Women and Their Partners’ Perceptions of the Key Roles of the Labor and Delivery Nurse

Judith Belle Brown, Christy Beckhoff, Julia Bickford, Moira Stewart, Thomas R. Freeman and M. Janet Kasperski
Additional contact information
Judith Belle Brown: The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Christy Beckhoff: The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Julia Bickford: The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Moira Stewart: The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Thomas R. Freeman: The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
M. Janet Kasperski: Ontario College of Family Physicians,Toronto, Ontario, Canada, jk_ocfp@cfpc.ca

Clinical Nursing Research, 2009, vol. 18, issue 4, 323-335

Abstract: This descriptive qualitative study examined the perspectives of women and their partners regarding the key roles of the labor and delivery nurse during labor and birth.Ten couples were interviewed separately.The data analysis, conducted through independent and team analysis, was both iterative and interpretive. Participants identified four key roles of the labor and delivery nurse: support person, educator, patient advocate, and provider of continuity. Nurses provided both physical and emotional support.As an educator, they normalized the birth experience and served as a coach for the couple. Nurses advocated on behalf of the woman in labor, particularly when there was an adverse event. The continuity of care provided by the nurses wove the above roles into a cohesive whole. Findings provide important information for nursing educators, supervisors, and hospital administrators to reinforce the meaningful roles nurses serve in the labor and birth experiences of women and their partners.

Keywords: women and partners; role of labor and delivery nurse; patient advocate; continuity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1054773809341711 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:clnure:v:18:y:2009:i:4:p:323-335

DOI: 10.1177/1054773809341711

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Clinical Nursing Research
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().