Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Health Services

Advisor

Jeanne Connors

Abstract

The experiences of women with health care services continue to be a challenge for health care workers in providing quality care. Women’s poor impressions of health care services in sub-Saharan Africa stems from the negative behavior of health care workers during the provision of care to mothers and their preterm babies. The lack of data on women's experience with health care services in Cameroon was the problem this study addressed. The study's purpose was to understand Aghem women's experience with health services provided for their preterm babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and how they perceived that their experience with health care services provided to their preterm babies influenced their preterm babies’ healthcare outcomes. Swanson’s caring theory was a guide for data collection and analysis. A qualitative approach was used, and data was collected through in-depth interviews with 10 Aghem women who had experienced health care services for their preterm babies in a NICU in Cameroon. The results showed that health care workers demonstrated the five tenets of Swanson's caring process including knowing the mothers of preterm babies, spending time with them, teaching, and helping them to maintain hope during the care process. However, many aspects of the caring process challenged mothers’ experiences, including health care workers’ reluctance to provide health care and their contentious interactions with mothers of preterm babies. The results and recommendations from this study may help inform health stakeholders about the problem and design strategies to improve women's experiences with health care services and the health outcome of preterm babies in Cameroon.

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