This week, I’m talking nursing culture: the good, the bad, and the difference it can make in your care. Specifically: the role of the nursing profession is to promote the health of women and newborns - but what about when the nurse is pregnant?
I am going to share with you my experience of being pregnant while being a nursing student in Canada.
I will read a paper that I wrote in my fourth year of university for a course called Current Trends and Issues in Nursing
I wrote a paper called “An Unwanted Pregnancy: the discrimination of child-bearing and rearing women in nursing education”
Background: The role of the nursing profession promotes the health of women and newborns
The ideal of preservation of dignity amongst childbearing women is in stark contrast to the actual practice of nursing schools
The history of educating nurses is a rich with restrictions upon women and their sexuality
Horizontal violence is peer to peer harassment or violence
In this case, horizontal violence amongst nurses, including nursing instructors and nursing students, in the form of alienation and discrimination against childbearing nursing students
The CNO clearly outlines the role of a nursing leader within their professional standards document placing importance on role modeling for new nurses and instilling confidence in student abilities
Substantial information regarding policy and requirements for the treatment of pregnant women is available to nursing leaders
However, nursing leaders - those who are masters and doctorate prepared nurses in the administrative roles within nursing education programs - are the perpetrators of the discrimination
The peers of the affected students are negatively impacted because they witnessed the bullying, but they feel unable to advocate for injustices inflicted upon their peers because of the power imbalance between themselves and the administrative departments causing the stresses
Those power imbalances and those feelings of being unable to advocate for your peers do not disappear when you graduate
Like all nursing issues, patients are impacted by the conflict between other nurses
It is well documented that good patient outcomes are increased when nurses are experiencing low job related stress
Historical analysis: nursing's origin lies with Florence Nightingale, her dedication to the profession, cultivation of knowledge and immense impact on nursing education in the mid 1800s
Although some of her teachings are still important, some are certainly irrelevant today
During the time when Nightingale was practicing, being married was the only socially acceptable way to bear children
After marriage and children, nurses would not continue working, so there were no pregnant nurses or nursing students
As a celibate professional woman, Nightingale’s teachings explicitly opposed pursuit of both profession and family
Today, social attitudes towards childbearing have changed to incorporate equality among men and women but Nightingale's teaching still permeate current nursing education administration
As a result, there is no effort made to accommodate pregnant nursing students who will require support to maintain their full-time status
In the United States, there are institutional policies in place to outline pregnant students rights for administrative staff, educators, and students: the document states that students are entitled to protection from being forced to drop out, being excused from academic responsibilities, without penalty for pregnancy related reasons.
Workplace stress is documented to contribute to negative outcomes, such as preterm labor, low birth weight, and postpartum depression and university students already report higher levels of stress than the general public
Efforts should be made by faculty to reduce or eliminate any additional sources of stress to promote a healthy pregnancy process
The profession of nursing can no longer afford to discriminate based on...
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