Implications of Sterilization Law

Implications of Sterilization Law

Current Status of Maternal Health

Of continuing importance in the twenty-first century are the disparities in health care status and services that minority women experience. Under Healthy People 2010, the purpose of Focus Area 16, a key indicator of national health goals, was to improve the health and well-being of women, infants, children and families by and identified the status of maternal child health as a key indicator for the health and social well-being of a community. The first objective of the focus area was a reduction in fetal and infant deaths. The IMR is a measure of the number of infant deaths divided by the number of live births in a year, multiplied by 1,000. Although the overall national IMR has continued to decline throughout the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the rate has not met the target of 4.5 set by Healthy People 2010.

Between 2003 and 2005, the rolling three-year national average was 6.8 infant deaths per 1,000 live births for all races and ethnicities combined. The IMR statistics document approximately 2.5 times as many deaths among Black American infants as among infants of other American ethnicities. Whereas the mortality rate for Black infants is 13.6, the rate is 5.7 for Whites. Among Asian and Hispanic infants, the mortality rate is 5.6 and 4.7, respectively. Only Native American infants, with an IMR of 8.5, approach the disproportionately high IMR of Black Americans. These inequities remind nurses that maternal and child health advocacy continues to be vital. Inequalities of health care access and outcomes have been widely studied across ethnic and social groups. The absence of a definitive medical or social solution for these disparities, especially those related to birth outcomes, remains of great concern to the nursing profession. Racism, distrust, increased exposure to unequal treatment, and an increase in the number of acute life events all contribute to health disparities that must be addressed in the context of the individuals who are experiencing the disparities. It is unsettling to confront the notion that nursing professionals participated, even if only to a small degree, in the eugenic ideals imbedded in some of the health policies of the Progressive Era. During this period, some nursing leaders demonstrated steadfast commitment to the profession and upholding human rights, social justice, and better health care for all. Lillian Wald, a noted nurse, contributed tirelessly to improving the health of women and children and, in so doing, worked to counter the worst eugenic principles of the time.

Effects on Nursing

Nursing is essentially a metaphor, the experience of being connected and interrelated, uniting the internal (the spirit or soul) and the external (the form or matter). Metaphors often reveal themselves through patterns, more so than through physical forms. They constitute complex webs of relationships among diverse elements to create a whole. The metaphor of nursing is best understood by examining the etymology of the word nurse, which is derived from the Latin for “to ...