Implementing Best Practice When Screening Birthing People for a Substance Use Disorder.

Screening for substance use disorder (SUD) is an essential part of antepartum care. Best practice for screening requires the use of a validated tool early in pregnancy to identify those at risk and to connect them with counseling and treatment. In many health systems and practices, urine toxicology testing is erroneously employed as a SUD screening tool despite consistent recommendations against its routine use.

Racial and ethnic disparities in access to community-based perinatal mental health programs: results from a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Perinatal mental health is a major public health problem that disproportionately affects people from racial and ethnic minority groups. Community-based perinatal mental health programs, such as peer support groups, are essential tools for the prevention and treatment of perinatal depression. Yet, little is known about racial and ethnic disparities in accessibility and utilization of community-based perinatal mental health programs.

An Initiative to Improve Postpartum Discharge Education.

Objective: To evaluate an online POST-BIRTH Warning Signs (PBWS) project focused on improving nurses' knowledge and how they teach individuals in the postpartum period about potential complications.

Design: Quality improvement project with exploratory pretest/posttest.

Setting: Seventy hospitals with maternity services throughout the United States.

The Lived Experiences of New Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Contributions to Nursing Education and Professional Development.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on new nurses' transition to the staff nurse role in hospital settings. New staff nurses were not prepared to care for COVID-19 patients based on their previous nursing education. Method A qualitative descriptive design with purposive sampling was used for this study.

Challenges faced by new nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: COVID-19 can be considered a unique and complex form of trauma with potentially devastating consequences for nurses in general and new nurses specifically. Few studies have been published that explain how relatively new nurses were prepared for COVID-19 in terms of knowledge and skill and how these nurses fared physically and emotionally.

Design: A qualitative descriptive design utilizing purposive sampling to recruit a diverse group of nurses who were within 2 years post-graduation from nursing school.

Consensus Bundle on Postpartum Care Basics: From Birth to the Comprehensive Postpartum Visit.

In the weeks after childbirth, a woman navigates multiple challenges. She must recover from birth, learn to care for herself and her newborn, and cope with fatigue and postpartum mood changes as well as chronic health conditions. Alongside these common morbidities, the number of maternal deaths in the United States continues to increase, and unacceptable racial inequities persist.

The Impact of Delays in Low-Income Women's Breast Cancer Experiences.

Background: Low-income, underinsured and uninsured women are less likely to be diagnosed via mammogram and more often diagnosed at later stages, with a resultant negative impact on survival. The New Jersey Cancer Education and Early Detection Program provides access to cancer screening services for low-income, underinsured and uninsured individuals. This program was recently evaluated, and it was found that enrollees were more likely to be diagnosed at later stages than nonenrollees, which may be related to delays in diagnosis and treatment OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine if there were delays in diagnosis and treatment for program enrollees and, if so, what were the causes of these delays.

A Systematic Review of Barriers and Facilitators to Mammography in American Indian/Alaska Native Women.

Introduction: The purpose of this systematic review was to synthesize the current knowledge of factors that enable or impede American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women from accessing breast cancer screening.

Methodology: A systematic search of MEDLINE and CINAHL databases identified relevant research studies published from 2007 to 2017.

Results: Consistent with other low-income populations, socioeconomic factors were related to lower rates of screening in AI/AN women.

Healthcare Strategies for Reducing Pregnancy-Related Morbidity and Mortality in the Postpartum Period.

The majority of pregnancy-related deaths in the United States occur in the postpartum period, after a woman gives birth. Many of these deaths are preventable. Researchers and health care providers have been focusing on designing and implementing strategies to eliminate preventable deaths and ethnic and racial disparities.

Using Geographic Information Systems to Visualize Relationships Between Perinatal Outcomes and Neighborhood Characteristics When Planning Community Interventions.

Objective: To describe maternal morbidity, birth outcomes, and neighborhood characteristics of urban women from a racially segregated city with the use of a geographic information system (GIS).

Design: Exploratory neighborhood-level study. Existing birth certificate data were linked and aggregated to neighborhood-level data for spatial analyses.

Breast Cancer Stage at Diagnosis in a New Jersey Cancer Education and Early Detection Site.

Objectives: The National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program provides free or low-cost screening to uninsured or underinsured women and has had positive results; however, only a few state programs have been evaluated. This study will provide a first snapshot of the effectiveness of the New Jersey program, by comparing stage at diagnosis for enrollees as compared with nonenrollees who received definitive treatment for breast cancer at the same academic medical center.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective analysis of 5 years of breast cancer data abstracted from the Cancer Registry of a large urban hospital in the Northeast United States.

Rising Rates of Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy as a Treatment for Early-Stage Breast Cancer.

Background: The rate of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) in women with unilateral mastectomy is increasing with no plateau.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to improve the understanding of patient- and tumor-related factors that influenced the choice of mastectomy with CPM as treatment for early-stage breast cancer at an academic medical center in New Jersey.

Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of 10 years of breast cancer data including 1556 women aged 40 to 80 years treated for breast cancer at an academic medical center.

Nurses' Knowledge and Teaching of Possible Postpartum Complications.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess postpartum nurses' knowledge of maternal morbidity and mortality, and information they shared with women before discharge about identifying potential warning signs of postpartum complications.

Study Design & Methods: Registered nurses (RNs) who care for women during postpartum (N = 372) completed an electronic survey. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses were used for data analysis.

Improving Postpartum Education About Warning Signs Of Maternal Morbidity and Mortality.

Maternal morbidity and mortality rates remain high in the United States compared with other developed countries. Of particular concern is the rise in postpartum deaths, because many of the risk factors for complications associated with maternal morbidity and mortality may not be clearly identified before a woman's discharge after birth. Although nurses provide some form of postpartum discharge education to all women who give birth, the information women receive on common potential complications is not always consistent or evidence based.

Discharge Education on Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Provided by Nurses to Women in the Postpartum Period.

Objective: To explore what types of educational materials and discharge information are currently used by postpartum nurses to educate women about the warning signs of postpartum complications to determine what key messages should be presented to women after birth and before discharge.

Design: Exploratory qualitative.

Setting: Six hospitals located in New Jersey and Georgia.

National Initiatives to Improve Systems for Postpartum Care.

Purpose To showcase several current national initiatives that focus on reducing maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity and promote postpartum health and wellness for all women. Description Maternal injuries and deaths are a serious public health concern with tremendous impact on families, communities, and healthcare providers. Over the past two decades, it has become apparent that the timing of serious maternal complications has shifted, with more than half of deaths occurring in the immediate postpartum period up to 1 year following birth.

Women's Educational Needs and Perceptions About Survivorship Following Bilateral Mastectomy.

Background: More women are choosing to have a bilateral mastectomy to treat unilateral breast cancer despite it not being considered the standard of care. Women are making this choice for various reasons, including anxiety of follow-up screening of the other breast, risk of cancer recurrence for the rest of their lives, and desire to maintain control over the localized cancer. Currently, evidence-based information is lacking regarding this treatment choice.

Exploratory Study of Childbearing Experiences of Women With Asperger Syndrome.

Increasing numbers of girls have been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and other autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) over the past two decades; therefore, more women with ASDs are entering the childbearing phase of their lives. Little is known about the childbearing experiences of women with ASDs. This qualitative study describes the childbearing experiences of eight women with Asperger syndrome.

Survey of Nursing Faculty Preparation for Teaching About Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has increased significantly in children and adults. Nursing faculty's ability to teach students about best practices in their care across the lifespan is important. This study explored nurse educators' perceived knowledge of, and levels of comfort in, their abilities to teach nursing students about nursing care of people with ASD.

Why Women Are Choosing Bilateral Mastectomy.

The rate of women choosing to have a bilateral mastectomy as a treatment for unilateral breast cancer has increased since the 1990s, particularly among younger women. This article describes a qualitative study that was conducted to explore this decision-making process.

Exploring the Challenges of Healthy Eating in an Urban Community of Hispanic Women.

The purpose of this cross-sectional exploratory study was to describe Hispanic women's level of obesity, eating patterns, and access to food. Forty-eight Hispanic women ages 23-73 years participated in the study during a community health fair in the Northeastern United States. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, nonparametric Mann-Whitney tests, and Fisher's exact tests.

A Woman's Decision to Choose Bilateral Mastectomy.

Background: Rates of bilateral mastectomy as treatment for unilateral breast cancer have been rising. Quantitative analyses have resulted in assumptions about why women choose this procedure, without confirmation from the women.

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore a woman's decision making in the choice of bilateral mastectomy as a treatment for unilateral breast cancer, regardless of stage.

Mammogram Use and Self-Efficacy in an Urban Minority Population.

Objectives: (1) To compare a sample of low-income African American and Hispanic women in general and mammogram specific self-efficacy and other factors potentially associated with screening to identify any differences related to ethnicity and in the use of mammogram screening; and (2) to examine the association of general self-efficacy and mammography specific self-efficacy and mammogram screening in these two ethnically different groups of women.

Design And Sample: Cross-sectional. A convenience sample of 139 women.

Focusing on maternal health beyond breastfeeding and depression during the first year postpartum.

Nursing experts reviewed publications between 2003 and 2013 to identify practices for the care of women during the recovery year after childbirth. They focused on maternal transition, role and function, and psychosocial support. Findings indicated that clarification of the psychosocial meanings of childbirth and motherhood and family support systems that strengthen or hinder optimal wellness and functioning are needed.