Nursing for Women's Health

OBJECTIVE: To implement the 5Ps Screen for Alcohol/Substance Use tool and the screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) process into clinical practice to determine if enhanced training would improve perinatal providers' adherence to universal screening. DESIGN: A quality improvement project using a pre- and postintervention design. SETTING/LOCAL PROBLEM: Three community-based, outpatient obstetrics and gynecology clinics in southeastern Massachusetts...

A nurse and midwife shares 10 lessons she has learned by working at the bedside of birth.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate content validity (CV) and interrater reliability (IRR) of an acuity scoring tool developed for the couplet care/postpartum/nursery patient population and to determine if there was agreement between supervisor or director scoring and staff scoring. DESIGN: A scoring tool to assess the acuity of the couplet care/postpartum/nursery patients was developed. SETTING: Two hospitals: one Level 2 hospital one Level 3 hospital...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the difference in prevalence of self-reported anxiety symptoms throughout pregnancy compared to clinical diagnosis of an anxiety disorder by a provider. DESIGN: Secondary data analysis of a prospective cohort study of 50 pregnant individuals. SETTING/LOCAL PROBLEM: Pregnant individuals commonly experience heightened anxiety symptoms, which are associated with adverse perinatal outcomes. However, a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder by a health care provider is less common, which may result in insufficient mental health intervention...

Vasomotor symptoms of menopause, more commonly called hot flashes and night sweats, affect up to 80% of individuals going through the menopausal transition. Hormone therapy with estrogen and often progesterone is the most effective treatment for these symptoms. Many people, however, cannot take estrogen or do not want to take hormones. Many individuals seek nonhormonal, over-the-counter treatment options that have little safety and efficacy information to support their use. In March 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved fezolinetant (Veozah), a neurokinin 3 receptor antagonist for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms of menopause...

OBJECTIVE: To measure the impact of an evidence-based guideline on respectful maternity care on nurses' attitudes and beliefs about childbirth practices. DESIGN: A quality improvement pilot project with a pretest/posttest design examining the attitudes and beliefs of intrapartum nurses about childbirth practices of respectful care. SETTING: High-risk intrapartum unit at a tertiary care center in the southeastern United States. PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of 130 registered nurses were invited to participate, and nine completed the pre- and posttests...

In this commentary, we present an overview of the accelerating trend toward community-based models for pregnancy care. Doula services, as part of community care programs, are the major target for new coverage changes. Obstetric professionals who include community care providers in their treatment plans can benefit from these local resources in the prenatal, birthing, and postpartum stages of patient management. Including community care programs may help achieve goals of improving health outcomes and health equity...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of an Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) group intervention on perceived stress, depression, and anxiety symptoms in women in the postpartum period. DESIGN: A one-group pre- and posttest quasi-experimental design. SETTING/LOCAL PROBLEM: Postpartum depression (PPD) and anxiety affect nearly one in five women in the first 12 months after childbirth. The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a significant worsening of symptoms of PPD, stress, and anxiety in this population...

Publication of doctor of nursing practice scholarly projects is an important way to disseminate clinically relevant scholarship to support evidence-based practice.

A nurse's experience caring for conjoined twins has a lasting impact.

Immigrant women in the United States are at an elevated risk of poor maternal health outcomes due to cultural, linguistic, or socioeconomic barriers that may lead to critical delays in obtaining adequate health care. Ensuring access to high-quality, culturally appropriate perinatal health care is crucial to improve the health and well-being of immigrant mothers and their children. Various aspects of perinatal health care for immigrant women can be improved through community engagement strategies. Barriers can be addressed by involving community members in designing and delivering culturally appropriate maternal health services...

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infects nearly all infants in their first year of life and is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants younger than 1 year of age in the United States. Historically, the only option for RSV prevention was palivizumab. However, not all infants are eligible for palivizumab, it requires multiple doses per RSV season, and it is costly. In July 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved nirsevimab for the prevention of RSV-associated lower respiratory tract infections for all infants...

OBJECTIVE: To improve screening for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMAD) and follow-up care while balancing team workload. DESIGN: Four rapid plan-do-study-act cycles were implemented over 8 weeks. SETTING/LOCAL PROBLEM: At baseline, only 2% of patients with PMAD were identified at a rural obstetric clinic, and none (n = 0 of 50) received screening with a validated tool. Of the 12 patients who had a current or prior history of PMAD, 92% (n = 11) were not screened for self-harm, and 67% (n = 8) received no referral...

OBJECTIVE: To develop and examine the implications of formalized education with staff and familial caregivers on skin-to-skin in relation to neonatal hypoglycemia, including the impact on NICU admission rate, exclusive breastfeeding, and glucose gel administration. DESIGN: Evidence-based practice (EBP) project with a comparison of data pre-/postintervention. SETTING/LOCAL PROBLEM: Implemented at a large health system in the mid-Atlantic, including four hospitals with postpartum care units...

Nurses must consider the complex and intersecting issues that affect the health of individuals and work toward a collective goal of health equality.

OBJECTIVE: To test the feasibility of using telehealth to deliver nutritional counseling by tracking gestational weight gain remotely using Bluetooth weight scales. DESIGN: Quasi-experimental feasibility study. SETTING: One-on-one nutritional counseling was conducted remotely via a telehealth platform using a registered dietitian. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-nine pregnant individuals ages 18 years or older, between 12 and 27 weeks' gestation, with a prepregnancy body mass index of ≥30 kg/m2 , singleton fetus, and English proficiency were recruited for the study...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Representatives from the Alliance of Global Neonatal Nursing address the worldwide shortage of nurses.

Sleep-related infant deaths, now called sudden unexpected infant deaths, are not declining, and the United States continues to have greater rates than most other developed nations. Health disparities are significant, with death rates greater in certain vulnerable groups, including non-Hispanic Black infants. Nurses play a crucial role in educating, role-modeling, and problem-solving with parents. Thus, it is critical for nurses to stay current with the science, prevention recommendations, and societal decisions and debates surrounding this topic...