Investigation of related factors of operating room nurses' attitudes and awareness towards surgery-related pressure injury prevention in Turkey, Croatia, and Italy.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to examine related factors of operating room nurses' attitudes and awareness towards surgery-related pressure injury prevention in Turkey, Croatia, and Italy. METHODS: A descriptive and cross-sectional design was used. The study was conducted between March and September 2023. Data were collected with an online questionnaire created on Google Forms, consisting of a Nurse Information Form, a Surgery-related Pressure Injury Awareness Form, and the Attitude towards Pressure Ulcer Prevention Instrument. RESULTS: The sample of the study consisted of 258 operating room nurses working in Turkey, Croatia, and Italy. It was found that the majority of the participants (70.90 %) did not use a risk scale, had not received education on pressure injury prevention and treatment (58.10 %) but wanted to receive it (86 %). Mean attitude scores of operating room nurses by country were at an adequate level in Turkey (42.48 ± 4.30) but not at the desired level in Croatia (37.48 ± 3.44) and Italy (36.20 ± 4.02). While there was a significant positive relationship between the awareness and attitudes of operating room nurses in Turkey (p = 0.002) and Croatia (p < 0.001), no relationship was found between these variables of nurses in Italy (p = 0.109). A statistically significant difference was found between nurses' consideration of themselves sufficient and their attitudes and awareness in all three countries (p < 0.05). It was also determined that reading articles affected nurses' awareness in all countries. CONCLUSIONS: While operating room nurses' attitudes towards preventing pressure injuries were adequate in Turkey, it was determined that those of the nurses in Croatia and Italy were not at the desired level. Nurses should receive regular training on surgical pressure injuries to increase their awareness and to support them in implementing the recommendations of pressure injury guidelines in accordance with institutional policy.

Anxiety, Depression, Stress, and Self-Esteem in Turkish Parents of Children with Microtia.

OBJECTIVE: To describe factors affecting anxiety, depression, stress, and self-esteem in parents of children with microtia. DESIGN: Cross-sectional correlational study. PARTICIPANTS: Parents (N = 117) of children with microtia were recruited nationally through a Turkish craniofacial non-governmental organization's social media. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Demographics, parental report of microtia experiences and concerns, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. RESULTS: The mean parental age was 35.61 ± 5.96 years and 74.4% were female. The mean age of their children was 6.08 ± 4.22 years, 69.2% were male, 93.8% had unilateral microtia, and 14.5% had ear reconstruction. Some parents had low self-esteem (24.8%) and were in the severe range for depression (30.7%), anxiety (25.6%), and stress (21.4%). Depression (M = 7.43, SD = 5.35) was associated with worry about child's future (ß = 0.25, P = .013), microtia information given around birth (ß = -0.20, P = .024), and child no ear surgery (ß = -0.23, P = .008), while stress (M = 8.21, SD = 5.37) was associated with worry about the child's future (ß = 0.28, P = .008). Parental self-esteem (M = 29.59, SD = 5.10) was related to child having ear surgery (ß = 0.19, P = .047) and information about microtia provided around birth (ß = 0.22, P = .018). There were no significant associations with Anxiety (M = 6.04, SD = 4.82) identified by multiple regression. CONCLUSIONS: While most parents were in the average to moderate range for clinical concerns, a fifth to a third of participants were in the severe range for depression, anxiety, and stress and a quarter of participants for low self-esteem. Informing families about the microtia treatment process, having the child have surgery, and interventions for reducing their future concerns may provide psychological relief for them.

Determining Operating Room Nurses' Knowledge and Use of Evidence-Based Recommendations on Preventing Surgical Site Infections.

PURPOSE: Although surgical site infections are a common problem, it is reported that 70% can be prevented by perioperative personnel compliance with evidence-based recommendations. The present study aimed to determine operating room nurses' knowledge and use of the updated evidence-based guidelines for the prevention of Surgical Site Infection. DESIGN: This research is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. METHODS: The study was carried out with 228 operating room nurses from 81 different hospitals. Data were collected using a Personal Information Form and Questionnaire for Knowing and Implementing Evidence-Based Guidelines for the Prevention of Surgical Site Infection between April and October 2019. FINDINGS: The nurses were aware of the guidelines and suggestions for preventing surgical site infection, and the related updates (76.3%-96.6%). However, there were variations in the rate of applying the guidelines' recommendations in the institutions (40.4%-93.4%). Compliance with the guidelines was generally good in areas under nursing management, such as wearing sterile gloves (93.4%), nail length (91.2%), maintaining normothermia (88.6%), surgical brushing (81.1%) and hair removal with a clip (74.5%). However, it was lower in areas such as a bath with soap or with an antiseptic solution (40.4%), decision to remove hair (46.5%), keeping operating room doors closed (57%), operating room traffic (62.7%), and continuing prophylactic antibiotics after surgery (89.4%). Compliance should be improved in areas such as preoperative washing and minimizing staff numbers in the operating room. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to reflect the guidelines in clinical practice, but the present study shows differences between the proposed application and actual practice. In this case, a possible solution is a range of care bundle, each consisting of a few specific suggestions, that would be selected by the institutions and the perioperative team in accordance with their surgery type and patient group.