The effects of perceived organizational support on attitudes toward medical errors in surgical nurses: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: This study aims to determine the effects of perceived organizational support on attitudes toward medical errors in surgical nurses. BACKGROUND: Nurses exhibit high performance in a work environment that supports, satisfies, and motivates them. Organizational support is one of the factors affecting the work environments of nurses. A strong nursing and hospital leadership supports the daily professional practices and well-being of nurses and is important in creating a positive work environment for nurses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The population of this cross-sectional study was composed of nurses (N = 414) in the surgical clinics of the Turgut Özal Medical Center. To reach the necessary sample size, the purposive sampling method, which is a nonprobability sampling method, was used. The data were collected using a personal information form, the Perceived Organizational Support Scale and the Scale of Attitudes toward Medical Errors. RESULTS: It was determined that 91.1% of the participants had positive attitudes toward the importance and reporting of medical errors and moderate perceived organizational support (3.04 ± 0.67). The organizational support perceived by the participants did not have a statistically significant effect on their attitudes toward medical errors (ß = 0.015; p = 0.865). The multiple linear regression model established in the study revealed that education level and previous medical error status were significant predictors of the attitudes of the participants toward medical errors. CONCLUSION: It was determined that surgical nurses had positive attitudes toward the importance and reporting of medical errors and moderate perceived organizational support levels, and perceived organizational support did not significantly affect attitudes toward medical errors in surgical nurses. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE AND HEALTH POLICY: In this study, it was determined that the perceived organizational support levels of surgical nurses did not have a significant effect on their attitudes toward medical errors. Assuming that adequate organizational support will reduce medical error rates, it is considered important to develop and implement policies to increase organizational support levels. Likewise, the use of safety reporting systems should be expanded to reduce medical error rates, reports should be used only to prevent and reduce risks, and systems and strategies should be developed instead of blaming individuals. In addition to the reporting of confirmed medical errors to ensure patient safety, the reporting of so-called "near misses" is also very important. For this reason, institutional support should be provided regarding the importance of "near miss" events in error reporting. Necessary practices should be provided to identify, report, correct, and prevent these events.

The effect of health anxiety levels experienced by nurses in the COVID-19 period on conscience perceptions: A cross-sectional study.

This study sought to determine the effect of health anxiety levels experienced by Turkish nurses upon their perceptions of conscience during COVID-19. The study was a cross-sectional study involving nurses working in X Hospital (n:207). The study data were collected using Personal Information Form, Health Anxiety Inventory, and Perception of Conscience Scale. The average total Health Anxiety Inventory score was 15.34 ± 5.93 (low). The mean total Perception of Conscience Scale score was 65.67 ± 10.27 (high). The independent variables were effective on perception of conscience at an effect size of 0.11.

Artemisinin reduces acute ovarian ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.

Artemisinin (ARS) is well known as an effective agent in the treatment of malaria through the rapid elimination of Plasmodium falciparum parasites. This study aims to investigate the effect of ARS in treating adnexal torsion, one of the most common gynecological surgical emergencies. ARS was administered intraperitoneally once 30 min before unilateral ovarian torsion in two different doses (10 mg/kg vs. 50 mg/kg). Torsion was maintained for 3 h and then held in the detorted state for 3 h. Bilateral adnexectomy was performed to measure antioxidant enzyme activities and oxidant levels on the ipsilateral ovary and to make histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses on the contralateral ovary. Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury dramatically upregulated the activities of CAT, GST, and MDA levels in the ipsilateral ovary, which were all downregulated by ARS treatment. A significant increase in follicular cell degeneration, congestion, and edema in the contralateral ovary was seen in the I/R group, which was significantly reduced with ARS treatment. Furthermore, I/R injury resulted in a significant increase in apoptosis as shown by the increased levels of BAX and CASP-3, and decreased levels of BCL-2 whereas ARS significantly reduced the impact of the injury. Our data, based on a rat I/R injury model, show that both ipsilateral and contralateral ovaries are protected with ARS pretreatment, and 50 mg/kg ARS treatment demonstrates to be more effective than the 10 mg/kg ARS.

The Effect of Sevoflurane and Fullerenol C 60 on the Liver and Kidney in Lower Extremity Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Mice with Streptozocin-Induced Diabetes.

Objective: This study aimed to demonstrate whether fullerenol C60, sevoflurane anesthesia, or a combination of both had protective effects on the liver and kidneys in lower extremity ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in mice with streptozocin-induced diabetes. Methods: A total of 46 Swiss albino mice were divided into six groups as follows: control group (group C, n=7), diabetes group (group D, n=7), diabetes-ischemia/reperfusion (group DIR, n=8), diabetes-ischemia/reperfusion-fullerenol C60 (group DIR-FC60, n=8), diabetes-ischemia/reperfusion-sevoflurane (group DIR-S, n=8), and the diabetes-ischemia/reperfusion-fullerenol C60-sevoflurane (group DIR-S-FC60, n=8). Fullerenol C60 (100mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally 30 min before the ischemia-reperfusion procedure to the fullerenol groups (DIR-FC60 and DIR-S-FC60). In the DIR groups, 2 hours (h) ischemia-2h reperfusion periods were performed. In the sevoflurane groups, sevoflurane was applied during the ischemia-reperfusion period with 100% O2. Liver and kidney tissues were removed at the end of the reperfusion procedure for biochemical and histopathological examinations. Results: In liver tissue, hydropic degeneration, sinusoidal dilatation, pycnotic nuclei, prenecrotic cells, and mononuclear cell infiltration in parenchyma were significantly more frequent in group DIR than in groups D and group C. In terms of the histopathologic criteria examined, more positive results were seen in group DIR-FC60, and when group DIR-FC60 was compared with group DIR, the difference was significant. The best results in AST, ALT, glucose, TBARS levels, and SOD enzyme activities in liver tissue were in group DIR-FC60 compared with group DIR, followed by groups DIR-S-FC60 and DIR-S, respectively. Regarding TBARS levels and SOD enzyme activities in kidney tissue, the best results were in groups DIR-FC60, DIR-S-FC60, and DIR-S, respectively. Conclusion: According to our findings, it is clear that fullerenol C60 administered intraperitoneally 30 min before ischemia, alone or together with sevoflurane, reduces oxidative stress in distant organ damage caused by lower extremity IRI, and reduces liver and kidney tissue damage in histopathologic examinations.

Investigation of the working conditions of nurses in public hospitals on the basis of nurse-friendly hospital criteria.

OBJECTIVE: This descriptive study reveals how nurses working in public hospitals rated their practice environments with respect to nurse-friendly hospital criteria. METHODS: This study was conducted on 460 nurses volunteering to participate this study among 735 nurses working in inpatient wards of three public hospitals. Data were collected using a personal information form and the Adapted Nursing Work Index-Revised. Numbers, percentages, means and standard deviations, t-test and one-way variance analysis were used to evaluate the data. RESULTS: Among the nurse-friendly hospital criteria, 'control of nursing practice', 'middle management accountability' and 'quality initiatives' had the highest mean scores, and 'competitive wages' had the lowest mean score. The assessments of the nurses presented statistically significant differences with respect to personal and occupational variables. CONCLUSION: The nurses found most of the nurse-friendly hospital criteria adequate, but they believed that several areas needed improvement.