title: Concealing emotions: nurses' experiences with induced abortion care.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the experiences of nurses involved with induced abortion care in the delivery room in Taiwan.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Induced abortion has emotional, ethical and legal facets. In Taiwan, several studies have addressed the ethical issues, abortion methods and women's experiences with abortion care. Although abortion rates have increased, there has been insufficient attention on the views and experiences of nurses working in the delivery room who are involved with induced abortion care.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative, semistructured interviews.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study used a purposive sampling method. In total, 22 nurses involved with induced abortion care were selected. Semistructured interviews with guidelines were conducted, and the content analysis method was used to analyse the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our study identified one main theme and five associated subthemes: concealing emotions, which included the inability to refuse, contradictory emotions, mental unease, respect for life and self-protection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first specific qualitative study performed in Taiwan to explore nurses' experiences, and this study also sought to address the concealing of emotions by nurses when they perform induced abortion care, which causes moral distress and creates ethical dilemmas. The findings of this study showed that social-cultural beliefs profoundly influence nurses' values and that the rights of nurses are neglected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The profession should promote small-group and case-study discussions, the clarification of values and reflective thinking among nurses. Continued professional education that provides stress relief will allow nurses to develop self-healing and self-care behaviours, which will enable them to overcome the fear of death while strengthening pregnancy termination counselling, leading to better quality professional care.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Nursing, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Department of Nursing, Cardinal Tien College of Healthcare & Management, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Cheng-Fang
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gerontological Care and Management, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hui-Lian
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Che
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Puzi City, Chiayi County, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsin-Wan
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shu-Mei
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004644:Emotions; D005193:Family Planning Services; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D013624:Taiwan; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: experiences; induced abortion; nursing; qualitative study; sociocultural