Supporting girls with painful menstruation - A qualitative study with school nurses in Sweden

• Background: Painful menstruation is common among girls. To optimize school nurses' work more knowledgeabout their experiences of supporting these girls is needed. The aim of this study was to describe school nurses'experiences of supporting girls with menstrual pain.Methods: Interviews were conducted with 15 school nurses in Sweden and analyzed using thematic analysis.Results: Three themes emerged: Taking menstrual pain seriously, Being a disseminator of knowledge, andExternal conditions for conducting professional work as a school nurse.Conclusion: School nurses felt competent in supporting girls with menstrual pain. However, they lacked struc-tural, written guidelines and routines for how to treat, support, follow-up and refer girls with menstrual pain.Practice implications: School education about menstruation and sexual health needs to be strengthened. Cooper-ation with other healthcare facilities and networks with other school nurses should be increased. Specific guide-lines on how to support girls with menstrual pain should be implemented.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Adolescent; Dysmenorrhea; Pediatric nursing; School nursing; Women

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)