Development of Nursing Practice Guidelines for Pregnant Women with Preterm Labor, Chiang Yuen Hospital

Abstract

This study was an action research developed according to Soukup's evidence-based conceptual framework. The objectives were 1) to develop nursing practice guidelines for pregnant women experiencing premature labor, 2) to evaluate the results of these guidelines, and, 3) to assess delivery room nurses' satisfaction with the new practice guidelines. The study employed a purposive sampling method, including 10 professional nurses and 30 pregnant women with gestational ages between 24 to before 37 weeks of gestation. Data were collected from October 2022 to September 2023. The research instruments included a questionnaire on personal data of pregnant women with premature labor, a questionnaire on behaviors to prevent premature labor, a nursing outcome record form, and a questionnaire on satisfaction of professional nurses with the use of the practice guidelines. Data analysis utilized descriptive statistics, including frequency distribution, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The Independent t-test was used to compare premature labor prevention behaviors before and after implementing the guidelines.

The results of the research found that 1) The nursing guidelines for pregnant women with premature labor at Chiang Yuen Hospital, which were developed, consisted of 4 categories as follows: Category 1: Assessment phase; Category 2: Nursing phase during the first 24 hours; Category 3: Nursing phase after 24 hours; Category 4: Discharge phase and home visit phase. Overall satisfaction with the nursing guidelines among professional nurses was very satisfied. The comparison of behavior scores for preventing premature labor between the groups before and after using the nursing guidelines was significantly higher at a statistical level of 0.001. The results showed that 90.0 percent of pregnant women delivered at term, 10.0 percent of pregnant women readmitted, and 90.0 percent of pregnant women extended their pregnancy to term. These results highlight the effectiveness of the evidence-based nursing practice guidelines in managing premature labor, improving patient outcomes, and enhancing clinical practice at Chiang Yuen Hospital.