Maternity nurses’ attitude regarding nursing care of first stage of normal labor: impact of instructional package

Research Abstract

Background: Labor influences postpartum health and mother-infant bonding greatly. Nurses play a vital role in creating a supportive labor environment, focusing on cultural competence and the attitudes of healthcare professionals. Enhancing maternal outcomes involves promoting empathy, employing evidence-based practices, supporting active labor positions, and providing comfort measures, which can increase satisfaction and minimize mistreatment during childbirth. Aim: The current study aimed to evaluate the impact of the instructional package on maternity nurses’ attitude regarding nursing care of first stage of normal labor. Subjects and methods: Design: A quasi-experimental design using a one group pre-posttest was employed in this study, conducted in the labor unit at Beni-Suef University Hospital and Beni-Suef Specialist Hospital, involving a convenience sample of 50 maternity nurses. Tools: Tool I, a structured interviewing questionnaire, which includes personal characteristics; Tool II: measuring the attitudes of maternity nurses towards nursing care in the first stage of normal labor. Results: Maternity nurses’ mean age was 29.48±6.81 years old, 54% from rural areas, 66.0% had technical institutes of nursing, 54.0% were working at Beni-Suef Specialist Hospital, and the mean years of experience 5.320±3.113. Positive attitudes increasing from 42% before instruction to 86% afterward, while negative attitudes decreased from 58% to 14% at p value 0.000. Conclusion: The total attitude level of maternity nurses towards nursing care during the first stage of normal labor improved significantly after an instructional package. There were statistically significant differences between the studied maternity nurses’ total attitude and their demographic characteristics, such as years of experience (P≤0.05) post-intervention. Recommendation: Replicate the current study on larger sample sizes and in different settings for generalization of results.

Research Keywords

maternity nurses’ attitude, nursing care, first stage of labor, instructional package