How clinicians develop confidence in their competence in performing aspiration abortion

Expanding the Abortion Provider Workforce: A Qualitative Study of Organizations Implementing a New California Policy

CONTEXT

Access to abortion care in the United States varies according to multiple factors, including location, state regulation and provider availability. In 2013, California enacted a law that authorized nurse practitioners (NPs), certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and physician assistants (PAs) to provide first-trimester aspiration abortions; little is known about organizations' experiences in implementing this policy change.

METHODS

Beginning 10 and 24 months after implementation of the new law, semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 administrators whose five organizations trained and employed NPs, CNMs and PAs as providers of aspiration abortions. Interview data on the organizations' experiences were analyzed thematically, and facilitators of and barriers to implementation were identified.

RESULTS

Administrators were committed to the provision of aspiration abortions by NPs, CNMs and PAs, and nearly all identified improved access to care and complication management as clear benefits of the policy change. However, integration of the new providers was uneven and depended on a variety of circumstances. Organizational disincentives included financial and logistical costs incurred in trying to deploy and integrate the different types of providers. Some administrators found that increased costs were outweighed by improved patient care, whereas others did not. In general, having a strong administrative champion within the organization made a critical difference.

CONCLUSIONS

California's expansion of the abortion-providing workforce had a positive impact on patient care in the sampled organizations. However, various organizational obstacles must be addressed to more fully realize the benefits of having NPs, CNMs and PAs provide aspiration abortions.

Effectiveness, safety, and acceptability of first-trimester medical termination of pregnancy performed by non-doctor providers: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Previous systematic reviews have concluded that medical termination of pregnancy (TOP) performed by non-doctor providers may be as effective and safe as when provided by doctors. Medical treatment of incomplete miscarriage by non-doctor providers and the treated women's acceptance of non-doctor providers of TOP has not previously been reviewed.

OBJECTIVES

To review the effectiveness, safety, and acceptability of first-trimester medical TOP, including medical treatment for incomplete miscarriage, by trained non-doctor providers.

SEARCH STRATEGY AND SELECTION CRITERIA

A search strategy using appropriate medical subject headings was developed. Electronic databases (PubMed, Popline, Cochrane, CINAHL, Embase, and ClinicalTrials.gov) were searched from inception through April 2016. Randomised controlled trials and comparative observational studies were included.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Meta-analyses were performed for included randomised controlled trials regarding the outcomes of effectiveness and acceptability to women. Certainty of evidence was established using the GRADE approach assessing study limitations, consistency of effect, imprecision, indirectness and publication bias.

MAIN RESULTS

Six papers were included. Medical TOP and medical treatment of incomplete miscarriage is probably equally effective when performed by non-doctor providers as when performed by doctors (RR 1.00; 95% CI 0.99-1.01). Women's acceptance, reported as overall satisfaction with the allocated provider, is probably equally high between groups (RR 1.00; 95% CI 1.00-1.01).

CONCLUSION

Medical TOP and medical treatment of incomplete miscarriage provided by trained non-doctor providers is probably equally as effective and acceptable to women as when provided by doctors.

TWEETABLE ABSTRACT

Medical termination of pregnancy performed by doctors and non-doctors can be equally effective and acceptable.

Medical students are afraid to include abortion in their future practices: in-depth interviews in Maharastra, India

BACKGROUND

Unsafe abortions are estimated to cause eight per-cent of maternal mortality in India. Lack of providers, especially in rural areas, is one reason unsafe abortions take place despite decades of legal abortion. Education and training in reproductive health services has been shown to influence attitudes and increase chances that medical students will provide abortion care services in their future practice. To further explore previous findings about poor attitudes toward abortion among medical students in Maharastra, India, we conducted in-depth interviews with medical students in their final year of education.

METHOD

We used a qualitative design conducting in-depth interviews with twenty-three medical students in Maharastra applying a topic guide. Data was organized using thematic analysis with an inductive approach.

RESULTS

The participants described a fear to provide abortion in their future practice. They lacked understanding of the law and confused the legal regulation of abortion with the law governing gender biased sex selection, and concluded that abortion is illegal in Maharastra. The interviewed medical students' attitudes were supported by their experiences and perceptions from the clinical setting as well as traditions and norms in society. Medical abortion using mifepristone and misoprostol was believed to be unsafe and prohibited in Maharastra. The students perceived that nurse-midwives were knowledgeable in Sexual and Reproductive Health and many found that they could be trained to perform abortions in the future.

CONCLUSIONS

To increase chances that medical students in Maharastra will perform abortion care services in their future practice, it is important to strengthen their confidence and knowledge through improved medical education including value clarification and clinical training.