Teaching new mothers: priorities of nurses and postpartum women.
OBJECTIVE
To identify the most important content areas to include when teaching postpartum women, either in the hospital or at home, from the perspective of both nurses and postpartum women.


METHODS
Descriptive design using scaled response surveys.


METHODS
Data for nurses were collected through mailed surveys. Data for new mothers were collected in the hospital within 24 hours after delivery and through mailed surveys.


METHODS
Seventy-one registered nurses who provided in-hospital maternity nursing care; 53 registered nurses who provided postpartum follow-up home care visits; and 103 low-risk postpartum women.


METHODS
Perceived importance of teaching topics related to care of mothers and their newborns. Comparisons between responses of nurses and new mothers were analyzed.


RESULTS
Statistically significant differences were noted between the perceptions of nurses and new mothers regarding the priority of teaching content for new mothers. Nurses give priority to teaching about infant care, whereas new mothers give priority to their own care.


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that new mothers may have opinions that differ from those of nurses as to what is important to learn about caring for themselves and for their newborns during the early postpartum period.
Ruchala
P L
PL
Saint Louis University School of Nursing, MO 63104, USA. ruchalpl@slu.edu
D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D009773:Obstetric Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011181:Postnatal Care