Experience of stress in psychiatric nursing students in Ireland.

AIM: The aim of this study was to explore the experience of stress among psychiatric nursing students undertaking their 'internship' or final year of a four-year degree course. METHOD: A questionnaire was administered to all 28 students in the intern year in conjunction with the 28-item version of the General Health Questionnaire. Semi-structured interviews were subsequently undertaken with four volunteers from a range of clinical locations. FINDINGS: Approximately 48% of respondents reported levels of stress above the threshold score as described by Goldberg (1978), indicating levels of distress unlikely to remit without intervention. Interview data suggested that the main sources of stress during the intern year were associated with relationships in the clinical environment; clinical workload; matching competence and responsibility; and simultaneous clinical and academic demands. CONCLUSION: The findings should be interpreted with caution and understood within the context of the dynamic nature of nurse education in Ireland. However, the issues raised demand further enquiry to examine the structure of educational programmes, the nature of the work and the organisational culture in which the work is carried out.

Preeclampsia among Hispanic women in a Detroit health system.

OBJECTIVE: We wished to estimate the incidence of preeclampsia among a group of Hispanic women in the greater Detroit metropolitan area. PARTICIPANTS: We reviewed delivery records of 559 Hispanic women from a Detroit hospital and prenatal records of 134 Hispanic women who received care from an affiliated federally qualified health center in southwest Detroit. DESIGN: A retrospective chart review was conducted. The physician's diagnosis was used to study hospital patients. The health center patients were diagnosed on the basis of criteria established in the National High Blood Pressure Education Working Group Report. RESULTS: In 1998, Hispanic women who delivered at the study hospital had an incidence of preeclampsia or pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) of 1.3% (7/559), compared to non-Hispanics 5.3% (118/2241) (chi2(1) = 10.35, P < .05). The relative risk was .24. From health center prenatal records, the incidence of preeclampsia/PIH among the 134 patients was 3.7%. The difference in the incidence of preeclampsia/PlH between delivery records at the hospital (1.3%) and health center prenatal records (3.7%) was not statistically significant (chi2(1) = 1.6, P > .10). CONCLUSION: Among women giving birth at a Detroit hospital, Hispanic women had a lower risk of developing preeclampsia or PIH compared to non-Hispanic women.

The influence of maternal weight and glucose tolerance on infant birthweight in Latino mother-infant pairs.

OBJECTIVES: We assessed the influence of maternal anthropometric and metabolic variables, including glucose tolerance, on infant birthweight. METHODS: In our prospective, population-based cohort study of 1041 Latino mother-infant pairs, we used standardized interviews, anthropometry, metabolic assays, and medical record reviews. We assessed relationships among maternal sociodemographic, prenatal care, anthropometric, and metabolic characteristics and birthweight with analysis of variance and bivariate and multivariate linear regression analyses. RESULTS: Forty-two percent of women in this study entered pregnancy overweight or obese; at least 36% exceeded weight-gain recommendations. Twenty-seven percent of the women had at least some degree of glucose abnormality, including 6.8% who had gestational diabetes. Maternal multiparity, height, weight, weight gain, and 1-hour screening glucose levels were significant independent predictors of infant birthweight after adjustment for gestational age. CONCLUSION: Studies of birthweight should account for maternal glucose level. Given the increased risk of adverse maternal and infant outcomes associated with excessive maternal weight, weight gain, and glucose intolerance, and the high prevalence of these conditions and type 2 diabetes among Latinas, public health professionals have unique opportunities for prevention through prenatal and postpartum interventions.