Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Capstone

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Committee Chair

Robin Webb Corbett

Abstract

The results of a positive pregnancy test for an adolescent female mandate a time-sensitive decision to be chosen on the outcome of that pregnancy--whether to continue to pregnancy or terminate. Ambivalence regarding the pregnancy in adolescence is typically high as the rate of unplanned pregnancies has been reported as high as eighty-six percent. In this project, Allanson's Abortion Decision Balance Sheet (ADBS) was modified to an age-appropriate literacy level and completed by nine adolescents in a public health department setting in the project "Pregnancy Resolution Counseling with Adolescents" (PRCA). Providing objective questions related to emotions regarding the pregnancy was proposed to decrease ambivalence hence aiding in pregnancy resolution decision-making. Findings were then compared to an equal number of medical records in pregnant adolescents who presented to the site prior to the initiation of the survey. There was no statistical significance noted in correlation between the group that completed the survey and the control participants who were not offered the survey. There was also no statistical significance noted with the pregnancy resolution decision among the participants when compared by age or race. Future plans are to replicate the study in a larger sample size and make further modifications to the survey tool geared toward the adolescent patient.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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