Honors Thesis Archive

Author	Mackenzie Schuld
Title	Mental Health Implications of Nurses on Perinatal Loss in the Women’s Health Field
Department	Nursing
Advisor	Marie Bashaw
Year	2024
Honors	University Honors
Full Text	View Thesis (1028 KB)
Abstract	This senior thesis paper explores the emotions and statements of nurses who work with perinatal loss in the Women’s Health area. The research question that the paper explores centers around the mental health implications of nurses working with mothers who have experienced perinatal losses. To study this research question, we were able to perform a literature review and send out a survey that included qualitative and quantitative questions that spoke of nurses’ experiences working with miscarriages and perinatal loss, also addressing compassion fatigue and the procurement of available mental health resources. The results revealed that many nurses do experience compassion fatigue as a result of their experiences and that many nurses do not feel that they are supported enough in the field. Nurses were able to reveal their coping skills and how they were affected by perinatal loss while working in L&D, mother baby and in the NICU or special care nurseries. The implications of this study could be used to promote available therapies and other mental health resources.