Assessing the Perceived Attitude of Nurses towards Childbirth: Experiences of Rural Childbearing Women in Kwara State, Nigeria

TL;DR

This study explores how rural women in Nigeria perceive nurses' attitudes during childbirth, finding that many feel nurses are unfriendly and unhelpful.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into nurses' perceived attitudes during childbirth in rural Nigerian settings.

Findings

Women perceived nurses as unfriendly and uninformative during labor.

Nurses were reported to lack competence and failed to give adequate attention.

Interviews revealed nurses spoke recklessly and shouted at women in labor.

Abstract

Childbirth is a crucial event in a woman's life, and healthcare practitioners are expected to approach the process with the appropriate demeanor. This study aimed to investigate the perceived attitude of nurses towards the child delivery process by childbearing women in Kwara State, Nigeria. Additionally, the study examined the influence of moderating variables such as age, educational attainment, and parity on the respondents' views.

A descriptive survey with a mixed-methods approach was used. A total of 384 childbearing women were selected using simple random and purposive sampling techniques. The participants completed a researcher-designed questionnaire titled the “Perceived Attitude of Nurses Toward Child Delivery Process Questionnaire (PANCDPQ),” with the psychometric properties thoroughly verified. Ten willing participants were also interviewed using an Interview Guide. The data were analyzed using percentages, mean, standard deviation, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at a 0.05 level of significance. Thematic analysis was applied to analyze the qualitative data.

The results indicated that childbearing women in rural areas of Kwara State, Nigeria, perceived nurses as unfriendly towards expectant mothers. They reported that nurses did not provide vital information, failed to give full attention to women in labor, and demonstrated a lack of competence during delivery. The interviews further revealed that nurses spoke recklessly to women in labor and shouted at them.

It was concluded that the perceived attitude of nurses towards the child delivery process by childbearing women in rural areas was inappropriate. It is recommended that nurses be trained on the perceptions of childbearing women regarding their attitudes towards childbirth. Health counsellors should collaborate with nurses to foster the development of appropriate attitudes towards mothers during childbirth, thereby improving service quality.