The effect of listening to white noise during the first invasive interventions of newborns on pain, comfort, crying time and physiological parameters

This study was carried out at Batman Training and Research Hospital from October 9, 2021 to March 20, 2022 with 75 newborns to examine the effects of listening to the white noise on pain, comfort, crying time and physiological parameters during the first invasive interventions of vitamin K by intramuscular injection (IM). The randomized controlled study was performed as experimentally. The newborns in the white noise group were started to listen to white noise 5 minutes before vitamin K IM administration, IM was applied by the same midwife at the 5th minute, and 10-minute camera recording was taken until 5 minutes later. In the study; the action camera was placed on a tripod and the shots were taken. Data were collected using the Baby Information Form, the Family Information Form, the Newborn Pain Scale (NIPS) and the COMFORTneo Behavior Scale (COMFORTneo). It was determined that the mean crying times (24.14±15.43) of the babies who were listened to white noise (experimental group) were considerably lower than the control group (40.03±13.58) who were not listened to white noise (p=0.000). As a result of the analyzes made; The crying time (sec.) in the experimental group was significantly lower than those in the control group (Z=-4.428; p=0.000). While heart rates during and after the procedure in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p<0.05), SpO2 values were significantly higher than those in the control group (p<0.05). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient values of the COMFORTneo and NIPS scales were found to be highly reliable for observers, respectively. As a result of the intra-class correlation analysis, it was determined that the agreement between the observers was significant and the degree of agreement was excellent (p<0.05). In this respect, according to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd observers, the pain estimation, distress estimation, COMFORTneo and NIPS total values in the experimental group were found to be significantly lower than those in the control group (p<0.05). Consequently; it is recommended that nurses listen to white noise, which is a non-pharmacological method, for newborns during invasive intervention, because of its positive effects on the physiological parameters (heart rate, oxygen saturation), shortening the crying time, reducing the pain, increasing the comfort. Key Words: Comfort, Invasive Procedures, Newborn, Pain, White noise