The effects of home care nursing based maternal role strengthening programs on the maternal identity and confidence of maternal role on first-time mothers

가정간호기반 모성역할강화 프로그램이 초산모의 모성정체성과 모성역할수행 자신감에 미치는 효과

Purpose: This study was done to develop and test a maternal role strengthening program based on home care nursing. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was employed. Changes in the variables(maternal identity and confidence of maternal role) were evaluated to test the effects of the developed program. Participants were first-time mothers receiving home care nursing from S Medical Center following normal spontaneous vaginal delivery(experimental group 29; control group 29). Data collection was conducted from December 2008 to February 2009. $X^2$-test, Fisher's exact test and t-test were used to analyse the data. Results: Hypothesis 1, that the experimental group receiving this program would experience a stronger maternal identity than the control group, was supported(t=-7.990, p=<.001). Hypothesis 2, that the experimental group would have higher confidence in their maternal role than the control group, was also supported(t=-10.109, p=<.001). Conclusion: The maternal role strengthening program based on home care nursing developed in this study was found to be an effective means of improving maternal identity and confidence of maternal role. As these traits are developed once the baby is born, active nursing programs which provide continuous training and demonstrations to mothers are needed prior to hospitalization and following hospital discharge.