In the Mind of the Beholder

Abstract

In this article, the authors present the central finding of a study aimed at identifying possible relationships between the ways in which labor and delivery (L&D) nurses cognitively frame childbirth and cesarean section (CS) rates. They recruited 51 L&D nurses employed at two hospitals in a Midwestern city in the United States to participate in the study, in which they used a projective method to explore nurses' views about the meaning of childbirth and their possible relationship to CS. The authors selected a projective method for this research to identify the preconscious beliefs that inform clinical action. Analysis of the narrative responses to the photograph demonstrated three distinct ways in which participants cognitively framed childbirth and possible ways in which acting in accordance with these belief systems might influence the use of CS.