<p> Every patient has a right to be treated with dignity, respect and high quality pain management (Olivier, et al., 2012). Pain continues to be inadequately treated by healthcare providers (Zuccaro, et al., 2012). The purpose of this DNP project was to determine if perinatal nurses&rsquo; intent to medicate pregnant women with chronic pain was affected by knowledge of pain, attitude, or demographics. This will explore the theoretical application of Ajzen&rsquo;s theory of planned behavior which suggests that attitude correlates with intention to act.</p><p> A quantitative, cross-sectional correlation study used a pencil and paper survey to measure knowledge about pain, attitudes, and intent to medicate pregnant women with chronic pain. One hundred perinatal nurses who worked in labor and delivery, mother baby, or the neonatal intensive care unit from four hospitals in northern New Jersey participated in the study. Each hospital provided a different level of perinatal care from community basic, to intermediate, intensive, and regional perinatal center.</p><p> Increased levels of education positively impact perinatal nurses&rsquo; knowledge of pain, attitude, and intent to medicate pregnant women with chronic pain. The perinatal nurse&rsquo;s intent to medicate was not statistically correlated to age, years of nursing experience, or level of perinatal care. The perinatal nurse&rsquo;s intent to medicate a pregnant woman with chronic pain is positively correlated to increased knowledge of pain (<i>r</i> (100) = 0.463, <i>p</i> &le; 0.001). Attitude scores were positively correlated with an increased intent to medicate a pregnant woman with chronic pain (<i>r</i> (100) = 0.583, <i>p</i> &le; 0.001).</p><p>

<p> Women involved with the criminal justice system face higher rates of unintended pregnancy than the general population, yet less than one-third use a consistent method of contraception. One study found that among women leaving detention, 43% had conceived within one year of release. Pregnancies that do occur are often high risk and result in poor outcomes for both mother and child. Lack of focus on family planning needs post-incarceration are due to competing factors women face related to daily survival and the added demands of meeting the requirements of probation.</p><p> This study examined the influences of pregnancy attitude, reproductive autonomy, personal factors and prior related behaviors on the use of effective birth control among women on probation living in southern New Mexico including the U.S.- Mexico border region. Using a quantitative correlational design framed by Pender's Health Promotion Model, 52 women were surveyed at five different Adult Probation and Parole Offices in two U.S.-Mexico border counties and two additional counties in southern New Mexico. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics and logistic regression (single, multivariate, and hierarchical) to answer the following questions about women on probation: Do personal characteristics (contraceptive self-efficacy, birth control method prior to incarceration, age, ethnicity, and parity) significantly predict current birth control method? Which combination of personal characteristics (ethnicity, contraceptive self-efficacy, age, and parity) best predicts higher negative pregnancy attitudes and higher reproductive autonomy? Do pregnancy attitude and reproductive autonomy significantly predict current birth control method.</p><p> Results indicated a significant relationship between increased levels of reproductive autonomy (an interpersonal influence) and effective use of birth control among women on probation. While statistical significance was attained for two additional variables, contraceptive self-efficacy and prior birth control use, the results were not decisive due to widened confidence intervals. Use of a hierarchical logistic regression was effective for entering predictor variables into the regression based upon Pender's theoretical framework as a guide. Implications for nursing research, education, and practice were discussed. Future studies using larger sample sizes and additional settings would increase validity and generalizability.</p><p>