Compassion Fatigue and Ethical Attitudes in Nursing Care in Intensive Care Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses faced an increased risk of compassion fatigue and ethical concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. PURPOSE: To evaluate compassion fatigue of ICU nurses and their ethical attitudes in care during the COVID-19 pandemic and analyze contributing factors. METHODS: An exploratory cross-sectional research design was used. RESULTS: A total of 103 ICU nurses participated. The nurses' compassion fatigue and ethical attitude scores were high. Compassion fatigue was explained by the following variables: considering resigning, receiving support for ethical decisions, willingness to work in the ICU, duration of providing activities of daily living in a shift, and number of patients per nurse. CONCLUSIONS: Compassion fatigue was high in nurses working in the ICU during COVID-19. The high level of ethical attitudes shows commitment to professional ethics and reflects the development of the nurses' professional identity. Implementation of interventions that help improve compassion fatigue among nurses is needed.

Comparison of cold spray and shotblocker to reduce intramuscular injection pain: A randomized controlled trial.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: It is important to identify effective, easy-to-use and cost-effective non-pharmacological methods in the management of pain caused by medical interventions. The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of cold spray and ShotBlocker on pain in adults in reducing pain caused by intramuscular injection in the adult emergency department. METHODS: This is a randomized controlled trial with two experimental groups, two placebo groups and a control group. The study was conducted on 195 adults who received diclofenac sodium injections. In the study, the injection procedure was performed by following the same injection protocol in all five groups. In the injection process, cold spray or ShotBlocker was used in the intervention groups based on the group, and cold spray with distilled water or the smooth surface of the ShotBlocker was used in the placebo groups. Following the injection, the pain caused by the injection was evaluated using the Visual Analog Scale. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The study was completed with the remaining 195 patients. In the study, the average pain scores due to injection of the individuals in the cold spray group were lower than those of the control group (p < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the pain score averages due to injection of the individuals in the ShotBlocker group and cold spray, control, ShotBlocker placebo and cold spray placebo groups. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: The routine use of a fast-acting, cost-effective and easy-to-use method, cold spray, to reduce pain in the intramuscular injection will be beneficial in increasing patient satisfaction and quality of care.

Behaviours and experiences of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey: A mixed methods study.

AIM: The aim of this work is to present behaviours and experiences of nurses in Turkey during the current coronavirus pandemic. BACKGROUND: The coronavirus pandemic leads to difficulties for most health care workers, especially for nurses who mostly accompany patients and are on the front line. METHODS: In the study, a parallel mixed pattern converging quantitative and qualitative research methods was used. RESULTS: The model revealed that 41 years old or older, diabetic, female, single professionals, working in the pandemic department took more personal measures. Five main themes appeared regarding the experiences of the nurses during the pandemic period: (1) psychological and mental strain; (2) personal protective equipment; (3) organizational, physical, and social strains; (4) change in professional values; (5) turning the crisis into an opportunity. CONCLUSIONS: Personal measures are associated with the risk status. There is a need to protect nurses with significant measures by providing psychosocial support, meeting their basic needs, and preventing all complications likely to occur due to increasing workload. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: More efforts should be made to ensure good work, fair treatment, no tolerance for discrimination, and equal compensation conditions.

Challenges experienced by nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to assess the challenges faced by nursing students during the pandemic and to examine the factors affecting these challenges. DESIGN AND METHODS: This qualitative study involved 344 nursing students at a university in eastern Turkey. FINDINGS: Five main themes, each with its own subthemes, indicated the psychological difficulties experienced by students, insufficiencies and uncertainties regarding education, restrictions regarding social life, family conflicts, and the possibility to turn crises into opportunities. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The themes emphasizing the lives of nursing students showed that there was a need for important measures, such as psychosocial support, determination of best practices for online education, supporting students with telemental applications by university counseling centres, and organization of action courses.