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Evaluation of Public Health Nursing Home Visits to Pregnant Women on WIC
Author(s) -
Zotti Marianne E.,
Zahner Susan J.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
public health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.471
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1525-1446
pISSN - 0737-1209
DOI - 10.1111/j.1525-1446.1995.tb00152.x
Subject(s) - public health nursing , nursing homes , nursing , public health , medicine , pregnancy , family medicine , gerontology , genetics , biology
Selected pregnant women participating in the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) were receiving public health nursing (PHN) home visiting services. The purposes of this study were to describe PHN services provided to pregnant women on WIC; and to compare birth outcomes and prenatal care (PNC) utilization between two groups, women with WIC services only and women with WIC plus PHN services. In this retrospective cross‐sectional study, the sample consisted of all women on WIC ( N = 398) at the Madison Department of Health who delivered singleton births during 1991, divided into the WIC‐only group ( n = 301) and the WIC + PHN group ( n = 97). Three instruments were used for data collection: birth certificates, the WIC record, and the antepartal nursing record. Data were described; differences between groups were tested. Primary PHN activities included: assessment of physical and behavioral indicators, parenting skills, and support systems; teaching about nutrition, use of drugs, danger signs, labor signs, and stress management; and referrals to a variety of community resources. No difference in adequacy of PNC or in birth outcomes was found between the two groups. Findings have been used to plan the agency's future PNC coordination services.