NURS 6551:Week 3: Gynecologic Health Essay Assignment Paper

—Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Inc.

As this quote suggests, contraceptive care is a critical part of women’s health. Contraceptives not only help prevent unintended pregnancies—which account for nearly half of all pregnancies (CDC, 2012a)—but are also used to treat and manage gynecologic conditions. Although contraceptive care might be difficult to discuss with some patients, as the advanced practice nurse, you must facilitate this discussion and help patients select treatment options that meet their health needs. Imagine you are treating a 20-year-old patient who has questions about which contraceptive method is right for her. She says she does not have insurance, worries about potential side effects of contraceptives, and does not know which options are available to her or how to properly use them. What recommendations would you make and how would you educate this patient?

This week you explore contraception treatments, an integral part of women’s gynecologic health. You examine contraceptive options and strategies for selecting appropriate contraception treatment for patients.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this week, students will:

• Evaluate appropriate contraception treatments for individual patients
• Analyze ways to facilitate the selection of contraception treatments with patients
• Understand and apply key terms, principles, and concepts related women’s gynecologic health
• Evaluate diagnoses for patients
• Evaluate treatment and management plans
• Analyze nursing theories and feminist perspectives in relation to clinical practice*
• Analyze differences between common screenings for younger women and common screenings for older women*

*These Learning Objectives support Assignments that are due this week, but were assigned in Weeks 1 and 2.

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Schuiling, K. D., & Likis, F. E. (2017). Women’s gynecologic health (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

 

• • Chapter 11, “Contraception” (pp. 209-244)

This chapter explores advantages and disadvantages of various contraceptive options. It also describes patient factors that impact the selection of contraceptive options, as well as non contraceptive benefits of contraceptives.

 

• • Chapter 17, “Unintended Pregnancy” (pp. 397-416)

This chapter examines the scope of unintended pregnancy in the United States. It also provides strategies for supporting women with unintended pregnancies, including options for abortion and adoption.

 

• • Chapter 23, “Menstrual-Cycle Pain and Premenstrual Conditions” (pp. 549-571)

This chapter examines strategies for assessing, diagnosing, treating, and managing symptoms for women experiencing menstrual cycle pain and discomfort from conditions such as dysmenorrhea and premenstrual syndrome.

 

Tharpe, N. L., Farley, C., & Jordan, R. G. (2017). Clinical practice guidelines for midwifery & women’s health (5th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

 

• • Chapter 6, “Care of the Well Woman Across the Life Span”

 

• • • “Care of the Woman Interested in Barrier Methods for Birth Control and STI Prevention” (pp. 311-314)

This section explores types of barrier contraceptives. It examines the efficacy of each method and includes recommendations for educating patients about the use of each method.

 

• • • “Care of the Woman Interested in Emergency Contraception” (pp. 314-316)

This section describes available forms of emergency contraception. It also examines factors that must be considered when selecting emergency contraception and strategies for educating patients about appropriate usage.

 

• • • “Care of the Woman Interested in Hormonal Contraception” (pp. 319-325)

This section examines the use of hormonal contraception. It explores strategies for assessing a woman’s ability and motivation to properly use hormonal contraception, as well as risk factors associated with hormonal contraception use.

 

• • • “Care of the Woman with an Unintended Pregnancy” (pp. 333-338)

This section describes the role of the health care provider in offering support to women with unintended or unwanted pregnancies.

 

• • Chapter 7, “Care of the Woman with Reproductive Health Conditions”

 

• • • “Care of the Woman with Dysmenorrhea” (pp. 389-391)

This section provides strategies for assessing, diagnosing, treating, and managing patients with dysmenorrhea.

 

• • • “Care of the Woman with Premenstrual Symptoms, Syndrome, or Dysphoric Disorder” (pp. 437-441)

This section examines the prevalence of premenstrual symptoms, PMS, and PMDD in women. It also provides strategies for assessing and managing patients with these conditions.

Dragoman, M., Davis, A., & Banks, E. (2010). Contraceptive options for women with preexisting medical conditions. Journal of Women’s Health, 19(3), 575–580.

This article examines the provider’s role in discussing contraceptive options with patients. It also explores contraceptives based on their effectiveness for pregnancy prevention and ability to help treat chronic diseases.

Gagan, M. J. (2009). The SOAP format enhances communication. Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand, 15(5), 15.

Optional Resources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012b). Women’s health. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/women/

National Institutes of Health. (2012). Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH). Retrieved from http://orwh.od.nih.gov/

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2012a). Womenshealth.gov. Retrieved from http://www.womenshealth.gov/

Discussion: Contraception Treatments

Considering the potentially negative consequences of unintended pregnancy for a woman’s health and well-being, effective contraceptive treatments are an important part of gynecologic care. There are a variety of contraceptive treatment methods available for women, including hormonal, barrier, and fertility awareness options. Each method has its own strengths and limitations, and each patient often has individual factors that might also impact appropriateness of use. In your role as the advanced practice nurse, it is important to keep in mind that while you may make contraceptive recommendations to patients, contraceptive selection is a joint decision between the patient and the provider. For this Discussion, consider which contraceptive treatments would be most appropriate for the patients in the following three case studies:

Case Study 1:

A 23-year-old Caucasian female presents with concerns about mood swings around the time of her menses. She believes she has PMS and wants to know if there is medication to control it.

Case Study 2:

A 25-year-old Latina female presents with menstrual cramping that has been getting worse over time. She has never been pregnant and she has one male sex partner. Her gynecologic exam is normal.

Case Study 3:

A 33-year-old Caucasian female is being seen in clinic for contraception. She is using birth control pills, but forgets to take them because her work schedule changes every week. She has been married for 14 years and has two children. She is looking for an effective method that will be easy to remember. She has a history of chronic headaches and hypertension during pregnancy. She has never been treated for a sexually transmitted infection and is in a mutually monogamous relationship. Family history is significant for an aunt with breast cancer. She smokes half a pack of cigarettes per day. She is 5 ft. 8 in. and 215 lbs. Her vital signs are: BP 120/78, p 72, reg.

To prepare:

• Review Chapter 12 of the Schuiling and Likis text and the Dragoman et al. article in this week’s Learning Resources
• Select one of the three provided case studies. Reflect on the patient information.
• Consider an appropriate contraception treatment for the patient case study you selected.
• Think about how you might facilitate the selection of contraception treatments with patients who do not agree with your recommendations.

By Day 3

Post an explanation of the contraception treatment that would be most appropriate for the patient in the case study you selected, and explain why. Explain how you might work with patients who do not agree with your recommendations.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days who selected different case studies than you did. Based on your personal and/or professional experiences, expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives.

Note: For this Discussion, you are required to complete your initial post before you will be able to view and respond to your colleagues’ postings. Begin by clicking on the “Post to Discussion Question” link and then select “Create Thread” to complete your initial post. Remember, once you click on Submit, you cannot delete or edit your own posts, and you cannot post anonymously. Please check your post carefully before clicking on Submit!