Student midwives' responses to reproductive ethics: a qualitative focus group approach using case scenarios

Off track or on point? Side comments in focus groups with teens

Side comments and conversations in focus groups can pose challenges for facilitators. Rather than seeing side comments as problematic behavior or "failed" data, we argue that they can add to and deepen analyses. Drawing on focus group data with grade nine students from a study on early work, in this methodological paper we discuss three patterns. First, side comments have highlighted where participants required clarification, and illustrated their views and questions about the research process. Second, side comments added new data to our analysis, including personal reflections, connections to others' comments, and information about participants' uncertainties about the research topics. Third, these comments offered insight into peer relations and dynamics, including participants' reflections on age, and how they deployed gender relations in their discussions. Provided that their use fits within established ethical protocols, we argue that there is a place for attention to side comments, especially in focus group research with young people where adult-teen hierarchies and peer dynamics might lead young people to engage more with peers than directly respond to researchers' questions.

Midwifery students' reactions to ethical dilemmas encountered in outpatient clinics

BACKGROUND

Midwives are required to make ethical decisions with the support of respective codes of professional ethics which provide a framework for decision making in clinical practice. While each midwife should be ethically aware and sensitive to the ever-changing issues within reproduction, few empirical studies have examined the views of student midwives in relation to reproductive ethical dilemmas.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to explore midwifery students' reactions to a number of ethical dilemmas relating to women's experiences of reproductive decision making.

DESIGN

A series of focus groups were conducted with midwifery students who were asked to discuss five culturally significant scenarios including issues of knowledge acquisition regarding methods of family planning, removal or insertion of an intrauterine device, and abortion.

SETTING

A University in Turkey was the setting for this study.

PARTICIPANTS

Purposeful sampling was adopted which resulted in five focus groups with a total of 57 midwifery students.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

The study was reviewed and granted formal ethical approval by an ethical committee at the Faculty of Health Science in Atatürk University. The head of the Faculty of Health Science approved the investigation. The participants received both oral and written information about the study and they gave their consent.

RESULTS

Five themes were identified from the analysis of the focus group data related to all five scenarios. These themes were 'the right to information', 'choice and protection', 'parental rights and welfare of the women', 'make a decision' and 'women rights and sexual abuse'.

CONCLUSION

This study has shown that while students respected women's choice, they also expressed great ambivalence in some situations when personal values conflict with dominant societal beliefs and professional ethics. A focus on ethics education to include human rights is suggested as a means to enable students to explore their own social-value judgements, and as a means to limit the possible development of ethical confusion and moral distress.

Exploring factors that influence students' attitudes toward midwifery in Jordan: Measuring psychometric properties of a newly developed tool

Students' professional choice to proceed in midwifery is influenced by many factors. This study validated an instrument developed to assess students' attitudes toward midwifery in Jordan. It also addressed the motivating and de-motivating factors influencing students' decision concerning joining and continuing in midwifery. A descriptive, cross-section study was conducted on a convenience sample of 374 midwifery students representing private, governmental, and military midwifery colleges. The researchers developed the study questionnaire through conducting a comprehensive literature review, organizing common themes and consulting experts. Exploratory factor analysis and tests of normality and reliability, including Cronbach's Alpha and Bartlett's test, were used in the analysis. The result was three factors were explained by 23 items. They were as follows: professional knowledge, professional motivation factors, and de-motivating professional factors. The first 8 items explained nearly 61% of the variance. Cronbach's Alpha was 0.834 with a range of 0.835-0.839. The Spearman-Brown coefficient was 0.81 and Guttman Split-Half coefficient was 0.83. Issues of reliability and validity require a repetitive process of testing under a range of circumstances to ensure both stability and representation of the construct. However, addressing factors found to have impact of students' decisions is crucial to improve retention of high quality students.

Surrogacy: Pathway to Parenthood

Assistive reproductive technology has progressed significantly over the past few decades. In spite of the advances, people may still resort to a surrogate for bearing and birthing a baby. Surrogacy, though an altruistic act, has been commercialized in the past few years, leading to emergence of several ethico-legal concerns. Nurses care for the surrogates, the infants, and the intended parents through their journey with sensitivity, advocacy, compassion, and confidentiality. This article intends to explore the implications of surrogacy to individuals, families, nations, and health care.