First Advisor

Hessler, Karen

Second Advisor

Dunemn, Kathleen N.

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice

Document Type

Capstone

Date Created

12-2017

Department

College of Natural and Health Sciences, Nursing, Nursing Student Work

Abstract

One in four women will experience a miscarriage in the United States alone (Geller, Psaros, & Kornfield, 2010). Miscarriages can cause an increased distress to the women experiencing the loss and her partner (Nikčević, Kuczmierczyk, Tunkel & Nicolaides, 2000). This type of loss is not usually talked about, leaving women in great distress and suffering alone. Currently, no clinical practice guideline exists dealing with the psychological aspects of a miscarriage and how to properly care for this population. The PICOT question that guided this capstone was: (P) In women, who have had a first trimester miscarriage, (I) does an established clinical practice guideline on how to provide compassionate follow up care (C) provide better outcomes (O) allowing for healthier coping mechanisms (T) by following the steps of the guidelines from time of miscarriage to yearly follow-up visit? This capstone project utilized the descriptive qualitative method--which combined a literature review and interviews to prove a gap exists in care being currently provided- to create a clinical practice guideline. Eleven journal articles were utilized in the literature review. Two family practice physicians, two family nurse practitioners, two midwives, and two obstetrics and gynecology physicians were interviewed. Overall, this capstone created a clinical practice guideline focusing on the psychological aspect of care that could be provided in any outpatient setting to deliver outstanding care to this population of patients.

Keywords

Clinical practice guideline, First trimester miscarriage, Grief, Emotional distress, Support

Extent

78 pages

Local Identifiers

SheehanCapstone2017

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by the author.

Digital Origin

Born digital

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