NIPS (Neonatal Infant Pain Scale)
Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (Lawrence 1993): facial expression, breathing, arms, legs, and state of arousal each 0-1 with cry 0-2; sum 0-7 (0-2 no/mild, 3-4 mild-to-moderate, > 4 severe pain).
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- Facial expression
- 1
- Cry
- 2
- Breathing patterns
- 1
- Arms
- 1
- Legs
- 0
- State of arousal
- 1
Result: NIPS 6 of 7: severe pain per Lawrence 1993 (0-2 no/mild; 3-4 mild-to-moderate; >4 severe).
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- 0-2
- No / mild pain.
- 3-4
- Mild-to-moderate pain.
- >4
- Severe pain.
What you enter
- Facial expression (0-1)
- Cry (0-2)
- Breathing patterns (0-1)
- Arms (0-1)
- Legs (0-1)
- State of arousal (0-1)
How this is calculated
Lawrence J, Alcock D, McGrath P, Kay J, MacMurray SB, Dulberg C. The development of a tool to assess neonatal pain. Neonatal Netw. 1993;12(6):59-66. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.