Meeting the National Health Goal to Reduce Unintended Pregnancy

Purpose: Healthy People 2010 goals were developed in response to evidence-based health care needs. such as the fact that half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended (Finer, 2006). Since the inception of the Healthy People goal to reduce unintended pregnancy from 50% to 30%, the numbers have not declined. Health care providers have not been adequately prepared in research and leadership skills to effectively address the problem.  

Method: There is a documented lack of consistent preparation regarding unintended pregnancy for both graduate and undergraduate nursing students (Foster et. al, 2006; Foster et. al, 2008).

Results: Studies have identified a number of barriers to adequate educational and clinical training:  lack of faculty qualified to teach about sexual and reproductive health issues, the lack of appropriate didactic materials, religious restrictions prohibiting instruction, the lack of appropriate clinical facilities and/or qualified faculty and fear of anti-choice backlash. Given the sheer volume of health care information, the teaching of content that is not clearly related to program outcomes is often bypassed. The development of clear, evidence-based, culturally appropriate competencies can guide curriculum, direct student education and ultimately improve patient care.  Clinical competencies designed to meet patient needs define nursing clinical practice and form the basis for curriculum development, measurement of student and program outcomes and program accreditation.  Therefore, it is critical to have clearly defined competencies if we are to improve health outcomes.

Conclusion: Historically, nurses have promoted and protected women’s reproductive health, addressed health disparities and embraced social justice advocacy. Achieving the health goal to reduce unintended pregnancy requires that all nurses receive adequate educational preparation, achieve specific core competencies, understand their related professional responsibilities and develop the necessary research and leadership skills.