Work environment challenging Irish public health nurses’ care quality: First postnatal visit

Abstract

Objectives Exploring views and experiences of public health nurses of their work environment and measurement of care practices at first postnatal visits. Design An exploratory qualitative design. Data collected using four focus groups and analyzed using thematic analysis. Sample Nineteen public health nurses from four health service regions in Ireland participated. Results Two themes emerged. Theme one identified "challenges of providing a quality service." Public health nurses identified workload demands and that the working environment can detract from the ability to provide a quality service. Challenges within the home, language barriers, and lack of support from management were key issues. Theme two identified "challenges of measuring quality of public health nursing practice." While Measuring practice through quantitative outcomes such as key performance indicators were viewed as inadequate to measure the quality of care provided, positive views of using quality process indicators to measure the quality of their practice emerged. Conclusions Key issues concern the working environment of public health nurses and challenges of providing and measuring care practices. Absence of appropriate supports and resources means public health nurses work hard to provide quality care. Public health nurses were confident they would score high on quality process measurements of their practice.

An integrative review of community nurse‐led interventions to identify and respond to domestic abuse in the postnatal period

“…PHNs, like health visitors, are ideally placed to give women opportunities to disclose safely and confidentially (Bacchus et al, 2003;Bradbury-Jones & Broadhurst, 2015;Leahy-Warren, 2007). PHNs have opportunities of establishing trusting relationships with women, through home visiting, continuity of care and providing advice for self-care (Begley et al, 2004;Giltenane et al, 2021aGiltenane et al, , 2021b.…”

“…PHNs, like health visitors, are ideally placed to give women opportunities to disclose safely and confidentially (Bacchus et al, 2003; Bradbury‐Jones & Broadhurst, 2015; Leahy‐Warren, 2007). PHNs have opportunities of establishing trusting relationships with women, through home visiting, continuity of care and providing advice for self‐care (Begley et al, 2004; Giltenane et al, 2021a, 2021b). In two UK studies, women report that Health Visitors (comparable role to PHNs) are better placed than General Practitioners to routinely ask about DV, as they may have more time, are less formal and are able to provide continued support (Bacchus et al, 2003; Bateman & Whitehead, 2004).…”

Transitioning to motherhood under COVID-19 lockdown—challenges and silver linings

“…1 Internationally, prepandemic investment in maternal and child health was sought to support mothers and enhance quality of care; this remains more urgent. [2][3][4][5][6] Despite this, several structures and processes were withdrawn or provided in a reduced capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic. 5 6 Grey and Barnett 5 identify challenges and unexpected silver linings of giving birth during lockdown, secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…The transition to motherhood can cause crisis and difficulty 1. Internationally, prepandemic investment in maternal and child health was sought to support mothers and enhance quality of care; this remains more urgent 2–6. Despite this, several structures and processes were withdrawn or provided in a reduced capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic 5 6.…”

“…Investing in resources and supports is vital to provide quality care for mothers and their newborns 2–4 6. Learning from the global response to COVID-19, public health emergencies must generate good communication systems and build an understanding of local resources and innovations 3 6…”