ABSTRACT
Advanced practice nurses in primary care settings are often asked to give appropriate advice to couples seeking pregnancy. This article examines the issue of basal body temperature (BBT), a time-honored way to establish the presence of ovulatory cycles, and asks if BBT is an outdated recommendation. The article also reviews the benefits and limitations of recommending BBT to couples seeking pregnancy in light of recent fecundity research.
Subject(s)
Body Temperature , Natural Family Planning Methods/methods , Ovulation Detection/methods , Documentation , Female , Fertile Period/physiology , Humans , Luteinizing Hormone/urine , Natural Family Planning Methods/nursing , Nurse Clinicians/organization & administration , Nurse's Role , Ovary/diagnostic imaging , Ovary/physiology , Ovulation/physiology , Ovulation/urine , Ovulation Detection/instrumentation , Ovulation Detection/nursing , Patient Education as Topic , Patient Selection , Predictive Value of Tests , Reproducibility of Results , Sex Education , UltrasonographyABSTRACT
Nurses and other health care professionals often have little knowledge of methods of natural family planning (NFP) and do not readily prescribe natural methods for their patients. One reason for this is that little or no information on NFP is provided in nursing or medical schools. The holistic, informational, and integrative nature of NFP fits well with professional nursing practice. A university online distance education NFP teacher training program, which offers academic credit and includes theory, practice, and the latest developments in fertility monitoring, has been developed for health care professionals. Professional NFP services in the United States need to meet worldwide standards and include documenting and assessing pregnancy outcomes, tailoring NFP services to the client or couple, and simplifying them for ease of use in a standard health care practice.
