Quality of Care

One of the important healthcare domains is the quality of care. Health facilities have to
struggle to ensure that they offer the best care to patients. Quality of care is particularly
important when dealing with newborns. Prenatal and postpartum care must ensure that patients
get the best care to safeguard the health of their newborns. Quality of care is important since it
ensures that both women and children get health services that meet the specified quality criteria.
Nursing intervention is important in meeting the goal of delivering quality healthcare services
(Shepherd et al., 2019). Nursing interventions help in ensuring that patients reach the goals set.
Among the nursing interventions related to the quality of care are counseling pregnant women,
prevention of diseases during pregnancy, and iron and folic acid supplementation.
Counseling of Pregnant Women on the Effects of Smoking
The well-being of pregnant women and their unborn children highly depends on the
lifestyle adopted during pregnancy. Smoking during pregnancy adversely affects the life of the
unborn child. Nurses have a role in counseling pregnant women, especially on the negative
effects of smoking during pregnancy (Lassi et a.., 2014). The effectiveness of the counseling
programs can be evaluated by the number of pregnant women that adopt the right lifestyle and
stop smoking. Nicotine replacement therapy is also a method that nurses can use to complement
counseling. Social support and encouragement are important in ensuring that pregnant women
stop smoking.
Counselling has an impact on reducing the level of smoking during pregnancy. The
incidences of low birth weight are reduced when women quit smoking and adopt healthy
lifestyles. An increase in the mean birth weight is reported with the cessation of smoking. When

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pregnant women stop smoking, they give birth to healthy babies. The result is that the cost of
providing care to newborns is brought down significantly. The intervention helps boost NP
patient ratings by improving the level of patient satisfaction (Lassi et a.., 2014). The intervention
is also important in ensuring positive patient outcomes. It reduces the number of hospital visits
and ensures that healthcare services provided to the patients are holistic in nature.
Prevention of Diseases During Pregnancy
One of the diseases that affect the health of pregnant women and their unborn children is
malaria. Prevention of malaria during pregnancy is important because the disease remains
asymptomatic and may, therefore, be undetected. Nurses can intervene and help patients by
offering to counsel and giving pregnant women insecticide-treated nets (Lassi et a.., 2014).
Nurses can also help in the administration of antimalarial drugs. Insecticide-treated nets help in
killing mosquitos that spread malaria. Mosquito nets also act as physical barriers and thus shield
patients from mosquitoes (Lassi et a.., 2014). The nets can be given to patients in healthcare
facilities as well as to patients who are outside healthcare facilities. The effectiveness of the
intervention can be measured through the reduction in the number of pregnant women infected
with malaria.
The reduction of malaria infection results in an improvement in patient outcomes. In
addition, the reduction of the number of women infected with malaria eliminates the need to
offer treatment to sick women. In doing so, the result is a reduction in the cost of providing
healthcare services to pregnant women and newborn children. Malaria causes maternal anemia
and also translates into the birth of underweight babies. The intervention can thus help improve
patient ratings by achieving higher levels of patient satisfaction. The intervention promotes
preventative care, and this, in turn, reduces the number of hospital visits.

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Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation
Pregnant mothers often experience iron deficiency. The result is that some women fail to
add adequate weight that is required to maintain a healthy fetus. Pregnant women also have a
weak immune system, and this makes them be prone to various illnesses. There is a high risk of
children being born underweight or prematurely. Diet cannot fulfill the iron demand during
pregnancy (Lassi et a.., 2014). Nurses have to ensure that they offer pregnant women folic acid
and iron supplements. In addition, nurses can undertake iron fortification to ensure that pregnant
women get the necessary iron supplements. Health nutritional education is also important in
improving the health of women (Lassi et a.., 2014). The effectiveness of the intervention can be
defined by maternal outcomes. The outcomes include the number of women with maternal
anemia as well as the number of women who give birth to children who are underweight. The
intervention saves on costs by improving the health of pregnant women as well as the health of
the unborn babies (McCleery et al., 2014). It reduces the need to treat pregnant women from
various illnesses and conditions. The implication is that this improves the level of patient
satisfaction.
Overall, nurse practitioners play an important role in defining the health of pregnant
women and their unborn babies. Nursing intervention can help in ensuring that quality services
are rendered to pregnant mothers. The interventions include counseling patients, giving
supplements, and preventing diseases during pregnancy. Pregnant women and their unborn
children need specialized care that can help improve the level of patient satisfaction.

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References

Lassi, Z. S., Mansoor, T., Salam, R. A., Das, J. K., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2014). Essential pre-
pregnancy and pregnancy interventions for improved maternal, newborn and child
health. Reproductive health, 11(1), S2.
McCleery, E., Christensen, V., Peterson, K., Humphrey, L., & Helfand, M. (2014). Evidence
brief: The quality of care provided by advanced practice nurses. In VA Evidence Synthesis
Program Evidence Briefs [Internet]. Department of Veterans Affairs (US).
Shepherd, A. J., Cowie, J., & Beattie, M. (2019). An exploration of how domains of quality of
care relate to overall care experience. International journal of health care quality
assurance.