An Exploratory Study of the Reaction of Nurses to Labor Patients Who Vocalized Pain

Greenleaf, Susan Jane

Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

An Exploratory Study of the Reaction of Nurses to Labor Patients Who Vocalized Pain Public Deposited

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/8049g527s

Abstract

The purposes of the study were: (1) to determine if a relationship exists between the amount of patient vocalization and the amount of nurse response; (2) to determine the effect of patient vocalization on the nurses' comfort during the situation; (3) to determine if the amount of patient vocalization could be related to a factor in the patient's background; (4.) to determine if the length of labor was affected by the amount of patient vocalization; (5) to evaluate the amount of agreement between nurse and experimenter comfort during the study situation as an index for validity of the data; (6) to yield hypotheses worthy of further and more circumscribed investigation; and (7) to provide tools of data collection that would aid in further research. The reaction of nurses was judged by the time spent with patients and the apparent discomfort of the nurses following each study period. Two tools were developed to judge patient vocalization and nurse responses The Patient Vocalization and Nurse Response Record and The Nurse-Experimenter Discomfort Index. On the vocalization and response record, vocalizations were given a score based on four criteria: (1) intensity, (2) duration, (3) pitch, and (4) urgeney. Following each two-hour data collection period, both the nurses and the experimenter individually rated, on seven-point scales, questions of how difficult the patient was to care for; how each nurse, or the experimenter, felt in the situation; and how much pain the patient experienced. From the two validated study hypotheses it was found: (1) as patient vocalization scores increased, nurses' discomfort ratings also increased; and (2) the nurses' and the experimenter's discomfort ratings were positively correlated. On the basis of the findings recommendations for further study were made.

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