Essay NR701-10078 Week 5 Articulate a Practice Problem MP

Essay NR701-10078 Week 5 Articulate a Practice Problem MP

Essay NR701-10078 Week 5 Articulate a Practice Problem MP

Noncompliance of birth control is an issue that affects the community. Adolescents have the highest risk of noncompliance. In a 2005 US study one of the reasons for noncompliance is forgetfulness (Chabbert-Buffet, et al., 2017). This problem is one that can be improved. Improving compliance of birth control among adolescents between the age of 14 and 19 through a texting service is feasible. This will assist with lowering the rates of unwanted pregnancies. There are 6.3 million pregnancies in the US. Half of those pregnancies are unintended (Martinez-Astorquiza-ortiz de Zarate, Diaz-Martin, & Martinez-Astoquiza-Corral, 2013). The role of the DNP when it comes to compliance is education of how the pills work. Education on how missing a few pills in a row can lead to pregnancy is important. However, with forgetfulness being one of the main reasons for noncompliance it is time that we help in other ways. As NP’s in this field I believe the education part is something we are comfortable with and do implement on a regular. As I speak to adolescents on a regular about their birth control options and reasons for noncompliance it boils down to them simply forgetting to take the pill. We can add a texting reminder service that will send a daily text to remind the patient to take the pill. 

This problem of noncompliance is so much greater than what it seems. When we look at it on a national level unplanned teen pregnancy is a huge financial problem. “Approximately 1.2 million unintended pregnancies each year in the USA are attributed to inconsistent or incorrect use of contraception (Burke, 2018)”. Most unplanned teen pregnancies will need financial support with medical bills for prenatal care and delivery. They will also need help with medical, food, housing and childcare after birth. “The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy estimates that in fiscal year 2015, 9.9 billion dollars was saved due to the decline in adolescent pregnancy rate (Burke, 2018)”. 

This problem of noncompliance impacts the patient by causing them to have unplanned pregnancies. This can cause emotional stress and trauma to an adolescent. They will have to make an adult decision that will stay with them the rest of their lives. This decision to terminate or continue will ultimately have a detrimental psychological effect on these children. If the patient decides to continue the pregnancy families will need to alter their lives as well to support emotionally, physically and financially. Nurses will also have to educate and assist with these teenage mothers who may not have the mental compacity to grasp all that is being taught about parenting. 

NR701-10078 Week 5 Articulate a Practice Problem MP

At a local level the problem of noncompliance of birth control is huge. At my facility adolescents who come in for terminations have started some sort of birth control method. They have missed a pill or stopped all together. According to the Long Island Report Roosevelt, Hempstead and Uniondale had the highest teen pregnancy rate in the county in 2008. “According to the report, teen pregnancy rates in these communities have decreased from 85 to 48 per every 1,000 females between the ages of 15 to 19 (staff, 2014)”. This decrease is in part to do with the outreach that Planned Parenthood has done in these communities to teach teens about safe sex and birth control. “Unplanned pregnancies cause taxpayers 21 billion dollars each year. In 2010 84,000 births -34.4% of all births were unplanned. 70.2 % of these births were payed for with public funds at a cost $1,538,700,00 (Ingraham, 2015)”.

In conclusion noncompliance affects us on a national and local level. Noncompliance with control will ultimately lead to pregnancy. This will cause emotional strain on teens and their family. It will also cause financial strain on the teen, family, healthcare centers and taxpayers. It is our job to encourage and help these teens comply with birth control to avoid a lifetime of struggle.                           

References

Burke, M. S. (2018). Texting as a Strategy to Increase Contraception Use Compliance in Adolescent Females. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 134-135.

Castano, P. M., & White, K. O. (2013). Should we do more to improve oral contraceptive continuation? London Women’s Health, 145-165.

Chabbert-Buffet, N., Jamin, C., Lete, I., Lobo, P., Nappi, R., Pintiaux, A., . . . Fiala, C. (2017). Missed Pills:frequency, reasons, consequences and solutions. The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care, 165-169.

Ingraham, C. (2015, March 3). Unplanned pregnancies cost taxpayers $21 billion each year. The Washigton Post.

Martinez-Astorquiza-ortiz de Zarate, T., Diaz-Martin, T., & Martinez-Astoquiza-Corral, T. (2013). Evaluation of factors associated with compliance in users of combined hormonal contraceptive methods:a cross-sectional study:results from the MIA study. BMC Women’s Health.

Staff, L. (2014). STD, teen pregnancy rates decrease in Nassau’s ‘high risk’ communities. long island.