Qualitative study on experience and nursing demands of spouses of in-hospital puerpera in the puerperium

Objective To explore the mental response and nursing demands of spouses of puerpera in the puerperium and to provide support and assistance to family-centered humanistic nursing in the department of obstetrics. Methods Totally 15 spouses of puerpera at day 3 post delivery in a Class Ⅲ Grade A hospital in Suzhou were selected by purposive sampling from November 2017 to January 2018. Their real experience was collected by live recording and semi-structured in-depth interview using qualitative phenomenological methods, and the data were organized, summarized and analyzed using content analysis. Results Totally 4 categories were refined: adaptation to the role of husband, adaptation to the role of father, mental response and nursing demands. Conclusions The emotions of the spouses of puerpera in the puerperium fluctuated significantly, and their mental response vary from phase to phase. Attention should be paid to the role awareness, responsibility, mental activity and nursing demands and information support and psychological care should be properly provided according to their role awareness, responsibility and mental response. Key words: Delivery; Emotion; Puerperium; Spouses; Nursing demands