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Perceptions of nurses' caring by mothers experiencing postpartum depression
1College of Nursing, University of Rhode Island, Kingston 02881, USA.
Objective:
To explore the meaning of nurses' caring for mothers experiencing postpartum depression.
Design:
Phenomenological research design; in depth, unstructured interviews were conducted.
Setting:
The interviews were conducted in the mothers' homes.
Participants:
A purposive sample of 10 mothers who had experienced postpartum depression.
Results:
Using Colaizzi's (1978) phenomenological method, the transcriptions of these interviews were analyzed. Seven themes emerged that illustrated nurses' caring for mothers experiencing postpartum depression: having sufficient knowledge about postpartum depression; using astute observation and intuition to make quick, correct diagnoses; providing hope that the mothers' living nightmares will come to an end; readily sharing their time; making appropriate referrals for the right path to recovery; providing continuity of care; and understanding what the mothers were experiencing.
Conclusions:
The exhaustive description of caring that emerged from this phenomenological study will help sensitize nurses to issues to consider in caring for mothers experiencing postpartum depression.