Faculty Bibliography

Failure to rescue refers to the inability to prevent death from health care complications. The fact that more than half of severe maternal morbidity and maternal deaths are classified as preventable, and black women have 2 to 3 times the risk for adjusted severe morbidity and maternal mortality suggest there is a problem with failure to rescue in US maternity care. This article reviews national efforts to improve rescue capacity in maternity care and data on communication breakdowns and disrespect in maternity care, and outlines individual and organizational actions that can be taken to improve communication and rescue processes.

RATIONALE/BACKGROUND:Preterm birth and other poor birth outcomes disproportionately affect women of color. Emerging evidence suggests that socially-driven issues such as disrespect, abuse, and discrimination within the health care system influence how people of color experience care during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, which contributes to poorer outcomes for the mother and baby. OBJECTIVE:As recommended by community partners, we explored how interactions with providers were perceived and understood in the context of seeking care for pregnancy and birth. METHOD/METHODS:For this constructivist grounded theory study, we recruited 22 self-identified women of color 18 years of age or older and who were between six weeks and one year postpartum. Women participated in interviews exploring their experiences, which were audiorecorded and transcribed. Data were analyzed using dimensional analysis and situational analysis methods. RESULTS:The concepts of information and power surfaced in analysis, in which providers have control over the information they share and "package" information to exert power over women's ability to participate in decision-making. An established relationship with providers and acknowledged levels of privilege or marginalization influenced how information was shared. Contextual factors included provider bias and judgment towards their patients, health care system structural issues, and the overall power dynamic between patient and provider. CONCLUSIONS:Women of color's experiences during pregnancy and birth were influenced by how they were treated by providers, particularly in how information was shared and withheld. The providers' control over information led to a power dynamic that diminished women's ability to maintain autonomy and make health care decisions for themselves and their children. This study provides insight and impetus for change in how providers share information, utilize informed consent, and provide respectful care to women of color during pregnancy and birth care.

Missed nursing care is an important measure of nursing care quality that is sensitive to nurse staffing and is associated with patient outcomes in medical-surgical and pediatric inpatient settings. Missed nursing care during labor and birth has not been studied, yet childbirth represents the most common reason for hospitalization in the United States. The Missed Nursing Care (MISSCARE) Survey, a measure of medical-surgical nursing quality with substantial evidence for validity and reliability, was adapted to maternity nursing care using data from focus groups of labor nurses, physicians, and new mothers and an online survey of labor nurses. Content validity was evaluated via participant feedback, and exploratory factor analysis was performed to identify the factor structure of the instrument. The modified version, the Perinatal Missed Care Survey, appears to be a feasible and promising instrument with which to evaluate missed nursing care of women during labor and birth in hospitals.

Background: Prior studies have documented associations between preterm birth and severe maternal morbidity but the prevalence and correlates of dual burden are not adequately understood, despite significant family implications. Purpose: To describe the prevalence and correlates of the dual burden of SMM and preterm birth and to understand profiles of SMM by dual burden of preterm birth. Approach: This retrospective cohort study included all California live births in 2007-2012 with gestations 20-44 weeks and linked to a birth cohort database maintained by the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (n = 3 059 156). Dual burden was defined as preterm birth (< 37 weeks) with severe maternal morbidity (SMM, defined by Centers for Disease Control). Predictors for dual burden were assessed using Poisson logistic regression, accounting for hospital variance. Results: Rates of preterm birth and SMM were 876 and 140 per 10 000 births, respectively. The most common indications of SMM both with and without preterm birth were blood transfusions and a combination of cardiac indications. One-quarter of women with SMM experienced preterm birth; with a dual burden rate of 37 per 10 000 births. Risk of dual burden was over three-fold higher with cesarean birth (primiparous primary aRR = 3.3, CI 3.0,3.6; multiparous primary aRR = 8.1, CI 7.2,9.1; repeat aRR = 3.9, CI 3.5,4.3). Multiple gestation conferred a six-fold increased risk (aRR = 6.3, CI 5.8,6.9). Women with preeclampsia superimposed on gestational hypertension (aRR = 7.3, CI 6.8,7.9) or preexisting hypertension (aRR = 11.1, CI 9.9,12.5) had significantly higher dual burden risk. Significant independent predictors for dual burden included smoking during pregnancy (aRR = 1.5, CI 1.4,1.7), preexisting hypertension without preeclampsia (aRR = 3.3, CI 3.0,3.7), preexisting diabetes (aRR = 2.6, CI 2.3,3.0), Black race/ethnicity (aRR = 2.0, CI 1.8,2.2), and prepregnancy body mass index < 18.5 (aRR = 1.4, CI 1.3,1.5). Conclusions: Dual burden affects 1900 California families annually. The strongest predictors of dual burden were hypertensive disorders with preeclampsia and multiparous primary cesarean.

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the degree to which registered nurses perceive their labor and delivery units to be adhering to Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) staffing guidelines. DESIGN/METHODS:Prospective, cross-sectional study via an online survey of labor nurses recruited from hospitals in three states. SETTING/LOCAL PROBLEM/UNASSIGNED:In late 2016 and early 2017, labor nurses in selected hospitals in California, Michigan, and New Jersey were contacted via e-mail invitation to participate in a study about nursing care during labor and birth. Nurse leaders in each hospital facilitated the invitations. PARTICIPANTS/METHODS:A total of 615 labor nurses from 67 hospitals. INTERVENTION/MEASUREMENTS/UNASSIGNED:Descriptive statistics and linear regression models were used for data analysis. RESULTS:Most nurses reported that the AWHONN nurse staffing guidelines were frequently or always followed in all aspects of care surveyed. Hospitals with annual birth volumes of 500 to 999 range were significantly more likely than hospitals with 2,500 or more annual births to be perceived as compliant with AWHONN staffing guidelines. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:When the AWHONN staffing guidelines were first published in 2010, there was concern among some nurse leaders that they would not be adopted into clinical practice, yet nurses in our sample overwhelmingly perceived their hospitals to be guideline compliant. There remains much more work to be done to determine nurse-sensitive outcomes for maternity care and to ensure that all women in labor in the United States are cared for by nurses who are not overburdened or distracted by being assigned more women than can be safely handled.

BACKGROUND:Technology use can impact human performance and cognitive function, but few studies have sought to understand the electronic health record's impact on these dimensions of nurses' work. OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this review was to synthesize the literature on the electronic health record's impact on nurses' cognitive work. DESIGN/METHODS:Integrative review. DATA SOURCES/METHODS:MEDLINE/PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Web of Science, and PsycINFO. REVIEW METHODS/METHODS:The literature search focused on 3 concepts: the electronic health record, cognition, and nursing practice, and yielded 4910 articles. Following a stepwise process of duplicate removal, title and abstract review, full text review, and reference list searches, a total of 18 studies were included: 12 qualitative, 4 mixed-methods, and 2 quantitative studies from the United States (13), Scandinavia (2), Australia (1), Austria (1), and Canada (1). The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used to assess the quality of eligible studies. RESULTS:Five themes identified how nurses and other clinicians used the electronic health record and perceived its impact: 1) forming and maintaining an overview of the patient, 2) cognitive work of navigating the electronic health record, 3) use of cognitive tools, 4) forming and maintaining a shared understanding of the patient, and 5) loss of information and professional domain knowledge. Most studies indicated that forming and maintaining an overview of the patient at both the individual and team level were difficult when using the electronic health record. Navigating the volumes of information was challenging and increased clinicians' cognitive work. Information was perceived to be scattered and fragmented, making it difficult to see the chronology of events and to situate and understand the clinical implications of various data. The template-driven nature of documentation and limitations on narrative notes restricted clinicians' ability to express their clinical reasoning and decipher the reasoning of colleagues. Summary reports and handoff tools in the electronic health record proved insufficient as stand-alone tools to support nurses' work throughout the shift and during handoff, causing them to rely on self-made paper forms. Nurses needed tools that facilitated their ability to individualize and contextualize information in order to make it clinically meaningful. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:The electronic health record was perceived by nurses as an impediment to contextualizing and synthesizing information, communicating with other professionals, and structuring patient care. Synthesizing and communicating information at the individual and team levels are known drivers of patient safety. The findings from this review have implications for electronic health record design.

BACKGROUND:Nurses can be exposed to hundreds of alarms during their shift, contributing to alarm fatigue. PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:The purposes were to explore similarities and differences in perceptions of clinical alarms by labor nurses caring for generally healthy women compared with perceptions of adult intensive care unit (ICU) and neonatal ICU nurses caring for critically ill patients and to seek nurses' suggestions for potential improvements. METHODS:Nurses were asked via focus groups about the utility of clinical alarms from medical devices. RESULTS:There was consensus that false alarms and too many devices generating alarms contributed to alarm fatigue, and most alarms lacked clinical relevance. Nurses identified certain types of alarms that they responded to immediately, but the vast majority of the alarms did not contribute to their clinical assessment or planned nursing care. CONCLUSIONS:Monitoring only those patients who need it and only those physiologic values that are warranted, based on patient condition, may decrease alarm burden.

OBJECTIVE:To explore women's birth experiences to develop an understanding of their perspectives on patient safety during hospital-based birth. DESIGN/METHODS:Qualitative description using thematic analysis of interview data. PARTICIPANTS/METHODS:Seventeen women ages 29 to 47 years. METHODS:Women participated in individual or small group interviews about their birth experiences, the physical environment, interactions with clinicians, and what safety meant to them in the context of birth. An interdisciplinary group of five investigators from nursing, medicine, product design, and journalism analyzed transcripts thematically to examine how women experienced feeling safe or unsafe and identify opportunities for improvements in care. RESULTS:Participants experienced feelings of safety on a continuum. These feelings were affected by confidence in providers, the environment and organizational factors, interpersonal interactions, and actions people took during risk moments of rapid or confusing change. Well-organized teams and sensitive interpersonal interactions that demonstrated human connection supported feelings of safety, whereas some routine aspects of care threatened feelings of safety. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Physical and emotional safety are inextricably embedded in the patient experience, yet this connection may be overlooked in some inpatient birth settings. Clinicians should be mindful of how the birth environment and their behaviors in it can affect a woman's feelings of safety during birth. Human connection is especially important during risk moments, which represent a liminal space at the intersection of physical and emotional safety. At least one team member should focus on the provision of emotional support during rapidly changing situations to mitigate the potential for negative experiences that can result in emotional harm.

BACKGROUND:Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for approximately 66% of global maternal deaths. Poor person-centered maternity care, which emphasizes the quality of patient experience, contributes both directly and indirectly to these poor outcomes. Yet, few studies in low resource settings have examined what is important to women during childbirth from their perspective. The aim of this study is to examine women's facility-based childbirth experiences in a rural county in Kenya, to identify aspects of care that contribute to a positive or negative birth experience. METHODS:Data are from eight focus group discussions conducted in a rural county in western Kenya in October and November 2016, with 58 mothers aged 15 to 49 years who gave birth in the preceding nine weeks. We recorded and transcribed the discussions and used a thematic approach for data analysis. RESULTS:The findings suggest four factors influence women's perceptions of quality of care: responsiveness, supportive care, dignified care, and effective communication. Women had a positive experience when they were received well at the health facility, treated with kindness and respect, and given sufficient information about their care. The reverse led to a negative experience. These experiences were influenced by the behavior of both clinical and support staff and the facility environment. CONCLUSIONS:This study extends the literature on person-centered maternity care in low resource settings. To improve person-centered maternity care, interventions need to address the responsiveness of health facilities, ensure women receive supportive and dignified care, and promote effective patient-provider communication.

BACKGROUND:Childbirth is a leading reason for hospital admission in the USA, and most labour care is provided by registered nurses under physician or midwife supervision in a nurse-managed care model. Yet, there are no validated nurse-sensitive quality measures for maternity care. We aimed to engage primary stakeholders of maternity care in identifying the aspects of nursing care during labour and birth they believe influence birth outcomes, and how these aspects of care might be measured. METHODS:This qualitative study used 15 focus groups to explore perceptions of 73 nurses, 23 new mothers and 9 physicians regarding important aspects of care. Transcripts were analysed thematically. Participants in the final six focus groups were also asked whether or not they thought each of five existing perinatal quality measures were nurse-sensitive. RESULTS:Nurses, new mothers and physicians identified nurses' support of and advocacy for women as important to birth outcomes. Support and advocacy actions included keeping women and their family members informed, being present with women, setting the emotional tone, knowing and advocating for women's wishes and avoiding caesarean birth. Mothers and nurses took technical aspects of care for granted, whereas physicians discussed this more explicitly, noting that nurses were their 'eyes and ears' during labour. Participants endorsed caesarean rates and breastfeeding rates as likely to be nurse-sensitive. CONCLUSIONS:Stakeholder values support inclusion of maternity nursing care quality measures related to emotional support and providing information in addition to physical support and clinical aspects of care. Care models that ensure labour nurses have sufficient time and resources to engage in the supportive relationships that women value might contribute to better health outcomes and improved patient experience.