OVERVIEW FOR

MATERNAL AND CHILD

HEALTH NURSING
MA. RONELA PAGLINAWAN-MENDOZA, RN, MAN
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Explain the goal, theories and principles of

maternal and child health nursing
2. Discuss the different philosophies of maternal
and child health nursing
3. Discuss national health policies and current
trends and issues on maternal and child care
4.Understand the roles and responsibilities of a
maternal and child health nurse
Goal and Philosophies of MCHN
▪ Comprehensive preconception and prenatal care is
essential in ensuring a healthy outcome for mother
and earth.
▪ Major Goal of MCHN – PROMOTION AND
MAINTENANCE OF OPTIMAL FAMILY HEALTH to
ensure cycles of optimal child health bearing and child
rearing
▪ MCHN extends from preconception to menopause
with an expansive array of health issues and
healthcare providers.
Scope of Practice
▪ Preconception health care
▪ Care of women during three trimesters of pregnancy
and the
▪ puerperium.
▪ Care of infants during the perinatal period.
▪ Care of children from birth through late adolescent.
▪ Care in settings as varied as the birthing room, the
pediatric intensive care unit and the home
▪ Family-centered approach is the preferred focus of
nursing care.
▪ Note: The health of an individual and his or her ability to
function as a member of a family can strongly influence and
improve overall family functioning.
▪ Family-centered care enables nurses to better
understand individuals and their effect on others and,
in turn, to provide more holistic care.
▪ Family members are encouraged to provide physical
and emotional care based on the individual situation
and their comfort level.
Philosophy of Maternal & Child
Health Nursing
It is family centered; assessment must include
both family and individual data
It is community centered; health of families
depends on and influences the health of
communities
It is evidence based.
Philosophy of Maternal & Child
Health Nursing
 The nurse serves as an advocate
 It includes a high degree of independent nursing
functions
 Promotes health and disease prevention
 The nurse serves as important resources for
families during childbearing and childrearing
 Personal, cultural, and religious attitudes and
beliefs influences the meaning and impact of
childbearing and child rearing
Philosophy of Maternal & Child
Health Nursing
Circumstances such as illness or pregnancy
are meaningful only in the context of a total
life
MCHN is a challenging role for nurses; it is a
major factor in keeping families well and
optimally functioning
FRAMEWORK FOR MCHNC

❑ The Nursing Process

❑ Evidence-Based practice
❑ Nursing Theory
❑ Care for Families using the FOUR PHASES OF
HEALTH CARE
❖ Health promotion
❖ Health maintenance
❖ Health restoration
❖ Health rehabilitation
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR
MCHNC
Four Phases of Health Care

1. Health promotion – educating parents and children

to follow sound health practices through teaching
and role modeling.
❖ e.g teaching women the importance of rubella immunization
before pregnancy

2. Health maintenance – intervening to maintain health

when risk of illness is present.
❖ e.g encourage women to come for prenatal care
Four Phases of Health Care

3. Health restoration – using conscientious assessment to be

certain that symptoms of illness are identified and interventions are
begun to return patient to wellness more rapidly.
❖ Caring for a woman during a complication of pregnancy of a child during
an acute illness

4. Health rehabilitation – helping prevent complications from

illness; helping a patient with residual effects achieve an optimal
state of wellness and independence, helping a patient to accept
inevitable death.
❖ Encouraging a woman with gestational trophoblastic disease to continue
therapy
THE NURSING PROCESS

▪ Nursing care is designed and implemented in a

thorough manner, using organized series of steps to
ensure quality and consistency of care (Carpenito,
2007)
▪ A scientific form of problem solving, serves as the basis
for assessing, making a nursing diagnosis, planning,
implementing, and evaluating care.
▪ It is a process broad enough to serve as the basis for
modern nursing care.
NURSING THEORY

 One of the requirements of a profession (together with

other critical determinants, such as members who set their
own standards, self-monitor their practice quality, and
participate in research) is that a discipline’s knowledge
flows from a base of established theory

 NOTE:
 Nursing theories are designed to offer helpful ways to view
patients
 so nursing activities can be created to best meet patient
needs.
NURSING THEORISTS

▪ CALISTA ROY
▪ An important role of the nurse is to help patients
adapt to change caused by illness or other stressors.
▪ DOROTHEA OREM
▪ Examining patients’ ability to perform self-care
▪ PATRICIA BENNER
▪ Describes the way nurses move from novice to expert
as they become more experienced and prepared to
give interprofessional care.
EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE

 The conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best

evidence to make decisions about the care of patients.
 Combination of research, clinical expertise, and patient
preferences or values.
 NURSING RESEARCH – the controlled investigation of
problems that have implications for nursing practice,
provides evidence for practice and justification for
implementing activities for outcome achievement,
ultimately resulting in improved and cost-effective patient
care
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES OF A
MATERNAL/CHILD HEALTH NURSE
1. Considers the family as a whole and as a partner in care
when planning or implementing or evaluating the
effectiveness of care.
2. Serves as an advocate to protect the rights of all family
members, including the fetus.
3. Demonstrate a high degree of independent nursing
functions because teaching and counseling are major
interventions.
4. Promotes health and disease prevention because
these protects the health of the next generation.
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES OF A
MATERNAL/CHILD HEALTH NURSE
5. Serves as an important resource for families during
childbearing and childrearing as these can be extremely
stressful times in a life cycle.
6. Respect personal, cultural, and spiritual attitudes and
beliefs as these so strongly influence the meaning and
impact of childbearing and childrearing.
7. Encourages developmental stimulation during both
health and illness so children can reach their ultimate
capacity in adult life.
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES OF A
MATERNAL/CHILD HEALTH NURSE
8. Assesses families for strengths as well as specific
needs or challenges.
9. Encourages family bonding through rooming-in and
family visiting in maternal and child healthcare settings.
10.Encourages early hospital discharge options to reunite
families ASAP in order to create a seamless, helpful
transition process.
11.Encourages families to reach out to their community
so the family can develop a wealth of support people
they can call on in a time of family crisis.
ADVANCED PRACTICE ROLES FOR
NURSES IN MCHNC
❑ Clinical Nurse Specialist
❑ Case manager
❑ Nurse practitioner
❑ Women’s health nurse practitioner
❑ Pediatric nurse practitioner
❑ Neonatal nurse practitioner
❑ Family nurse practitioner
❑ Certified nurse-midwife
MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

1. to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger;

2. to achieve global primary education;
3. to empower women and promote gender equality;
4. to reduce child mortality;
5. to promote maternal health;
6. to fight malaria, HIV/AIDS, and other diseases;
7. to promote environmental sustainability; and
8. to develop a universal partnership for development.
2020 National Health Goals
▪ The two main overarching national health goals are:
✓ To increase quality and years of healthy life.
✓ To eliminate health disparities.

▪ A new objective added in 2010 recommends that 100% of

prelicensure programs in nursing include core content on
counseling for health promotion and disease prevention, cultural
diversity including for LGBT populations, evaluation of health
sciences literature, environmental health, public health systems,
and global health.
▪ Help citizens more easily understand the importance of health
promotion and disease prevention and to encourage wide
participation in improving health in the next decade.
Maternal and Child Health Goals &
Standards
▪ Healthcare technology has contributed to a number of
important advances in MCH care.
▪ New fertility drugs and fertility techniques allow more
couples to conceive.
▪ The ability to prevent preterm birth and improve the
quality of life for both preterm and late term infants
has increased dramatically.
▪ Stem cell therapy may make it possible to replace
diseased cells with new growth cells and cure these
illness.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

 REFERENCES:
 Pilliterri, Adele; Flagg, Joanne Silbert (2014), Maternal and Child
Health Nursing: Care of the Childbearing and the Childbearing
Family 8th edition. Vol.1