With one out every three babies currently being born surgically in the United States, health care providers, researchers, and consumers are all beginning to question what can be done to lower the Cesarean rate and consequently the associated risks for moms and babies.
We recently shared a study conducted by Dr. Neel Shah and Ariadne labs that uncovered the correlation between facility design and Cesarean rate, and now a new study now looks at how nurses impact this rate as well.
The Journal of Obstetric, Gynecological and Neonatal Nursing published a retrospective cohort study that included 3,031 births and 72 nurses. While the mean nurse Cesarean rate was 26%, nurse’s individual rates ranged from 8.3% to a whopping 48%.
With such a wide variation in Cesarean rates across nurses, the study concluded that “the nurse assigned to a patient may influence the likelihood of cesarean birth.” The authors further suggest that, “Data regarding this outcome could be used to design practice improvement initiatives to improve nurse performance.”
Find the original study.
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