Although Medicaid has increased access to medical care for low-income pregnant women, the Medicaid population remains at high risk for poor pregnancy outcomes. In 1983 the Michigan Department of Public Health conducted 1 week of in-hospital, postpartum interviews addressing risk factors for poor pregnancy outcome among 1,945 women. These births represented over 90% of the births during the study period and constituted a sample of approximately 1.5% of the yearly births in Michigan. Of these women, 24.6% reported receiving Medicaid during pregnancy. The demographic characteristics of the Medicaid women placed them at greater risk for poor pregnancy outcomes than either insured or uninsured women. In terms of medical services, Medicaid recipients began prenatal care later and had fewer visits. In terms of behavioral risks, more Medicaid recipients reported tobacco and alcohol use than did the other mothers. Finally, the infants of Medicaid recipients were 200 g lighter than the other infants. We suggest that the Medicaid program--the major source of prenatal health care for these women--is not adequate to address their risks for poor pregnancy outcomes.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Enrolled nurses: stuck on the career ladder.

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Black or African American↗

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Community initiatives. Community patch-work.

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Community Health Nursing↗

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Smoking behavior among student nurses: a survey.

The study describes the smoking habits of student nurses and determines the correlates of smoking initiation, continuation, and cessation. The sample included 1,163 students attending 10 nursing schools in Buffalo, NY. Data were gathered by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Approximately 30 percent of the students were current smokers, 25 percent were exsmokers, and 45 percent had never smoked. More than half of the smokers (57 percent) expressed the desire to quit, and 81 percent had tried to do so in the past. Major reasons for trying to quit were to protect future health, save money, self-discipline, and pressure from significant others. Most (90 percent) of the students who had tried to quit had attempted to do so on their own and all at once. Knowledge of the health consequences of smoking was not significantly related to smoking behavior. These data suggest the need for health educators to promote personal health practices among their students that are congruent with the goals of the nursing profession of health promotion and disease prevention.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied