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Unintended pregnancy is a common reproductive health event. Professional responsibilities for nurses providing care to women with unintended pregnancies include appropriate assessment, options counseling, provision of or referral for desired services, care coordination, and prevention efforts aimed at decreasing future unintended pregnancies. Nurses' awareness of available services and their involvement in referring or providing services is an essential component to reproductive health care., (© 2011 AWHONN, the Association of Women's Health, Obsteric and Neonatal Nurses.)

Nearly half of the pregnancies in the United States are unintended, and nurses frequently encounter women with unintended pregnancies in the clinical setting. Nurses may be responsible for counseling these women on how to explore and decide between the options of parenting, adoption, and abortion. To date, little has been written about options counseling, despite the fact that unintended pregnancy is one of the most common health conditions that women face. This article presents epidemiological data on prevalence, outcomes, consequences, causes, and prevention of unintended pregnancy. It examines the conflicts that nurses may experience when providing care to women with unintended pregnancies and discusses the intersection of professional responsibilities and personal values. Finally, the article presents general strategies and specific suggested steps for providing options counseling.