Educating Post-Partum Women: Interventions to Improve Engagement

Pamela C. Spigelmyer, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Austin Winberg, SONIFI Health, Sioux Falls, SD, USA.
Michael Heyd, Retired from Susquehanna Health, Williamsport, PA, USA.

Abstract

Women giving birth in in-patient maternity units are required to complete certain education. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of prompting on post-partum women's education engagement (time from assignment to completion) while testing the feasibility of staff nurses assisting in research. A quasi-experimental design was used with 141 women allocated by admission date to one of three groups (usual care and two intervention) between September 2014 and December 2015. Intervention group I women were quickest to engage in their education and had the shortest length of stay. Significance was found for academic attainment ( = 1, = 6.218, = .014), partial eta squared = 0.053 and = 0.124. Women who had attended college engaged more quickly in all groups than those who had not. This statistically significant finding indicates how nurses can identify patients needing more assistance. Nurses reported no adverse effects on care.