King Jemma, Cappiello Joyce, Mainey Lydia, Dean Judith, Balnaves Mary-Claire, Peberdy Lisa, Peacock Ann, Downing Sandra
College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Australia.
Nursing Emerita, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA.
Contemp Nurse. 2025 Feb;61(1):33-47. doi: 10.1080/10376178.2024.2432626. Epub 2024 Nov 26.
Our understanding of how nursing and midwifery students in Australia are prepared to support people in unintended pregnancy prevention and care is currently limited.
This study examined Australian nursing and midwifery students and recent graduates' perspectives on their preparation and confidence in providing unintended pregnancy prevention and care.
A descriptive, cross-sectional online survey of nursing and midwifery students and graduates was undertaken. An invitation email with information sheet and link to the survey was sent to heads of departments at Australian universities for distribution to nursing and midwifery students. Social media platforms of professional organisations were used to promote the study to nurses and midwives within two years of graduation. The survey instrument was based on US educational competencies for unintended pregnancy prevention and care, adapted for the Australian context.
Participants ( = 109) from 14 institutions completed the survey. The majority of (92%) expressed that nursing and midwifery graduates should possess unintended pregnancy prevention and care knowledge and skills. Five competencies, out of 29, were identified as taught as core curriculum by 50% or more of participants; reproductive anatomy and physiology (72%); effective communication skills encompassing culture, sexual orientation, and gender identity (58%), understanding how contraceptives work (54%), obtaining a sexual/reproductive history (53%), and identifying preconception health risks (50%). Students felt well prepared to provide independent care related to pregnancy testing (44%), pregnancy prevention (26%), sexual history taking (23%), ethical/legal considerations around abortion (9%), options counseling/referral (5%), and pre/post-abortion care (5%).
With the decriminalization of abortion care, the Australian nursing and midwifery workforce must prepare students to care for people in all aspects of pregnancy prevention, early pregnancy decision-making, and abortion services. Our data show students are interested in this preparation but the entry-to-practice curricula has not yet been standardized to enable this.
目前，我们对澳大利亚护理和助产专业学生如何为预防和护理意外怀孕人群做准备的了解有限。
本研究调查了澳大利亚护理和助产专业学生及近期毕业生对他们在预防和护理意外怀孕方面的准备情况及信心。
对护理和助产专业学生及毕业生进行了一项描述性横断面在线调查。向澳大利亚各大学的系主任发送了一封包含信息表和调查链接的邀请邮件，以便分发给护理和助产专业学生。专业组织的社交媒体平台被用于向毕业两年内的护士和助产士宣传该研究。调查工具基于美国预防和护理意外怀孕的教育能力标准，并根据澳大利亚的情况进行了调整。
来自14所机构的109名参与者完成了调查。大多数（92%）表示护理和助产专业毕业生应具备预防和护理意外怀孕的知识和技能。在29项能力中，有5项被50%或更多的参与者确定为核心课程所教授内容；生殖解剖学和生理学（72%）；涵盖文化、性取向和性别认同的有效沟通技巧（58%），了解避孕方法的工作原理（54%），获取性/生殖史（53%），以及识别孕前健康风险（50%）。学生们觉得自己在提供与妊娠试验（44%）、预防怀孕（26%）、性史采集（23%）、堕胎的伦理/法律考量（9%）、选择咨询/转诊（5%）以及堕胎前后护理（5%）相关的独立护理方面准备充分。
随着堕胎护理合法化，澳大利亚护理和助产人员必须让学生为在预防怀孕、早孕决策和堕胎服务的各个方面护理人群做好准备。我们的数据表明学生对这种准备感兴趣，但入职实践课程尚未标准化以实现这一点。
