Nurses have complex attitudes and beliefs with regard to providing care to patients seeking abortions. Several factors, including their personal beliefs, the reasons for the abortion, and institutional issues can affect their ability to participate in abortion care.
Key Findings
A small number of nurses routinely elect to care for patients who need abortions.
Nurses have many reasons for choosing to participate in abortion care, including the context for a patient’s abortion, their level of empathy for a patient, and their personal commitment to autonomy.
Barriers to their participation include poor communication with colleagues; institutional issues, such as confusion around documentation and fetal remains; a lack of clarity regarding their role in the care for patients; and uncertainty in their ability
Study Design
Researchers used qualitative, semi-structured interviews to collect data from nurses about their decision-making around abortion care.
Implications
When it came to barriers to providing abortions, nurses were particularly concerned about their ability to provide emotional and social support in the context of end-of-life care for the terminated fetus.
This abstract, Barriers and Facilitators to the Involvement of Nurses in Abortion Care Provision, was published in Contraception.