Defying the odds: Facilitating integration of abortion care into clinical practice in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to describe the experiences of physicians who successfully incorporated abortion care into their practices in the United States. We explored facilitators of and barriers to abortion provision. STUDY DESIGN: In this qualitative study, we conducted semistructured interviews with a national sample of obstetrician-gynecologists and family medicine physicians providing abortion care. Interviews addressed facilitators of and barriers to abortion provision, lessons learned and recommendations for future providers. We analyzed data using a content analysis approach. RESULTS: We interviewed 14 obstetrician-gynecologists and 11 family medicine physicians providing abortion care as part of their practices. We identified four categories of facilitators and barriers: personal, community, training, and workplace factors. Major facilitators included supportive leadership and professional mentorship. Major barriers included antagonistic colleagues and leadership. Lessons learned included proactively assessing leadership support, identifying institutional allies, actively minimizing workplace conflict and being perceived as a team player. Recommended resources to increase abortion provision included clinical support, mentorship, funding, negotiation coaching, and access to clinical policies. CONCLUSIONS: Institutional leadership support emerged as a critical facilitator for initiating and continuing to offer abortion care. Efforts to expand abortion access should include investments in supportive leadership, both in academic and community practices. IMPLICATIONS: Maximizing abortion access is essential to counteract the legislative and political restrictions imposed on abortion care. Institutional support is a critical facilitator of abortion provision, and efforts to expand abortion access should include investments in supportive leadership and health care administration.

Addressing Implicit Bias to Improve Cross-cultural Care.

Health disparities cluster around race, ethnicity, education, neighborhoods, and income. Systems of exclusion that correlate with social determinants compound the disproportionate burden of poor health experienced by people of color. By 2056, ~50% of the population is expected to fall into categories currently labeled "under-represented minorities" (URMs), primarily African Americans, Latinxs, and American Indians. Although URMs comprise 30% of the general population, only 9% of medical doctors [Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)] are URMs. We can lessen the negative effects of implicit bias and minimize inequities and unequal treatment by medical providers with training in cross-disciplinary diversity knowledge and communication skills.

Women's experiences with immediate postpartum intrauterine device insertion: a mixed-methods study.

OBJECTIVE: To describe women's pain and experiences with immediate postpartum intrauterine device (IUD) insertion (IPPI) following vaginal delivery using a ring forceps insertion technique. STUDY DESIGN: This observational mixed-methods study included women who underwent successful IPPI using ring forceps, with and without epidural analgesia. To describe women's pain during the procedure, we recruited women during antenatal care and at the time of admission for delivery until we collected at least 30 sets of pain scores at two time points (preprocedure and immediately postprocedure) in both groups using two instruments: 100-mm visual analogue scale (VAS) and a 4-point Likert verbal rating scale (VRS) (0=none, 1=mild, 2=moderate, 3=severe). After placing the IUD, physicians rated ease of IUD insertion. A subset of participants in both groups underwent semistructured interviews prior to hospital discharge. Our goal was to explore women's (a) decisional influences and prior contraception experience, (b) experience during IPPI and (c) decisional regret. We conducted iterative analysis of interview content until thematic saturation was reached in both groups. Interviewees provided recall pain scores and rated satisfaction with IPPI. RESULTS: We collected 30 pain scores in the no-epidural group and 36 in the epidural group. At both time points, the VAS data exhibited very low pain scores in the epidural group and a uniform distribution in the no-epidural group; standard deviations were large. The majority of women in both groups reported "none-mild" pain on the VRS. Physicians reported minimal difficulty with IUD insertion in most cases. We conducted interviews with 12 women who had an epidural and 9 who did not. Both groups offered similar comments across all domains. Convenience was the primary motivation to undergo IPPI, and women recognized the barriers to obtaining effective contraception remote from delivery. The majority of interviewees, even those with high pain scores, characterized their procedural pain as less than expected, and IUD insertion pain was less than or similar to labor pain. Interviewees' recall pain scores were similar to those reported at the time of IUD insertion. An unanticipated theme that emerged was an ineffective informed consent process; women could not recall most procedural risks or how IPPI was accomplished. All interviewees endorsed IPPI, expressing a high degree of satisfaction; none regretted undergoing the procedure. CONCLUSION: The distributions of our VAS scores did not reveal useful summary statistics in either group. The VRS scores were a more informative representation of women's pain during IPPI; most women reported little pain. Convenience of obtaining highly effective contraception immediately postpartum was the key motivator for undergoing IPPI. All women voiced favorable experiences, even those who had high pain scores. IMPLICATIONS: Women in our study overwhelmingly described less pain than anticipated with IPPI and also reported a high degree of satisfaction. Our study offers valuable patient-centered guidance to inform antenatal contraceptive counseling with respect to IPPI and lays the groundwork for ongoing research towards optimizing women's experiences with the procedure.

Emergency in the clinic: a simulation curriculum to improve outpatient safety.

BACKGROUND: Emergency response skills are essential when events such as seizure, anaphylaxis, or hemorrhage occur in the outpatient setting. As services and procedures increasingly move outside the hospital, training to manage complications may improve outcomes. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate a simulation-based curriculum in outpatient emergency management skills with the outcome measures of graded objective performance and learner self-efficacy. STUDY DESIGN: This pre- and postcurriculum study enrolled residents and fellows in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Family Medicine in a simulation-based, outpatient emergency management curriculum. Learners completed self-efficacy questionnaires and were videotaped managing 3 medical emergency scenarios (seizure, over-sedation/cardiopulmonary arrest, and hemorrhage) in the simulation laboratory both before and after completion of the curriculum. Evaluators who were blinded to training level scored the simulation performance videotapes using a graded rubric with critical action checklists. Scenario scores were assigned in 5 domains and globally. Paired t-tests were used to determine differences pre- and postcurriculum. RESULTS: Thirty residents completed the curriculum and pre- and postcurriculum testing. Subjects' objective performance scores improved in all 5 domains (P<.05) in all scenarios. When scores were stratified by level of training, all participants demonstrated global improvement. When scores were stratified by previous outpatient simulation experience, subjects with previous experience improved in all but management of excess sedation. Pre- and postcurriculum self-efficacy evaluations demonstrated improvement in all 7 measured areas: confidence, use of appropriate resources, communication skills, complex airway management, bag mask ventilation, resuscitation, and hemorrhage management. Self-efficacy assessment showed improvement in confidence managing outpatient emergencies (P=.001) and ability to communicate well in emergency situations (P<.001). CONCLUSION: A simulation-based curriculum improved both self-efficacy and objectively rated performance scores in management of outpatient medical emergencies. Simulation-based curricula should be incorporated into residency education.

Nitrous oxide for pain management of first trimester surgical abortion -- a randomized controlled pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to determine feasibility of a study comparing mean pain scores between women randomized to nitrous oxide/oxygen (NO) versus oxygen+oral analgesics for trimester surgical abortion. STUDY DESIGN: Pilot randomized controlled trial comparing NO (n=10) versus oxygen+oral analgesics (n=10). Feasibility of subject recruitment, and pain and satisfaction scores on a visual analog scale were evaluated. RESULTS: Fifty-seven percent of eligible women participated. Mean pain scores were similar between groups, and mean satisfaction scores were higher for the NO group (77.5 vs. 46.7, P=.048). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of eligible women agreed to participate in this study evaluating an uncommon pain control intervention.