Text Box: NURSING OBSERVATION AND TREATMENT OF PAIN IN THE NEONATOLOGY Marguerite Kloos and Madeleine Olivier Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, The Netherlands Objective: Pain and its effects on the (premature) neonate. Methods: Pain assessment of neonates by using several scales to describe the phenomenon and factors that influence pain, to diagnose and predict the need for intervention, to evaluate the efficacy of intervention and to examine the impact of intervention in relevant outcomes. Results: Since the late Eighties pain in neonates has more attention at the NICU of the LUMC. We started by using several pain scoring measurements. Our greatest problem was how to make a valid judgment on such a subjective item as pain. None of the scoring lists gave 'the Golden Standard'. This problem was nationwide. For that purpose several NICU's in the Netherlands started a National Study Group. Together we made a syllabus with advices to minimize pain in neonates. These advices include both: non- pharmacological and pharmacological interventions. On our ward the Individual Developmental Care gives nurses a great opportunity for non-pharmacological intervention in pain. Conclusion: Pain assessment and nursing intervention is still very difficult but the long-term effects of pain in neonates are so severe that all (potential) painful situations must be appropriately taken care of. 2490