ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Despite playing an integral part in sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion care, nurses are rarely the focus of research regarding their attitudes about abortion. METHODS: A sample of 1,820 nurse members of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses were surveyed about their demographic and professional backgrounds, religious beliefs, and abortion attitudes. Scores on the Abortion Attitudes Scale were analyzed categorically and trichotomized in multinomial regression analyses. RESULTS: Almost one-third of the sample (32%) had moderately proabortion attitudes, 29% were unsure, 16% had strongly proabortion attitudes, 13% had strongly antiabortion attitudes, and 11% had moderately antiabortion attitudes. Using trichotomized Abortion Attitudes Scale scores (proabortion, unsure, antiabortion), adjusted regression models showed that the following characteristics were associated with proabortion attitudes: being non-Christian, residence in the North or West, having no children, and having had an abortion. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding nurses' attitudes toward abortion, and what characteristics may influence their attitudes, is critical to sustaining nursing care for patients considering and seeking abortion. Additionally, because personal characteristics were associated with antiabortion attitudes, it is likely that personal experiences may influence attitudes toward abortion. A large percentage of nurses held attitudes that placed them in the "unsure" category. Given the current ubiquitous polarization of abortion discourse, this finding indicates that the binary narrative of this topic is less pervasive than expected, which lends itself to an emphasis on empathetic and compassionate nursing care.
Subject(s)
Abortion, Induced , Nurses, Neonatal , Attitude , Attitude of Health Personnel , Female , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Pregnancy , Reproductive Health , United States , Women's HealthABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine the current knowledge of postpartum women's sleep patterns, sleep disturbances, consequences of sleep disturbances, and known strategies for prevention in order to provide best practice recommendations for health care providers. DATA SOURCES: A literature search from 1969 through February 2008 was conducted using the CINHL, Index of Allied Health Literature, Ovid, PsycINFO, and PubMed electronic databases in addition to reference lists from selected articles and other key references. Search terms included sleep, postpartum, sleep deprivation, and sleep disturbance. STUDY SELECTION: A critical review of all relevant articles from the data sources was conducted with attention to the needs of postpartum women's sleep and implications for health care providers. DATA EXTRACTION: Literature was reviewed and organized into groups with similar characteristics. DATA SYNTHESIS: An integrative review of the literature summarized the current state of research related to sleep alterations in postpartum women. CONCLUSIONS: Postpartum women experience altered sleep patterns that may lead to sleep disturbances. The most common reasons for sleep disturbances are related to newborn sleep and feeding patterns. Although present, the relationships among sleep disturbance, fatigue, and depression in postpartum women lack clarity due to their ambiguous definitions and the variety of the studies conducted. Providers should encourage prenatal education that assists the couple in developing strategies for decreasing postpartum sleep deprivation. Alterations of in-hospital care and home care should be incorporated to improve the new family's sleep patterns.
Subject(s)
Puerperal Disorders , Sleep Deprivation , Adaptation, Psychological , Benchmarking , Delivery, Obstetric , Fatigue/etiology , Female , Humans , Infant Care , Infant, Newborn , Maternal-Child Nursing , Needs Assessment , Nursing Research , Parity , Patient Education as Topic , Polysomnography , Postnatal Care/methods , Postpartum Period/physiology , Postpartum Period/psychology , Pregnancy , Prenatal Care/methods , Puerperal Disorders/diagnosis , Puerperal Disorders/epidemiology , Puerperal Disorders/etiology , Puerperal Disorders/prevention & control , Risk Factors , Sleep Deprivation/diagnosis , Sleep Deprivation/epidemiology , Sleep Deprivation/etiology , Sleep Deprivation/prevention & controlSubject(s)
Depression, Postpartum/diagnosis , Mass Screening/organization & administration , Nurse Practitioners/organization & administration , Nursing Assessment/organization & administration , Pediatric Nursing/organization & administration , Choice Behavior , Depression, Postpartum/etiology , Depression, Postpartum/nursing , Female , Humans , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Referral and Consultation/organization & administration , Risk Assessment , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: (a) To describe fatigue levels in military active-duty women, (b) to describe the relationship among selected predictor variables of fatigue, and (c) to examine the relationship between predictor variables, fatigue levels, and performance (as measured by functional status) after childbirth. DESIGN: Based on the Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms, a longitudinal, prospective design. SETTING: A large military medical facility in the southwest United States. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of 109 military active-duty women. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Postpartum fatigue. RESULTS: Women were found to be moderately fatigued across time, with no change in fatigue levels from 2 to 6 weeks after delivery. All variables correlated with fatigue during hospitalization and at 2 weeks after delivery, and depression, anxiety, maternal sleep, and functional status correlated with fatigue at 6 weeks after delivery. Regression analyses indicated that maternal anxiety predicted fatigue at 6 weeks after delivery. Over half the women had not regained full functional status when they returned to work, and 40% still displayed symptoms of postpartum depression and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Military women continue to experiencing postpartum fatigue when they return to the workplace. Future research is needed to examine issues surrounding fatigue and its associated variables during the first year after delivery.
