EFFECTS OF POST-DISCHARGE NURSING VISITS ON EMOTIONAL AND PARENTAL ADJUSTMENT OF POSTPARTUM WOMEN.
Contributors: Texas Woman's University.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 125
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Home Economics.; Psychology, Developmental.
Description: The purpose of this study was to examine whether follow-up nursing care provided to postpartum women had an effect on levels of depressive mood, self-esteem, parental sense of competence, and hospital satisfaction. Subjects were 44 females 16 years of age and older who experienced vaginal birth of a healthy, single baby at a community hospital with both discharged within 72 hours of delivery. This was a convenience sample obtained by voluntary participation among obstetric patients in the community. Subjects were randomly assigned without replacement to control (n = 24) and treatment (n = 20) groups following determination of their eligibility.

Instruments in this study were the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale, Parental Sense of Competence Scale (Self-efficacy Subscale), and an investigator-made Hospital Satisfaction Checklist. The first two of these instruments, along with demographic and consent forms, were given to subjects during their third trimester of pregnancy.

Treatment consisted of a home visit to the home of the patient during the first 48 hours following discharge from the hospital. Subjects in both treatment and control groups completed postpartum questionnaire on the fourth postpartum day or later. This questionnaire consisted of all the instruments plus a postpartum demographic form that included questions about the baby's temperament as perceived by the mother.

The four hypotheses in this study tested differences between the treatment and control groups in self-esteem, depressive mood, parental sense of competence, and hospital satisfaction. The self-esteem data was analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U Test which resulted in statistically nonsignificant findings, U = 232.5; p =.85.

The parental sense of competence data were analyzed using an ANOVA between the two groups which produced statistically nonsignificant results, F(1,42) =.40, p =.53. The data measuring postpartum depressive mood were also analyzed using ANOVA which produced statistically nonsignificant results, F(1,42) =.44, p =.51. Patient hospital satisfaction data were analyzed using separate 2 x 2 Chi Squares. None of these were significant at p =.01. All four null hypotheses were accepted due to statistically nonsignificant results.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-11, Section: B, page: 4985.

Thesis (PH.D.)--TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY, 1989.

School code: 0925.