Communication experiences of expatriate midwives providing maternity care in a military hospital in Saudi Arabia

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY: BackgroundIn Saudi Arabia, maternity care is provided by expatriate midwives. The official language of Saudi Arabia is Arabic. The labour ward communication amongst expatriate midwives and Saudi patients was unique as the first language of expatriate midwives is not Arabic. The limited research focuses on the expatriate nurses' communication experiences in Saudi Arabia. The aim of the study was to explore and describe the communication and the communication experiences of expatriate midwives while caring for pregnant woman in the labour and delivery ward of a military hospital in Saudi Arabia.MethodsA qualitative descriptive methodology was used to explore the views of expatriate midwives regarding effective communication with patients in the labour and delivery ward. The study applied purposive sampling to select participants from the labour and delivery ward of a military hospital in Saudi Arabia. The Health Research and Ethics Committee of Stellenbosch University and the Research and Ethics Department of the hospital granted permission to conduct the study. Seven semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed and analysed using Creswell's framework. Four themes emerged from the data.ResultsThe themes that emerged were: communication methods, communication challenges, communication rationale and communication solutions. Participants expressed their unique communication styles, even though they were not fluent speaking the Arabic language. They stressed the importance of communication in a maternity setting as they provide care for the Saudi nationals and their unborn babies.ConclusionCommunication is an integral component of providing quality maternity care in the labour and delivery ward. With the assistance of higher management of the hospital, support systems can be in place to bridge the communication gaps between expatriate midwives and the pregnant woman.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University