Views on the nursing faculty shortage.
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Education, Nursing↗
Biomedical subjects
Sally Northam
Publications and source records attributed to Sally Northam.
Birth certificate methods in five hospitals.
This study evaluated the methods of data collection of birth certificate information by five high-delivery hospitals in northern Texas. Research purposes were to identify sources and methods of birth certificate data collection and identify the most-reliable methods. This descriptive study involved interviews of each hospital's data collectors and review of 1999 Texas birth certificate data. Medical record clerks, whose training varied, but usually consisted of orientation by another medical record clerk, collected birth certificate data within 24 hours of birth. There was no standard method for training, nor was there a minimum level of education required. In four of the five hospitals studied, a birth certificate clerk collected most of the information with limited input from other medical sources. The information obtained on birth certificates therefore varied according to the collector and the priority placed upon the accuracy of information. Birth certificate data contain questionable reliability, which undermines data use in research, funding, and policy decisions.
Bias↗
The reliability and validity of birth certificates.
OBJECTIVES: To summarize the reliability and validity of birth certificate variables and encourage nurses to spearhead data improvement. DATA SOURCES: A Medline key word search of reliability and validity of birth certificate, and a reference review of more than 60 articles were done. STUDY SELECTION: Twenty-four primary research studies of U.S. birth certificates that involved validity or reliability assessment. DATA EXTRACTION: Studies were reviewed, critiqued, and organized as either a reliability or a validity study and then grouped by birth certificate variable. DATA SYNTHESIS: The reliability and validity of birth certificate data vary considerably by item. Insurance, birthweight, Apgar score, and delivery method are more reliable than prenatal visits, care, and maternal complications. Tobacco and alcohol use, obstetric procedures, and delivery events are unreliable. Birth certificates are not valid sources of information on tobacco and alcohol use, prenatal care, maternal risk, pregnancy complications, labor, and delivery. CONCLUSIONS: Birth certificates are a key data source for identifying causes of increasing U.S. infant mortality but have serious reliability and validity problems. Nurses are with mothers and infants at birth, so they are in a unique position to improve data quality and spread the word about the importance of reliable and valid data. Recommendations to improve data are presented.
Alcohol Drinking↗