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Pregnant Shift Nurses’ Working Experience: A Qualitative Study

초록/요약

Background: Health professionals are extremely vulnerable for maternal health. Objective: This study explored pregnant nurses’ working experiences. Methods: For this qualitative study, we recruited 18 nurses who are past 12 weeks pregnant by snowball sampling from 4 tertiary hospitals in metropolitan South Korea. One-on-one interviews used unstructured, open-ended questions between January 2016 and March 2017. Data analysis used traditional content analysis. Findings: Ten categories and four themes emerged from the experiences of pregnant nurses. Extracted themes were physical wearying, guilty feelings, support from colleagues, and the crossroads of one’s career path. Pregnancy was a difficult time period when shift working nurses needed protection for their maternal health and support for their career. Conclusions: Without systematic support, pregnant nurses endure difficulties in shift work and protecting their maternal health. Policies to address staffing shortages and adopt flexible shifts should be incorporated into calculations of the nursing workforce. Health care institutes need strong policies to protect the health professionals’ maternal health and career path.

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