Self-compassion Education for Health Professionals (Nurses and Midwives): Protocol for a Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: A few recent studies have reported that having the ability to provide self-compassion can reduce health professionals' levels of anxiety and stress, the risk of compassion fatigue, and burnout, and it can generally improve their well-being. Therefore, there is evidence to support further research into the investigation and exploration of self-compassion education and training for health professionals. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to increase the knowledge and understanding of self-compassion and how this may enhance the health and well-being of health professionals. METHODS: The proposed research study will adopt a sequential explanatory mixed methods design. This study will be conducted in 3 phases. Phase 1 will use a pre-educational self-compassion questionnaire (web-based survey) to collect data from participants at 3 time points (before, immediately after, and after follow-up at 6-8 weeks) after they have attended a self-compassion education and training program. Phase 2 will use an interview schedule to explore the participants' views and experiences through a follow-up focus group or individual interview. Finally, phase 3 will include data integration and dissemination of key findings and recommendations. RESULTS: This study was approved by the Women's and Children's Health Network Human Research Ethics Committee and the Human Research Ethics Committee at the University of South Australia on June 26, 2021 (ID: 204,074). A scoping review was conducted to inform this research study (focusing on nurses and midwives). The preparatory phase was completed in April 2021. Phase 1 is expected to be completed by June 2022 and phase 2 will commence in July 2022. CONCLUSIONS: The key findings from the data integration for this research project will provide in-depth details and insights to broaden the discussion about self-compassion and its influence on health professionals' health and well-being. Health professionals (nurses and midwives) may benefit from self-compassion education and training programs to improve their health and well-being. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/34372.

A Healthy Eating Education Program for Midwives to Investigate and Explore Their Knowledge, Understanding, and Confidence to Support Pregnant Women to Eat Healthily: Protocol for a Mixed-Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: Nutrition and healthy eating behaviors during pregnancy are vitally important for the health of a mother and her developing baby. However, some midwives have reported a lack of evidence-based nutrition knowledge for providing information about healthy eating to women during pregnancy. OBJECTIVE: In this study, the aim is to design and evaluate a healthy eating education program to enhance midwives' knowledge, understanding, and confidence to support pregnant women in South Australia to make healthy eating choices. METHODS: This mixed-methods study consists of two phases. The first phase, Phase 1, consists of an education program for midwives, "Healthy Eating in Pregnancy," to be delivered through a workshop or webinar. Each midwife will attend one workshop or webinar, which will be approximately two hours in length. This program will be evaluated through pre-, immediate-, and post-educational questionnaires utilizing a website specifically designed for this study. The participants will be midwives who are members of the Australian College of Midwives and the Australian Nursing and Midwives Federation, and users of social media (eg, Facebook and Twitter) residing and employed in South Australia. Phase 2 will consist of semistructured interviews with a purposive sample of midwives. These interviews will be undertaken to gain an in-depth understanding of midwives' views and how confident they feel educating pregnant women after receiving the healthy eating education. Interviews will be face-to-face or conducted by telephone with midwives who have participated in the healthy eating educational program. RESULTS: A systematic review has previously been undertaken to inform this study protocol. This paper describes and discusses the protocol for this mixed-methods study, which will be completed in April 2019. CONCLUSIONS: The results from the systematic review suggest that there is clear justification to undertake this mixed-methods study to investigate and explore midwives' knowledge, understanding and confidence to support healthy eating in pregnant women. The results and conclusions from the systematic review provided some guidance for the design and development of this study protocol. This mixed-methods study will address a gap in the literature. The results from quantitative and qualitative data sources in this proposed study will help to draw conclusions to address the research topic. REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER: RR1-10.2196/9861.