Single room maternity care: The nursing response

Background: The introduction of single room maternity care in the 1990s nec essitated a new approach to nursing education and practice. A focus on peri natal nursing requires competence across the spectrum of labor, delivery, p ostpartum and newborn care. We sought to evaluate the nursing response to t his change by comparing satisfaction with the workplace environment among s ingle room maternity care nurses before and after they worked in the settin g and among nurses working in traditional birth settings. Methods: Six mont hs before the opening of a pilot seven-bed single room maternity care unit, nurses who planned to work in the new unit completed a survey about their satisfaction with aspects of their work environment. Three months after the new unit opened the survey was repeated with this study group and also by a sample of nurses working in the delivery, and postpartum areas. Results: Responses indicated that single room maternity care nurses before and after working in the unit were significantly more satisfied with the physical se tting, their ability to respond to patients' needs, their opportunity for t eaching families, the nursing practice environment, peer support, and their perceived level of competency. They rated their satisfaction significantly higher than that of their colleagues in the traditional delivery, and post partum settings. Conclusions: The positive transition to single room matern ity, care by obstetrical nurses was demonstrated by their improved overall satisfaction with the work environment. Evaluation of the nurses responses to changes in health care delivery has important implications for justifyin g neu, clinical approaches and planning for future changes.