Sustaining Hope: A Narrative Inquiry Study Exploring Midwives' Hope-Focused Practices In HIV Care in Ghana
Loading...
Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Abstract
HIV remains a statistically significant issue for women of childbearing age in Ghana.
Nurses and midwives form the backbone of care providers for the prevention of
mother-to-
child
transmission programmes. However, nurses and midwives receive little
support to provide the emotional aspects of HIV/AIDS care.
Aim: Our aim was to build an understanding of how midwives currently embrace their
experience of hope and hoping to support mothers living with HIV.
Design: This is narrative inquiry study.
Methods: We engaged in two to three conversations with five midwives in rural settings
in Ghana to understand their experiences of hope and hoping in their interactions
with mothers living with HIV. Using the narrative inquiry common places of
temporality, the social and personal, and space/place, we wrote narrative accounts
for each participant and then searched for resonances across the narrative accounts.
Results: We highlight three emerging narrative threads that resonated across narrative
accounts. The three emerging narrative threads were (1) sustaining hope by drawing
on life experiences across time and place; (2) hope is sustained through a focus
on relational engagement with mothers; (3) midwives embrace the possibility to learn
more about hope-focused
practices.
Conclusion: The midwives began, although tentatively, to shine light on the things and
events that diminished their abilities to maintain a hopeful perspective. At the same
time, they became more comfortable and familiar with the notion of making hope visible
and accessible in their experiences.
Impact: Since the midwives welcomed additional support to cope with the challenges
they were experiencing, we imagine one day being able to make sense of how nurses
and midwives engage with a narrative pedagogy of hope. Including hope-focused
practices
in nursing and midwifery preservice and in-service
opportunities is important.
Patient or Public Contribution: There was no direct patient or public involvement in
this study.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
narrative inquiry, midwives, hope, nurses
Citation
Puplampu, G. L., LeMay, L. M., Asamoah-Ampofo, E., & Caine, V. (2023). Sustaining hope: A narrative inquiry study exploring midwives' hope-focused practices in HIV care in Ghana. Nursing Open, 00, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.1787