The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world. Over 700 mothers die each year from pregnancy-related complications, 60% of which are preventable.
Numerous research studies support the increased integration of midwives in health care systems because it is key to producing optimal maternal-newborn outcomes. However, less than 10% of
births in the United States are attended by midwives, compared to 50-75% of births in other industrialized nations, all of which demonstrating substantially lower maternal mortality rates.
The practice of midwifery has been marginalized and delegitimized despite midwives producing similar or better outcomes than physicians with lower costs and less unnecessary medical
interventions. Another advantage of utilizing midwives is their ability to reach socially disadvantaged groups, such as non-Hispanic black women who suffer the greatest number of maternal deaths. The historic shift away from midwifery and to medicine in the 20th century has
been perpetuated by the fallacy that childbirth is a pathological process that only physicians are equipped to manage. This thesis focused on how women’s fears of childbirth and misperceptions of midwives have led to the normalcy of hospital, physician-attended births and may have
subsequently elevated maternal mortality rates.
The purpose of this research is to investigate the disease process of Multiple sclerosis (MS) through a review of the literature. Using multiple credited articles of research, this study analyzed the factors that lead to the diagnosis of MS. These factors include stages, genetics, environment, symptom analysis, diagnostic tests, and treatments. A combination of both genetics and environmental factors were found to play the greatest role in determining the origin of MS, yet cannot be identified as a definite influence. Because the exact cause of MS is still unknown,
the treatment or “cure” is a mystery. However, with an increase in technology and treatment options, most individuals can manage their disease with medications and lifestyle changes in order to sustain a healthy long life. Further studies are needed to determine if a cure to MS can be developed.
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States in March of 2020. America quickly led the world in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, which contributed to hospital overflow and healthcare worker burnout. Many units that were not typically equipped for such critical cases were converted into COVID units, and there was a high demand for nursing support as the virus peaked.
Objective: Since this study focuses on the self perceived mental health of the participants, the objective was to gather information pertaining to the lived experiences of these ICU nurses and how they feel/felt during the course of this pandemic.
Materials and method: Using snowball technique, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurses who worked through the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic will be interviewed through a Zoom call. They will be asked to describe their emotions while working on the front lines of the pandemic, and how those experiences have affected their mental health and their daily lives.
Results: All nine nurses agreed that working through the COVID-19 pandemic was a stressful and confusing experience. All nurses felt like they weren’t able to provide proper care to their patients at the beginning of the pandemic and they felt lost. Now, all of the nurses feel more knowledgeable and more comfortable working with COVID positive patients. Four nurses sought out psychological support for their mental health, and one nurse considered it. Coping mechanisms varied from positive and negative habits, including cooking/baking, reading, sleeping, eating, smoking, drinking, talking to family, and talking to other nurses.
Conclusion: ICU nurses face a great deal of pressure on a regular basis, and the outbreak of COVID-19 contributed to that stress leading many nurses to feel burnt out. The nine nurses that were interviewed had varying degrees of coping and psychological trauma.
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to the suspension of in-person classes across the globe. As a result, the nursing schools in the United States altered their method of instruction from face-to-face to remote learning, including the in-person clinical rotations and NCLEX-RN preparation for the graduating nursing students.
Objective: This qualitative research study explores the lived experience of the registered nurses who prepared for their NCLEX-RN and transitioned into professional nursing practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Research and Methods: The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with seven registered nurses privately through phone calls, Google Meet, or Zoom meetings through the snowball technique. In addition, the researcher used ATLAS.ti to analyze all interview transcripts.
Results: Three major themes emerged from this study: concerns regarding social isolation, lack of hands-on experience, and difficult transition to hospital practice. the researcher gathered mixed responses regarding their preparation for the NCLEX-RN, with three of them arguing that remote learning had a negative impact, three discussing otherwise, and one having mixed feelings. Five out of seven participants explicitly stated their problems regarding social isolation due to lack of interaction. In addition, they all expressed their dissatisfaction with the lack of hands-on experience since the clinical rotations were suspended. Lastly, five out of seven participants explained having difficulty transitioning to hospital practice. Additional concerns were directed toward anxiety and lack of confidence, resulting from their perceptions and experiences.
Conclusion: The consensus from this research study is that the participants' negative lived experience outweighed the positive ones, which inevitably led to feelings of doubt, frustration, loneliness, and uncertainty. Further research is necessary to understand the full-scale impact of the pandemic, especially in the field of nursing and nursing education.
Self-management is the preferred way to treat patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes because it puts the emphasis on the patient to change their diet and lifestyle as well as manage their medications in order to successfully manage their diabetes and prevent related complications. However, there are many barriers that exist which may prevent patients from being able to successfully manage their own condition. The aim of this integrative review was to identify and describe potential barriers to diabetes self-management in patients and to explore compliance and success in management with an emphasis on insurance coverage. The literature search was conducted using EBSCOhost, MEDLINE, and CINAHL databases with a search strategy of using keywords such as diabetes, diabetes self-management, barriers to diabetes management, insurance coverage, and successful outcomes in order to gather relevant peer-reviewed articles and studies. The search was limited to a twelve year age limit for sources in an attempt to keep data relevant. The data collection and analysis was based on the conceptual framework developed by Whittemore and Knafl (2005). A total of thirteen studies were included in the review. Three themes occurred as common barriers: insurance coverage, financial burden, and lack of motivation. In conclusion, education has shown to be the most important and cost effective way to overcome barriers and improve diabetes self-management in patients. Recommendations for future research include conducting more studies on self- management of type 2 diabetes, as well as increasing research on how to minimize barriers so that patients can overcome them.
This integrative review demonstrates the impact of nightshift work on registered nurse (RN) health and quality of life (QOL) and patient care and outcomes. Bedside nursing entails twenty-four hour patient care and to meet this responsibility, night-shift nurses counter their bodies’ natural circadian rhythm and work overnight until the following morning. Physical impacts from working the night shift include an altered sleep schedule, higher risk for chronic illness and fatigue, poor nutrition and hydration. From a mental standpoint, nurses are more vulnerable to social isolation from the adaptation of a flipped sleep schedule. Other components include decreased job satisfaction and performance. Alongside sleep deprivation, a decrease in job satisfaction and job performance ultimately impact the nurse’s ability to care for patients. A decrease in mental function will impact nurses’ assessments, decisions, etc. Making decisions becomes difficult when you cannot process thoughts and assess situations clearly. It can be argued that while it is important to provide overnight care, the nurses need to look after
themselves more than if they worked a day shift schedule, and doing so will benefit their own health. Understanding the relationship between these variables and RN health and QOL as well as patient care and outcomes can stimulate future interventions to lessen the intensity and strain that comes with working the night shift.