The Experience of Waiting Among Women with Vaginal Bleeding During Early Pregnancy

• Author / Creator

  Commance, Jaycee M

• Bleeding during pregnancy affects as many as one in four pregnancies with roughly half of these resulting in pregnancy loss. An interpretive descriptive design was employed to explore the research question: “How do women with bleeding in early pregnancy describe their experience of waiting in the emergency department?” The essence of the experience of waiting while pregnant with bleeding was the interplay of uncertainty and waiting and how this experience was shaped by mediating factors such as previous experience, staff attitudes, social support, information provision, and lack of privacy. Implications for improving the care of women experiencing bleeding during early pregnancy are provided. The findings of this project contribute to our understanding of the experience of waiting in the context of early pregnancy, underscore the implication of this experience on women to their health care providers, and point the way to improving women’s overall satisfaction with their care.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Waiting
  • Pregnancy
  • Uncertainty
  • Vaginal bleeding
  • Emergency department

• Graduation date

  Spring 2014

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Nursing

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R31Z4221J

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.