Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out if the shave routinely received by maternity patients could be limited to the perineal area without increasing the incidence of infection among these patients. The experimental method, with the parallel group technique and a single variable, was used.

The study was conducted at two hospitals; the White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles, California, called Hospital A; and the Washington Sanitarium and Hospital in Takoma Park, Maryland, referred to as Hospital B. Data were collected on ninety clinic patients at Hospital A and on two-hundred and one private patients at Hospital B. Every other patient at Hospital A was an experimental patient while at Hospital B the first one-hundred patients of the participating obstetricians composed the experimental group. The variable in the study was the area shaved: patients in the experimental groups received the partial shave while those in the control group received the complete shave. A temperature elevation of 100.4' F. on any two of the first ten days postpartum, exclusive of the first twenty-four hours, was the criterion used to indicate the presence of infection. A record sheet was used to collect the data which pertained to characteristics of the groups, factors predisposing to infection, incidence of infection and reactions to being shaved. Analysis and interpretation were made according to the information on the record sheets.

Analysis shoved that the two groups at Hospital A were equivalent as to age, gravida and length of hospital stay. They were not equivalent in the number of patients who had complications with previous pregnancies. The patients in both groups Hospital B were equivalent with respect to all of these characteristics.

Investigation of the factors predisposing to infection which were experienced by patients studied, and their subsequent febrile or afebrile course, disclosed that, for these patients, these factors did not contribute to the production of postpartum temperature elevations.

Two patients in the experimental group at Hospital A met the criterion of temperature elevation as an indication of Infection. These temperature elevations were not attributable to the partial shave. None of the patients in the experimental group at Hospital B met the criterion used to indicate the presence of infection. Therefore, it was concluded that limiting the shave to the perineal area did not increase the incidence of infection among the patients studied.

The data revealed that the routine shave was a source of discomfort for a majority of the patients studied. It was further shown that limiting the shave to the perineal area minimized or entirely eliminated this discomfort.

Based on the findings of this study, recommendations were suggested for promoting patient comfort by: (1) publicizing the findings of this study and encouraging doctors to experiment with the partial shave; and, (2) Maternal and Child Health Administrative Personnel initiating a review of routine procedures in maternity departments.

LLU Discipline

Nursing

Department

Nursing

School

Graduate Studies

First Advisor

Betty Trubey

Second Advisor

Ruth White

Third Advisor

Harriet Smith

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

1961

Date (Title Page)

6-1961

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Preoperative Care; Obstetric Nursing; Puerperal Infection -- etiology

Type

Thesis

Page Count

58

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

Download

Share

COinS