Author(s)

Rie Wakimizu¹, Yumiko Saito², Makoto Saito³

¹Department of Child Health Care Nursing, Division of Health Innovation and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
²Doctoral Program in Nursing Science, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
³Department of Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.

Background: When family members and/or patients behave in a problematic way, this hinders the provision of safe and secure medical care. During the perinatal period, a family’s relationships and functions change significantly, and each family member is prone to experiencing stress. As such, conflict arises easily between family members and medical staff. Aims: Therefore, we conducted this study to shed light on the following phenomena: 1) family members’ problematic behaviors; 2) the concerns of a perinatal ward nurse manager (hereafter referred to as the manager) and ward nurses; and 3) countermeasures carried out by the manager, together with the ward nurses, based on the manager’s experiences. Methods: We conducted an 80-minute, semi-structured interview with the manager, following which we analyzed the content of her narrated accounts. Results: According to the findings, 1) family members’ problematic actions include verbal abuse; arrogance, unreasonableness, and selfish behaviors; and violent conduct; 2) the manager’s and ward nurses’ fears and worries about family members’ problematic behaviors; responses to gradually becoming involved with family members; and resistance to staying involved with family members following patient discharge. In addition, we examined 3) countermeasures carried out by the manager together with the ward nurses: resolute and consistent responses to family members’ problematic behaviors; attempted enforcement measures taken to deal with family members who exhibit problematic behaviors; engagement while trying to avoid conflict with family members; preparation that anticipates the occurrence of problematic conduct; cooperation with the medical team; cooperation with the hospital organization; cooperation with social resources outside the hospital; and patient protection. Conclusions: With awareness of cooperation with the medical team toward family members who engage in problematic actions, the medical staff members try to unify their response and share their feelings of hardship with each other.

Perinatal Care, Nursing, Family, Violence, Countermeasures

Wakimizu, R. , Saito, Y. and Saito, M. (2021) Experiences and Countermeasures of a Perinatal Ward Nursing Manager Dealing with Family Members’ Problematic Behaviors. Open Journal of Nursing, 11, 981-1001. doi: 10.4236/ojn.2021.1111079.