Healing Touch: A Strategy for Acute Care Nurses' Stress Reduction.

The purpose of the study is to determine whether administering healing touch (HT) is more effective than deep breathing (DB) for reducing acute care nurses' stress during a shift. A randomized cluster trial assessed 150 nurses' vital signs and Visual Analog Scale for Stress (VASS) levels pre, post, and at follow-up to achieve a power of .7 and medium affect size.

Understanding perinatal patient's health preferences and patient-provider relationships to prevent congenital syphilis in California and Louisiana.

Background: Congenital syphilis (CS) has reemerged as a global maternal and child health crisis. Kern County, California and East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana are among the highest CS morbidity regions in the United States. We previously reported on social-ecological and structural barriers to prenatal care and maternal syphilis testing and treatment in these two regions.

Gaps in the congenital syphilis prevention cascade: qualitative findings from Kern County, California.

Background: Congenital syphilis is preventable through timely access to prenatal care, syphilis screening and treatment of pregnant women diagnosed as infected. In 2018, California had the second highest number of congenital syphilis cases in the United States (U.S.

A qualitative assessment of structural barriers to prenatal care and congenital syphilis prevention in Kern County, California.

Congenital syphilis is the result of placental transmission from mother to fetus of Treponema pallidum. Although congenital syphilis is preventable through timely treatment, the rate of new infections in the United States (US) has increased each year since 2013, and is increasing at a noticeably greater pace in California (CA). Most research into congenital syphilis has focused on individual psychosocial and behavioral factors that contribute to maternal vulnerability for syphilis.

Congenital syphilis in East Baton Rouge parish, Louisiana: providers' and women's perspectives.

Background: Congenital syphilis is completely preventable through screening and treatment, but rates have been rising in the United States. Certain areas are at particularly high risk. We aimed to assess attitudes, knowledge, and barriers around effective prevention of congenital syphilis among health care providers and community women potentially at risk.

Psychological First Aid: A Model for Disaster Psychosocial Support for the Perinatal Population.

The psychosocial needs of childbearing families drastically change after a disaster. Perinatal nurses providing postdisaster maternal-newborn care at community shelters, field hospitals, or acute care facilities must be prepared as "first responders" to address the immediate psychological distress and social needs of women and families in the first few chaotic days or weeks. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate ways nurses can integrate psychosocial and interpersonal interventions in perinatal disaster care using the framework of Psychological First Aid (PFA) developed by a team of mental health experts, along with The National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the United States (US) National Center for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Mental health and worries of pregnant women living through disaster recovery.

The health and well-being of pregnant women during and after natural disasters remains an international concern. In this mixed methods study we described pregnant women's mental health, psychosocial concerns and sources of stress living in New Orleans during long term recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Our survey of 402 pregnant women indicated poor social support was associated with higher levels of depression symptomology, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and stress.

Experiences of Intimate Partner and Neighborhood Violence and Their Association With Mental Health in Pregnant Women.

Both intimate partner violence and neighborhood crime have been associated with worse mental health outcomes, but less is known about cumulative effects. This association was studied in a sample of pregnant women who were enrolled in a study of disaster exposure, prenatal care, and mental and physical health outcomes between 2010 and 2012. Women were interviewed about their exposure to intimate partner violence and perceptions of neighborhood safety, crime, and disorder.

Association of Complementary and Alternative Therapies With Mental Health Outcomes in Pregnant Women Living in a Postdisaster Recovery Environment.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to determine if complementary and alternative medicine therapies are associated with mental health in postdisaster environments.

Design: Pregnant women (N = 402) were interviewed between 2010 and 2012 as part of a larger cross-sectional study on hurricane recovery and models of prenatal care.

Methods: Symptoms of depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Screen), prenatal anxiety (Revised Prenatal Distress Questionnaire), posttraumatic stress (PCL-S), and perceived stress (PSS) were examined.

Birth Outcomes in a Disaster Recovery Environment: New Orleans Women After Katrina.

Objectives: To examine how the recovery following Hurricane Katrina affected pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: 308 New Orleans area pregnant women were interviewed 5-7 years after Hurricane Katrina about their exposure to the disaster (danger, damage, and injury); current disruption; and perceptions of recovery. Birthweight, gestational age, birth length, and head circumference were examined in linear models, and low birthweight (<2500 g) and preterm birth (<37 weeks) in logistic models, with adjustment for confounders.

Healthy start: description of a safety net for perinatal support during disaster recovery.

Publicly funded programs and safety net organizations have key roles during post disaster recovery to care for vulnerable populations, including pregnant women with low resources. The objective of this study was to compare the health of prenatal women who accessed the New Orleans Healthy Start program to those women who only used traditional prenatal care (PNC) during long-term recovery from the Hurricane Katrina disaster. During 2010-2012, this descriptive, cross-sectional study recruited 402 prenatal women (24-40 weeks) from prenatal clinics and classes.

Disaster research: a nursing opportunity.

Nurses working or living near a community disaster have the opportunity to study health-related consequences to disaster or disaster recovery. In such a situation, the researchers need to deal with the conceptual and methodological issues unique to postdisaster research and know what resources are available to guide them, even if they have no specialized training or previous experience in disaster research. The purpose of this article is to review issues and challenges associated with conducting postdisaster research and encourage nurses to seek resources and seize opportunities to conduct research should the situation arise.

Targeting prenatal emergency preparedness through childbirth education.

The lack of emergency preparedness planning remains problematic for families, but there is a special concern for prenatal women and families. This article proposes childbirth education as one avenue through which nurses can engage families to prepare for a disaster. Template guides and references are included for community-specific emergency preparedness education for childbearing families.

Perinatal considerations in the hospital disaster management process.

Nurses play a vital role in providing care to mothers and infants during a disaster, yet few are fully prepared for the challenges they will encounter under extreme conditions. The ability to provide the best possible care for families begins with understanding the perinatal issues in relation to each phase of the disaster management process. This article reviews the hospital and perinatal nursing role in the mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery phases of disaster management.

Post-Katrina perinatal mood and the use of alternative therapies.

Purpose And Design: The purpose of this cross-sectional, exploratory study is to describe perinatal moods and complementary alternative therapy (CAT) use among childbearing women living in New Orleans, post-Hurricane Katrina. How women coped with the disaster with limited access to mental health services was not known.

Method: A convenience sample of 199 postpartal/expectant mothers completed two questionnaires.

Perinatal nursing in uncertain times: the Katrina effect.

Purpose: To make explicit the perinatal nurses' shared meanings of their lived experience while providing nursing care in the New Orleans area during the disaster of Hurricane Katrina.

Study Design: Interpretative phenomenology.

Methods: Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 perinatal nurses 9 to 18 months after they worked in obstetrical and newborn hospital settings in the Greater New Orleans area during the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

Woman-centered maternity nursing education and practice.

The purpose of this Heideggerian phenomenological study was to uncover the meanings of the clinical experiences of registered nurses working in maternity settings after they studied maternity nursing from a woman-centered, feminist perspective in a generic baccalaureate nursing program. Purposeful sampling was conducted to locate and recruit nurses who had graduated from this nursing program between the December 1996 and December 1998 semesters and were currently working in a maternal-newborn clinical setting. Each participant had taken the required woman-centered, maternity-nursing course during her/his undergraduate education.

Genetic influences on preterm birth.

This article summarizes the scientific evidence supporting a genetic predisposition to preterm birth (PTB) and current molecular methods used to study the genetic links. Selected candidate genes currently under consideration for study are also discussed. Understanding the etiology and pathophysiology of PTB remains at the forefront of research efforts to solve this critical problem.

A multicultural and multilingual outreach program for cervical and breast cancer screening.

Partners in Health: The Breast and Cervical Health Cooperative is a New Orleans-based community health intervention program designed to increase the access of underserved multicultural, multiethnic, and multilingual women to cervical and breast cancer health education and screening. This article describes innovative approaches used over the past 4 years to successfully link the services of a university cancer center to women in the community through a culturally sensitive outreach program. In addition to cancer screening, health referrals were made for many other diverse medical/social complications such as hypertension, obesity, and violence.

Changing men's involvement in reproductive health and family planning.

The shift in focus on men's reproductive health was influenced by the 1994 Cairo (ICPD) Action Plan to promote gender equality and equity, empower women, and improve family health in society. Changing and improving the way in which men are involved in reproductive health can only have a positive impact on women's, men's, and children's health. Educating and counseling men about contraceptive choices is essential if they are to be supportive of women's reproductive health.

Men of diverse cultures: knowledge and attitudes about breastfeeding.

Objective: The purpose of this study was three-fold: (a) to describe the knowledge of and attitudes on breastfeeding of men from diverse racial backgrounds, (b) to determine the relationship between knowledge and attitude toward breastfeeding, and (c) to determine the relationship between specified demographic variables and men's knowledge or attitudes on breastfeeding.

Design: Descriptive

Setting: An inner-city teaching hospital and its associated prenatal clinic located in the southern United States.

Participants: One hundred men from diverse cultures who spoke either English or Spanish, were 18 years of age or older, and were present at either the hospital maternity units or associated prenatal clinic.