were selected. They were randomly divided into three groups including non-nutritional sucking group, mother's voice and control group. Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS) was used to assess the severity of pain in newborns. During the blood sampling in all three groups, the newborn was filmed and the pain level of the baby was determined and compared based on the video taken. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 26 and chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, Kruskal-Wallis test and Ben Feroni pairwise comparison. Results: The results showed that the average pain score in the non-nutritional sucking group (2.33 ± 3.20) was significantly lower than the control group (5 ± 2.22) (p=0.006). But the average pain score in the mother's voice group (4.06±2.49) and the control group (5±2.22) has no significant difference (p=0.393). Also, the average pain score between the non-nutritional sucking group (3.20±2.33) and the mother's voice group (4.06±2.49) has no statistically significant difference (p=0.291). Conclusion: The use of non-nutritional sucking significantly reduced the pain caused by blood sampling in infants