Postnatal women's perspectives on the feasibility of introducing postpartum home visits: a Jordanian study.

In Jordan, there is a deficiency in postnatal care provided to women and their newborns. This study investigated the feasibility of initiating postnatal home visits in Jordan. Thirty Jordanian mothers who had recently given birth were recruited from two governmental hospitals in the northern region of Jordan to participate in a qualitative study through face-to-face, voice-recorded interviews. The findings revealed that initiating postnatal home visits as part of postnatal care was well-received by the participants. Mothers' views and perceptions regarding postpartum home visits play an integral role in finding areas to improve postnatal services.

Undergraduate nursing students' stress sources and coping behaviours during their initial period of clinical training: a Jordanian perspective.

Baccalaureate nursing students often experience high levels of stress during training that may result in psychological or emotional impairment during their professional life ultimately affecting the quality of patient care they provide. Clinical instructors provide the needed support and guidance for students to relieve stress and promote a positive clinical experience. The aim of this study was to identify the level and types of stress perceived by baccalaureate nursing students in Jordan in their initial period of clinical practice and to identify the coping strategies that students used to relieve their stress. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 181 nursing students' representative of second year undergraduate students from two universities in Jordan. Proportions and t-tests were used to analyze the data. The results showed that the source of stress for these students came mainly from assignment work and the clinical environment. The most common coping strategy used by students was problem-solving behaviour followed by staying optimistic and transference attention from the stressful situation to other things while avoidance was the least frequent used.

Childbirth practices in Jordanian public hospitals: consistency with evidence-based maternity care?

BACKGROUND: In 1996, the World Health Organization stated that 'childbirth is a natural process and in normal birth, there should be a valid reason to interfere with this natural process' and encouraged practices that are evidence-based. The practices encouraged included avoiding unnecessary augmentation of labour, facilitating upright position for birth and restricting the use of routine episiotomy. Many countries have been slow to fully implement evidence-based practice in maternity care. The aim of this study was to examine maternity hospital practices in Jordan and assess their consistency with evidence-based maternity care. METHODS: An explorative research design with non-participant observation was used. Data were collected from low-risk women during labour and birth using a questionnaire for maternal characteristics and an observational checklist. A proportional stratified sample was selected to recruit from three major public hospitals in Jordan. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: A total of 460 women were observed during labour and birth. The majority were multiparous (80%). A range of interventions were observed in women having a normal labour including augmentation (95%), continuous external fetal monitoring (77%), lithotomy position for birth (100%), and more than one third (37%) had an episiotomy with varying degrees of laceration (58%). CONCLUSIONS: Childbirth practices were largely not in accordance with the World Health Organization evidence-based practices for normal birth. High levels of interventions were observed, many of which may not have been necessary in this low-risk population. Further work needs to occur to explore the reasons why evidence-based practice is not implemented in these hospitals.