International journal of nursing studies
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The purpose of the study was to explore the association between depressive symptoms and social support in Taiwanese women doing the month. A correlational survey design using the Postpartum Social Support Questionnaire (PSSQ) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) to measure social support and postnatal depressive symptomatology was employed. Two hundred and forty postpartum women receiving care in two teaching hospitals in Taipei, Taiwan, aged between 20 and 35, with no peri-natal complications or previous psychiatric history, experiencing a normal spontaneous delivery of one full term healthy baby, were selected. ⋯ It was found that the greater the level of postpartum social support received by the women doing the month, the lower the risk of postnatal depressive symptoms experienced. Almost a quarter (24%) of the variance of the symptoms was attributed to dissatisfaction with parents' instrumental support and unwanted emotional support from parents-in-law. It is concluded that the ritual of doing the month provides valuable social support and may help to prevent postnatal depression in Taiwanese women.
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This exploratory study investigated nurses' self-assessment of their own nursing competencies, job demands and job performance in Taiwan. Nurses' self-evaluation on their own job performance was conceptualized as an indicator of nursing care quality. A total of 21 competencies were clustered into three groups: basic-level patient care skills, intermediate-level patient care and fundamental management skills, and advanced-level patient care and supervision skills. ⋯ Nurses' self-assessment on basic patient care skills and advanced patient care skills contributed to nurses' levels of overall satisfaction with their own nursing competencies. These results suggest a relationship between competency and performance. These findings may serve as a guide to amend academic nursing courses and on-job training programs as appropriate to place a greater emphasis on the competencies desired for providing high quality of nursing services.