Postpartum/newborn patients: who are they and do they all need the same amount of nursing care?
OBJECTIVE
To obtain a quantitative description of mother-newborn presentations and to identify their nursing care requirements while in hospital.


BACKGROUND
Recommendations on minimum staffing levels are broad based with implications that all new mothers and newborns are normal without complications. However, in a large tertiary centre, mother-newborn dyads do present with complications, suggesting variation in nursing care requirements.


METHODS
Two studies were conducted: (1) a cross-sectional retrospective, descriptive study; and (2) a convenience sampling survey professional nurses' expert opinions.


RESULTS
A sample of 1224 mother and/or newborn presentations was retrospectively classified. Almost half of the patient presentations were classified as having complications. Nursing care ratios required for postpartum ranged from 1:1 to 9:1.


CONCLUSIONS
An objective classification system was obtained from nursing experts in caring for mother and newborn with variable needs, in a hospitalized setting.


CONCLUSIONS
This comprehensive classification system can be used to objectively align nursing resources to mother/newborn care needs.
Raby
Christiane
C
Labour and Delivery, St Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg, Canada. craby@mts.net
Dowse
Tracey
T
Bennet
Linda
L
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008350:Manitoba; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017283:Neonatal Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015401:Nursing Administration Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D009773:Obstetric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011181:Postnatal Care / Q000145:classification / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data