Using painting to disclose the inner worlds of women subjected to intimate partner violence.

Intimate partner violence has become an increasingly serious social problem in Türkiye in recent years. It causes social, physical, and psychosocial health problems that impact mortality and morbidity in women. This study aimed to determine the inner worlds of female IPV victims who sought safety from their abusers in women's shelters. The sample consisted of ten women staying in a women's shelter affiliated with the Violence Prevention and Monitoring Center in Ankara. The study used a qualitative research design (phenomenology) and the drawing technique. An art therapist and a psychotherapist interpreted the symbols in pictures drawn by participants. Moreover, in-depth interviews were conducted with participants to disclose their repressed feelings and thoughts. Both in-depth interviews and drawings helped us elaborate on participants' inner worlds. The results showed that all types of violence left deep emotional scars. Some participants stated that legal sanctions should also apply to psychological violence. Participants were highly motivated to change their lives around but had financial concerns. Some participants were concerned that legal procedures, such as housing and economic support, were short-termed. The results indicate that all parties, such as governments, civil society organizations, media, and the private sector, should adopt a holistic approach to combating all types of violence.

Competition among Turkish hospitals and its effect on hospital efficiency and service quality.

The level of competition among hospitals in Turkey was analyzed for the years 1990 through 2006 using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI). Multiple and simple regression analyses were run to observe the development of competition among hospitals over this period of time, to examine likely determinants of competition, and to calculate the effects of competition on efficiency and quality in individual hospitals. This study found that the level of competition among hospitals in Turkey has increased throughout the years. Also, competition has had a positive effect on the efficiency of hospitals; however, it did not have a significant positive effect on their quality. Moreover, there are important differences in the level of competition among hospitals that vary according to the geographical region, the type of ownership, and the type of hospital. This study is one of the first to evaluate the effects of health policies on competition as well as the effects of increasing competition on hospital quality and efficiency in Turkey.

Determining nurses' perceptions of patient safety culture in palliative care centres.

Background: Palliative care patients often do not have decision-making capacity at the end of life so this patient group is vulnerable to violations of patient safety.Aim: To determine the attitudes of nurses in palliative care centres in Turkey towards the patient safety culture and to identify factors affecting these.Method: A descriptive, cross-sectional design using self-report questionnaires was used.Results: The mean Patient Safety Culture Scale points of the whole group were 2.91 ± 0.44. In the sub-dimensions of the scale, the highest points were determined in Employee Training (2.99 ± 0.51) and the lowest in Unexpected Events and Error Reporting (2.81 ± 0.54).Conclusions: Patient safety culture is related to nurses' working conditions and the attitude of management towards errors, etc. The results of this study will provide a contribution to the development of healthcare and healthcare training policies for critical units vulnerable to patient safety violations.