ABSTRACT
Optimal maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes are the goal of care for pregnant women with preexisting diabetes. Women with a long history of poorly managed diabetes begin pregnancy with a deficit that poses additional challenges for the patient and the healthcare team. The following case study presents a woman who had a history of type 1 diabetes that was poorly controlled and experienced an incidence of severe hypoglycemia with serious sequelae.
Subject(s)
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/therapy , Hypoglycemia/therapy , Pregnancy in Diabetics/therapy , Adult , Cesarean Section, Repeat , Critical Care , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/complications , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/psychology , Emergency Medical Services , Female , Fetal Monitoring , Humans , Hypoglycemia/etiology , Intensive Care, Neonatal , Needs Assessment , Nursing Assessment , Patient Care Planning , Patient Compliance/psychology , Patient Education as Topic , Postnatal Care , Pregnancy , Pregnancy in Diabetics/psychology , Prenatal Care , Seizures/etiologyABSTRACT
Perinatal nurses are named in patient lawsuits more than most nurses might imagine, and perinatal nurses are especially vulnerable. In 2005, 15% of all payments in nursing cases involved perinatal nurses. This article describes what some nurses have felt when faced with litigation, and offers consideration for how nursing as a profession, and perinatal nursing as a specialty, should change its approach toward more support of nurses who find themselves in this circumstance.
