Aims: This study aimed to explore and analyse how nurses instruct women in contraceptive use during consultations in family planning clinics to produce a grounded theory of contraceptive education.
Background: Nurses play a key role in instructing women how to use contraception in family planning clinic consultations. These one-to-one situations are encounters where women are taught how to use contraceptive methods effectively. However, very little is known about the nature of these consultations.
Design: A qualitative study using a grounded theory approach was used.
Results: Three linked 'core categories' emerged from the data analysis. Firstly, women are educated about their body and how it responds to contraception: 'reproductive education'. This core category is closely linked to 'surveillance' where women are taught to monitor their reproductive health and to 'contraceptive regimen' where women are instructed in techniques to successfully use a contraceptive method. Together these three core categories present a grounded theory of 'contraceptive education'.
Conclusions: Nursing practice in this important area of women's health care is complex and requires skilled practitioners. This study presents unique empirical data into how nurses conduct one-to-one consultations with women - providing a novel insight into how contraception is explained in clinical situations. Key issues for practice from the data were the lack of a balance when discussing side effects, the rigidity of some instructions and the lack of recognition of risk from sexually transmitted infection.
Relevance to clinical practice: Nurses working in sexual health need to ensure that women understand the often complex instructions they provide and that rigid instruction be occasionally amended to enable some flexibility. The manner in which side-effects are discussed should also be balanced. Nurses need to address the risk of sexually transmitted infections more substantially in contraceptive discussions.