Shipboard Women's Health Care: Provider Perceptions

摘要

Women have served aboard auxiliary U.S. Navy ships, as an integrated member ofthe shipboard work force since 1978. In 1994, women first started serving aboard combatant ships with the infusion of women into the work force of the USS DWIGHT D EISENHOWER (CVN-69). The provision of the highest standard of medical care for both men and women is a priority at all levels in the U.S. Navy. This study is a process evaluation from a phenomenological perspective of the perceptions of shipboard health-care providers. This evaluation was performed by conducting a personal interview with the senior health-care provider of 36 ships where women are integrated members of the work force. Medical department representatives report that most ships have training programs for birth control (90.6%), sexually transmitted diseases (96.9%), and the Navy pregnancy policy (84.4%). Health-care providers also report perceived limitations in the lack of personnel and fiscal resources, gynecological training, and inadequate or inappropriate supplies (i.e., contraceptives, pregnancy tests, and sexually transmitted disease test kits).