Design: The Socio-Ecological Model of Determinants of Health Service Utilization (Sword, 1999) was used for this qualitative study to explore these attitudes/beliefs.

Population, Sample, Setting, Years: The target population was nursing personnel providing healthcare in prenatal clinics to low-income women. A convience sample of twelve registered nurses in three mid-western counties involved with prenatal care was interviewed over 6 months.

Concept or Variables Studies Together or Intervention and Outcome Variable(s): Attitudes/beliefs of registered nurses

Methods: Participants were interviewed using an investigator-developed tool. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed. Responses were thematically grouped.

Findings: Data revealed three themes: a) a difference in care standards, b) social/economic factors affect care, c) communication issues create many problems.

Conclusions: The interrelationship among these themes is important for nurses to understand in an effort to weaken the barriers to prenatal care for low-income women.

Implications: -Low-income women expecting less and providers providing less must be considered when planning interventions. -Failing to consider social and economic factors of recipients and providers decreases intervention success. -By individualizing care, being pro-active about pregnancy education,and using open-ended questions, nurses can help reduce the fear of the unknown of pregnancy. -Patient information received is crucial to the success of the system and providers must know how to link to interventions and when to share with all involved.

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Back to 15th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004