Research Results from N.J. Macmullen and Co-Authors Update Knowledge ofSickle Cell Anemia

Nursing, originally uploaded by Lower Columbia College.

"Sickle cell disease (SCD) affects millions of people across the globe. In the United States, approximately 70,000 to 100,000 people have the disease, and 2 million have the sickle cell trait," investigators in University Park, Illinois report (see also Sickle Cell Anemia).

"SCD occurs once in every 500 African American births, and once in 36,000 Hispanic American births. Women with SCD can have more adverse maternal outcomes such as preeclampsia, eclampsia, preterm labor, placental abruption, intrauterine growth restriction, and low birthweight. Providing comprehensive nursing care to women with SCD is a challenge, particularly during labor and birth, with nursing management aimed at attaining healthy birth outcomes while preventing or treating manifestations of the disease. Labor and delivery nurses are responsible for specific knowledge and care practices for these women, including differentiating the pain of sickle cell crisis from contraction pain and monitoring maternal and fetal oxygenation, as oxygenation is jeopardized in laboring sickle cell patients. Intrapartum nursing care also requires vigilance in the need for emergency cesarean birth. Nursing interventions include symptom management, pain management, ensuring patient safety, and educating patients," wrote N.J. Macmullen and colleagues.

The researchers concluded: "Coordination of care and clear communication between the members of the healthcare team, patient, and family are essential elements to ensure a positive outcome for perinatal patients with SCD."

Macmullen and colleagues published their study in Mcn - the American Journal of Maternal - Child Nursing (Perinatal Implications Of Sickle Cell Disease. Mcn - the American Journal of Maternal - Child Nursing, 2011;36(4):232-238).

For additional information, contact N.J. Macmullen, Governors State University, University Park, IL 60484, United States.

The publisher of the Mcn - the American Journal of Maternal - Child Nursing can be contacted at: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 530 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19106-3621, USA.

Keywords: City:University Park, State:Illinois, Country:United States, Region:North and Central America, Hematology, Sickle Cell Anemia

Source Citation
"Research Results from N.J. Macmullen and Co-Authors Update Knowledge of Sickle Cell Anemia." Women's Health Weekly 28 July 2011: 143. Gale Power Search. Web. 28 July 2011.
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