How do expert labor nurses view their role?
OBJECTIVE
To examine how expert perinatal nurses in a nurse-managed labor model view their role in caring for mothers during labor and birth.


METHODS
Focus group methodology. Data were analyzed using inductive coding methods to gain understanding from the perspective of those providing the care.


METHODS
Labor and birth units in four large Midwestern medical centers.


METHODS
Fifty-four expert labor nurses.


METHODS
5 years experience in nursing care during labor and birth in institutions where nurse-managed labor was the predominant practice model.


RESULTS
Four common themes related to nursing roles were identified. These included knowing the labor process and the intuitive nature of nursing care provided by expert labor nurses based on years of experience, knowing the woman and letting her body guide labor, advocacy for laboring woman, and the autonomous nature of the nurse-managed labor model.


CONCLUSIONS
Expert labor nurses developed a keen sense of intuitive knowledge based on their years of experience. They reported using hands-on high-touch supportive care techniques with the potential to affect labor and birth outcomes. Autonomy is perceived as a key component of practice within the nurse-managed labor model.
James
Dotti C
DC
Saint Louis University School of Nursing, MO 63104, USA. jamesdc@slu.edu
Simpson
Kathleen Rice
KR
Knox
G Eric
GE
D000739:Anecdotes as Topic; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D008297:Male; D015146:Midwestern United States; D009721:Nurse Midwives / Q000592:standards*; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009773:Obstetric Nursing / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011321:Primary Nursing / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012307:Risk Factors