J Nurs Acad Soc.  1978 Jun;8(1):152-162.

An Exploratory Study about the Importance of Selected Nursing Activities during the Puerperal Period, as Viewed by Women in the Puerperal Period and by Nurses Caring for Them

• Park JB

Abstract

The desire to maintain health is increasing, consequently the role of nursing which has as one chief aim the solving of man's basic problems is more and more important. Today, in spite of a growing concern about the nursing activities which nurses provide for individual human having specific needs, clinically in fact, it is questionable that indivi dual's expectation of nursing activities agrees with nurse's performance of nursing activities. In this study, the importance and agreement of the importance of the nursing activities during the hospitalized puerperal period as viewed by women in the puerperal period and by nurses caring for them, were assessed. The present study was undertaken in an attempt to furnish the basic data for expediting the progress of research activities in this area and further to be helpful in planning maternity nursing practice. The study population defined and selected was nurses (13) caring for women in the puerperal period and doing duty on obstetric & gynecologic ward at Y, hospital, and the women in puerperal period (39) as sum of 3 women selected by each nurse during the period of May 13th-June 4th 1976. The study data was collected by the direct interview method based on the questionnaire which the investigator made out. The study result was analyzed by percentage, t - test. The findings can be summarized as follows: 1. General characteristics of nurses doing duty on puerperal ward: a. Nurses' average age was 24.8 years old, b. 84.6% had educational background of 4 years of college. c. 69.2% had a religion. d. 53.8% were married. e. 53.8% had clinical experience of 1 year - 3 years, f. 61.5% did duty on puerperal ward during 1 year - 3 years. g. 46.2% desired to do duty on obstetric & gynecologic ward. 2. General characteristics of the women who were studied during their puerperal period: a. Women's average age was 26.4 years old, b. 79.5% had educational background above high school. c. 56.4% had a religion. d. 84.6% had living standard above medium. e. 89.7% had no occupation. f. 53.8% had previous hospitailization experience. g. 56.4% had previous delivery experience. 3. Examining the importance of 39 nursing activities during puerperal period selected by investigator, studied group of women considered that the most important nursing activity was "Record precisely about condition, medical treatment and nursing activity results etc.". Nurses considered that the most important nursing activity was "Notice whether having pain and care for that". Both groups considered that the least important nursing activity was "Talk with her about topics such as news, hobbies, other interests". 4. Examining the importance of nursing activities in 4 specific categories, studied group of women considered that the most important nursing activity in physical nursing category was "Be sure of safety measure to prevent accidents, injuries", and nurses considered that the most important nursing activity was "Make her sleep and rest sufficiently". Studied group of women considered that the most important nursing activity in psychological category was "Explain about medical treatment and nursing activity ahead of time so she knows what to expect", and nurses considered that the most important nursing activity was "Explain about puerperal period so she understands". Studied group of women considered that the most important nursing activity in relation to medical care was "Record precisely about condition, medical treatment and nursing activity results etc.", and nurses considered that the most important nursing activity was "Observing, cleaning and protecting the perineum" Studied group of women considered that the most important nursing acitivity in nursing category in preparation for discharge was "Instruct about personnel hygiene dining puerperal period", and nurses considered that the most important nursing activity was "Instruct self-care to protect the perineum". 5. The analysis of this study showed a significant amount of disagreement computed by subtracting the nurse's score from the patient's score. Studied group of women put greater importance on physical nursing category, psychological nursing category, nursing in relation to medical care, than the nurses. These results were statistically significant at 0.01 level.

MeSH Terms

Female
Hobbies
Humans
Hygiene
Infant, Newborn
Maternal-Child Nursing
Nursing*
Occupations
Pregnancy
Surveys and Questionnaires
Research Personnel
Self Care
Socioeconomic Factors