ABSTRACT
Objectives. To examine relationships among actionable drivers and facilitators of stigma and nurses' intentions to provide the standard of maternal care recommended by the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) for incarcerated women.Methods. We conducted a Web-based survey of perinatal nurses in the United States (n = 665; participation rate 98.0%; completion rate 95.3%) in July through September 2017. We used multivariable logistic regression to predict higher than median intentions to provide the standard of care.Results. Lower stigmatizing individual attitudes and institutional norms and higher perceived autonomy when caring for an incarcerated woman were significantly associated with higher care intentions. Knowledge of the AWHONN position statement on the standard of care or their own state's shackling laws was not associated with higher care intentions.Conclusions. We documented significant associations among actionable drivers and facilitators of stigma and the intentions of a key health care provider group to deliver the standard of maternal care to incarcerated women. Individual- and institutional-level stigma-reduction interventions may increase the quality of maternal care and improve perinatal outcomes for women who give birth while incarcerated.
Subject(s)
Attitude of Health Personnel , Maternal Health Services/standards , Nurses , Prisoners , Social Stigma , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Humans , Male , Maternal Health/standards , Nurses/psychology , Nurses/statistics & numerical data , United States/epidemiologySubject(s)
Anxiety Disorders/complications , Mood Disorders/complications , Pregnancy Complications/psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Depression, Postpartum/psychology , Female , Focus Groups , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Humans , Patient Acceptance of Health Care/psychology , Postpartum Period/psychology , Pregnancy , Young AdultABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To describe perinatal nurses' experiences of caring for incarcerated women during pregnancy and the postpartum period; to assess their knowledge of the 2011 position statement Shackling Incarcerated Pregnant Women published by the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN); and to assess their knowledge of their states' laws regulating nonmedical restraint use, or shackling, of incarcerated women. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Online across the United States. PARTICIPANTS: AWHONN members who self-identified as antepartum, intrapartum, postpartum, or mother-baby nurses (N = 923, 8.2% response rate). METHODS: A link to an investigator-developed survey was e-mailed to eligible AWHONN members (N = 11,274) between July and September 2017. RESULTS: A total of 74% (n = 690) of participants reported that they cared for incarcerated women during pregnancy or the postpartum period in hospital perinatal units. Of these, most (82.9%, n = 566) reported that their incarcerated patients were shackled sometimes to all of the time; only 9.7% reported ever feeling unsafe with incarcerated women who were pregnant. "Rule or protocol" was the most commonly endorsed reason for shackling. Only 17.0% (n = 157) of all participants knew about the AWHONN position statement, and 3% (n = 28) correctly identified the conditions under which shackling may ethically take place (risk of flight, harm to self, or harm to others). Only 7.4% (n = 68) of participants correctly identified whether their states had shackling laws. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest critical gaps in nurses' knowledge of professional standards and protective laws regarding the care of incarcerated women during pregnancy. Our findings underscore an urgent need for primary and continuing nursing education in this area.
