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Aim To synthesize qualitative evidence on nurses' and midwives' experiences in the provision of surgical abortion care. We address three specific questions: (a) what are the experiences of nurses and midwives in surgical abortion care? (b) what are their responses and coping strategies? (c) what are the deficiencies in surgical abortion care? Design Qualitative studies were synthesized using Thomas and Harden's qualitative thematic synthesis method. Data sources Electronic databases, including PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science were searched. Grey literature using ProQuest was searched. The databases were searched from inception to 5 August 2020. Review methods The SPIDER (Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation and Research type) search tool was used in the literature search. Data synthesis was conducted using the three‐stage thematic synthesis method described by Thomas and Harden. Results 966 studies were identified in the initial search and 18 studies were included. Four analytical themes were generated: ‘Providing abortion care requires high emotional labour’; ‘Professionalism of abortion care providers’; ‘Initiatives in professional development’ and ‘Improving directions for high‐quality abortion care’. Conclusion Nurses and midwives indicated that they require support to enhance psychological health and improve professional skills. Hospital managers should organize regular debriefing or structured group workshops for exchange of practical experiences and strengthening emotional support. More research is required to establish comprehensive training related to abortion care for nurses and midwives. The findings demonstrate that optimization of abortion services should start from hospital management models, pain management and bereavement care. Impact Understanding the experiences of nurses and midwives in abortion provision will inform future clinical practice in surgical abortion care, which would be helpful in improving the professionalism and confidence of abortion providers. Our findings have implications for the training, development of policies and standards for surgical abortion care for nurses and midwives.

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Aims and objectives To explore the psychological trajectories of women who have had a diagnosis of foetal abnormality from the time of receiving a definite diagnosis to one month after discharge. Background Foetal abnormalities are not uncommon worldwide. Such situations are devastating, and the termination of a pregnancy due to foetal abnormalities is a traumatic and stressful event for the mother. Design A descriptive qualitative approach using expressive writing. Methods The study included 20 women recruited through purposive sampling at a tertiary hospital in China. The participants were asked to write four 15‐min essays related to their experiences with foetal abnormalities. Thematic analysis was used to generate themes. The COREQ checklist (see Supporting Information Appendix S1) was used. Results Four themes that reflected the women's psychological trajectories were identified: (a) traumatic response, (b) ruminant meditation, (c) positive coping and (d) post‐traumatic growth stages. The psychological trajectories were dynamically shaped, and different responses were displayed in each stage. Conclusions Various responses were observed during each of the four psychological trajectories, which indicated that awareness regarding the psychological impacts associated with foetal abnormalities should be increased. The present findings suggest that healthcare services should be made accessible for women who have had a diagnosis of foetal abnormality to allow them to receive targeted nursing care at different stages and improve their psychological well‐being. Relevance to clinical practice Midwives, nurses and other healthcare professionals should pay more attention to the mental health of women pregnant with foetuses diagnosed with abnormalities. Interventions designed based on women's worries and demands during various phases should be offered. In terms of the present research method, expressive writing possesses unique advantages that can be applied for relevant qualitative research.

Background The Perinatal Bereavement Care Confidence Scale (PBCCS) was designed to evaluate midwives’ and nurses’ confidence and its psychosocial factors to provide bereavement care in Ireland. However, it is unknown whether this scale is valid and reliable for use with midwives and nurses in China. The aim of this study was to translate the English version into Chinese (C-PBCCS) and determine its validity and reliability in a population of Chinese midwives and nurses. Methods In this cross-sectional observational study, after translating the English version of the PBCCS into Chinese and ensuring the linguistic adequacy and clarity of the language, we evaluated the validity and reliability of the C-PBCCS with Chinese midwives and nurses (n = 608). Participants were recruited using convenience sampling from 10 maternity hospitals in Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to determine the construct validity (n = 304). Another sample of 304 midwives and nurses was used for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to verify the quality of the factor structures. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and Guttman split-half coefficient were adopted for the evaluation of internal consistency. The STROBE was followed in reporting the results. Results The 43-item PBCCS was reduced to 40 items. Bereavement support knowledge (13 items, three factors), Bereavement support skills (eight items, two factors), Self-awareness (eight items, two factors), and Organizational support (11 items, two factors). The CFA suggested that the four scales in the C-PBCCS had acceptable fit indices. The Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.835–0.901. The Guttman split-half coefficient was between 0.868–0.933. Conclusion The C-PBCCS was found to be a psychometrically sound measurement tool to evaluate Chinese-speaking midwives’ and nurses’ confidence and the psychosocial factors that affect their confidence in providing perinatal bereavement care.

ObjectivesThis scoping review aimed to describe available interventions for decreasing (post-traumatic stress disorder) PTSD symptoms among healthcare professionals in hospital care.MethodA scoping review was conducted following Arksey and O’Malley’s framework. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus and ProQuest were searched for original research published in English from 2011 to 2021, on 8 July 2021. We included studies that described interventions that focused on reducing the PTSD symptoms of healthcare professionals. A narrative synthesis was adopted to synthesise the data.ResultsA total of eight studies out of 2558 articles were identified. Six used a quantitative study design and two adopted qualitative methods. cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness-based interventions were the most commonly adopted. Most studies used a combination of different intervention strategies. Trauma-related knowledge, emotion regulation and relaxation skill training, and psychological support from peers and psychologists were three core intervention components. The duration ranged from 2 weeks to 6 months. Healthcare professionals who participated in training programmes reported both positive experiences and suggestions for the improvement of PTSD-reducing interventions in their qualitative feedback.ConclusionsThe scoping review provides a practical summary of the intervention characteristics for reducing the PTSD symptoms of healthcare professionals. Hospitals and managers could use the overview of interventions to assist healthcare professionals with PTSD symptoms. More research investigating the effects of PTSD symptom-reducing interventions for healthcare professionals with appropriate follow-up assessments is needed in the future.

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Background Postpartum fatigue is the most common issue among postnatal women and it could not only seriously affect the health of mothers but also bring about adverse impacts on their offspring. This meta-analysis aims to synthesize nonpharmacological evidence and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for reducing postpartum fatigue among puerperae. Methods The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL and ProQuest databases were searched for papers published from inception until June 2021. Grey literature was searched using OpenGrey. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or controlled clinical trials (CCTs) evaluating nonpharmacological interventions conducted during 0 ~ 78 weeks postpartum for fatigue reduction were eligible for inclusion. The methodological quality of the included studies was independently assessed by two reviewers using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool and the risk of bias in nonrandomized studies of interventions. Cohen’s kappa coefficient was used to measure inter-rater agreement. The meta-analysis was conducted using Review Manager 5.3. Results Seventeen published clinical trials matched the eligibility criteria and ten studies involving 1194 participants were included in this meta-analysis. The intervention start time varied from immediately postpartum care to 1 year after delivery, and duration ranged from 1 day to 3 months. The results revealed that exercise (SMD = − 1.74, 95% CI = -2.61 to − 0.88) and drinking tea (MD = − 3.12, 95% CI = -5.44 to − 0.80) resulted in significant improvements in women’s postpartum fatigue at postintervention. Drinking tea may have beneficial effects on depression (MD = − 2.89, 95% CI = -4.30 to − 1.49). Positive effects of psychoeducational interventions on postpartum fatigue or depression were not observed. Physical therapies including mother-infant skin-to-skin contact, taking warm showers and breathing lavender oil aroma were used for reducing postpartum fatigue. No significant risk of publication bias was found. Small number of included studies and sample sizes, not time-matched conditions of control groups, high heterogeneity and the risk of bias within the included studies were the main limitations of our review. Conclusions This review provides evidence that exercise and drinking tea may be effective nonpharmacological interventions for relieving postpartum fatigue. More effective and targeted exercise programs need to be further studied. Rigorous RCTs of drinking tea are needed. Caution is required when interpreting the findings due to the limitations of our study. Further studies are still needed to validate our findings and increase confidence in the results.