'The Climacteric Transition: District Nurses' Role in Managing Women's Health'; A Qualitative Interview Study

The climacteric is the period in a woman's life that includes the transition from reproductive to non-reproductive. The woman's experience is individual, but common symptoms include irregular bleeding patterns, hot flashes, sweating, and sleep problems. Primary care should be the first instance for women seeking treatment for menopausal symptoms, and the district nurse thus plays a vital role for women in the climacteric.

The study aimed to describe district nurses' experiences working with climacteric symptoms among women in primary care.

Qualitative inductive approach with semi-structured questions. Twelve district nurses were interviewed; data were analysed based on qualitative content analysis.

District nurses felt they could not give women in the climacteric reasonable and adequate advice due to a lack of knowledge, time, and organisational obstacles. The district nurses experienced that women with menopausal symptoms often felt neglected by the health care system, receiving insufficient support to cope with the climacteric period.

The Swedish district nurses in primary care reported interest in managing women within the climacteric period of life. They emphasised the importance of preventive care and stressed that lack of time and resource prioritisation were the main barriers to offering better counselling and appropriate care. The findings in this study suggested that educational efforts by district nurses in primary care should prioritise climacteric management.