Help seeking in high risk pregnancy: the role of the CNS.
This study was designed to examine the type and amount of help sought from CNSs in a population of women who were experiencing a high risk pregnancy (specifically, gestational diabetes mellitus). The amount of subjective distress (perceived impact) experienced by the women was also explored as a predictor of help seeking behavior. Through the use of logs kept of each contact with subjects, episodes of help seeking were identified and classified. A total of 290 episodes of help seeking were identified in the logs of 10 subjects representing 199 contacts with subjects over 567 days of follow-up. The majority of help seeking episodes were classified as seeking knowledge (45.9%). Significant positive correlation was noted between the perceived impact of gestational diabetes mellitus and help seeking. Strong positive correlations were noted between help sought in the psychological, social, and economic categories and perceived impact. This data provide support for a CNS to care for this high risk population of women. Nurses in advanced practice have the ability to analyze clinical situations as well as to assess and address nonclinical variables that influence health.
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D000328:Adult; D016640:Diabetes, Gestational / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D009720:Nurse Clinicians; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies