Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
2663038 The Journal for Nurse Practitioners 2016 5 Pages PDF
Abstract

•Quality improvement study assesses whether college health clinicians are meeting the contraceptive needs of students.•Meeting college students’ contraceptive needs is an essential function of college health services.•Clinician prescribing practices determine the ease or difficulty in obtaining emergency contraception or contraception prescriptions.•The US Department of Disease Control and Prevention guidelines make clear that all forms of contraceptive methods should be easily obtained without undue barriers.•Bringing evidence into clinical practice requires clinician education about EC and contraception guidelines.

A pilot study assessed whether clinicians at an urban college health center met the reproductive needs (emergency contraception and contraception) of students. Physicians and nurse practitioners completed a 5-item survey about prescribing emergency contraception and contraception. Clinician prescribing practices varied, which may have resulted in contraceptive needs (for some students) not being met in a timely manner. Clinicians had different understandings of policies about prescribing contraceptives when on-call, when students called in, and for students who had graduated. Education and policies about handling EC and contraception requests are necessary so that clinicians meet students' reproductive health needs.

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