Skin tears in older patients in intensive care units: A multicentre point prevalence study.

BACKGROUND: With the ageing of the global population, it is predicted that the population of older adult patients in hospitals and intensive care units (ICUs) will increase. Because of health conditions, care practices and ageing-related skin changes, older adult ICU patients are prone to skin integrity problems, including skin tears (STs). AIM: To determine the prevalence of STs and associated factors in older patients hospitalized in ICUs. STUDY DESIGN: The study is a regional, multicentre, point prevalence study conducted in five centres in the five largest cities in terms of population in the Central Anatolia Region of Türkiye. Data were collected simultaneously in each centre on the same day. The list of patients hospitalized in the ICUs on the day of data collection was drawn up, and 200 patients who were 65 years of age or older, were hospitalized in ICUs and agreed to participate in the research were included. The researchers formed an "ST chart" to record patient demographic characteristics, clinical variables and skin assessment. RESULTS: STs were detected in 14.5% of patients in ICUs, with 72.5% of them having stage 1 ST. A significant relationship was found between individuals' average body mass index (BMI) (p = .043), age (p = .014), length of stay in the ICU (p = .004) and having ST. There was also a statistically significant relationship between skin temperature (p = .002), skin turgor (p = .001) and ST. More STs were observed in patients with cold skin and low turgor. The prevalence of ST was higher in individuals with a history of ST. Additionally, there was a statistically significant relationship between consciousness (p = .014), incontinence (p = .006), the Braden score (p = .004), the Itaki fall risk score (p = .006) and ST. CONCLUSIONS: In this multicentre point prevalence study, the prevalence of ST in older patients in ICUs was 14.5%, and many factors associated with ST have been identified. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Given the insufficient information and attention to STs in older adults, the study emphasizes the importance of addressing STs. The impact of STs includes increased treatment costs, length of stay and risk of complications. Therefore, understanding the global extent of STs in ICUs and developing effective interventions for prevention and management are crucial.

Celebrating Nursing Week during the COVID-19 pandemic: The example of Twitter in Turkey for 2020-2021.

AIM: To explore how the nursing profession reflected on Twitter in Turkey about the Nursing Week celebration during the COVID-19 pandemic. BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic affected the whole world, made every aspect of life extremely difficult, and required excessive involvement by healthcare professionals-especially nurses. Nurses have played a key role in meeting the care needs of people during this time. METHODS: A qualitative research design was used for this study. Turkish social media data were analysed via a data crawler on Twitter. Tweets regarding the COVID-19 pandemic during 12-18 May 2020 and 12-18 May 2021-dates celebrated as Nursing Week in Turkey-and tweets containing at least one of the following relevant hashtags: #nurse, #nursesday, #nursesweek, #nursingweek, #12May, or #12Maynursesday, were considered. RESULTS: The hashtag #12May was used the most in both years, and the most tweets were posted with the hashtag #12May (n = 2996) in 2020. Three categories, 'Being a nurse in the pandemic', 'Nursing Week with celebrations', and 'Nursing Week with definitions', were identified through a thematic analysis. The categories included the importance of nursing, respectability, difficult working conditions, insufficiency in the number of nurses, difficulties in social life, etc. DISCUSSION: Turkish society posted tweets to celebrate Nursing Week. In addition to the celebration, there were many statements revealing the positive aspects of nurses and the nursing profession, as well as the difficulties nurses faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSION: Our findings revealed that in the celebrations of Nursing Week in Turkey, the important role of nursing in the health system, difficulties experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and definitions describing the roles of nursing were reflected on Twitter. IMPLICATION FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICIES: This presents a source for perspective on the opinions reflected on social media about nurses and the nursing profession via Nursing Week celebrations during the pandemic. The findings can guide the development of policies on the rights and social privileges of the nursing profession that need to be improved in exceptional situations like a pandemic.

The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicines Among Surgical Patients: A Survey Study.

PURPOSE: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has increased around the world. This study evaluates CAM use in surgery patients. DESIGN: Cross-sectional and descriptive study. METHODS: This study was conducted in a university hospital in Turkey between January 1 and June 30, 2016, on volunteer inpatients who were scheduled for surgery because of various complaints. FINDINGS: In this study, 65.9% of the patients used CAMs, 87.4% of the patients used herbal methods, and 63.7% of the patients used cognitive-behavioral methods. CONCLUSIONS: Health care providers, and nursing staff, in particular, should have adequate knowledge of societal approaches to CAMs, as well as the possible benefits and harms CAM may cause.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the nursing students' attitude towards e-learning scale.

BACKGROUND: E-learning is a relatively recent and rapidly expanding trend of nursing education that increased particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, assessing the attitudes of nursing students towards e-learning with standardized tools has gained importance. AIM: To determine the validity and reliability of nursing students' attitudes towards e-learning (NSA-E-learning) scale. METHOD: This methodological study was performed from 1 July to 15 August 2021 with 404 nursing students in Turkey. The item pool of the scale was created based on the relevant literature. The data were evaluated using descriptive statistics, explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Pearson correlation analysis, t-test for dependent variables and Cronbach alpha coefficient. RESULTS: The content validity index of this scale calculated according to experts' opinions ranged from 0.87 to 1.00. According to the exploratory factor analysis, 4 factors had an eigenvalue > 1. These 4 factors accounted for 69.66 % of the total variance. CFA showed favorable results for Chi square/degrees of freedom (χ2/df), comparative fit index (CFI) and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). The Cronbach alpha of the scale was 0.96 and the Cronbach alpha coefficient of the sub-dimensions ranged from 0.82 to 0.94. The NSA-E-learning scale had moderate test-retest reliability. CONCLUSION: The 29-item NSA-E-learning scale was a valid and reliable tool for assessing the attitude of the nursing students towards e-learning.

Views of students on the use of crossword and word search puzzle as a teaching technique in nursing education: A mixed-method study.

BACKGROUND: The use of puzzles in education helps to improve, consolidate and ensure the permanence of the learned information and increases the motivation of students toward the lesson. OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to determine the views of nursing students on crossword and word search puzzles used within the scope of the course. DESIGN: A descriptive and qualitative design mixed-method study. SETTING: Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ankara, Turkey. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 96 students who agreed to participate in the study and completed all the puzzles were included in the quantitative phase of the study while 21 students who were assigned to the focus groups by simple randomization method participated in the qualitative phase. METHODS: In the study, 3 different puzzle booklets (2 word search puzzles, 2 crosswords, a total of 4 puzzles) were applied to the students four weeks apart during the semester. The data of the descriptive phase of the study were collected with the personal information form. In the qualitative phase of the study, two focus group meetings were conducted and the obtained statements were evaluated using the thematic analysis method. RESULTS: The students stated that the puzzles included what they needed to learn in the lesson, that they have learned useful information and that they understood the topics they needed to learn in the lesson. Four categories were determined as a result of the qualitative phase of the study: the feelings you get while solving a puzzle, the puzzle with its advantages, the puzzle with its difficulties, and the skills I have developed. CONCLUSIONS: The students stated that they recommend the use of puzzles, that lessons become entertaining, learning becomes easier, their motivation increases and that puzzles provide the memorability of information.

Cross-cultural adaptation, validity, and reliability of the Turkish version of revised American Pain Society patient outcome questionnaire for surgical patients.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the validity and reliability of the Turkish Revised American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire (APS-POQ-R-TR). METHODS: A methodological and cross-sectional design was used. This study included a total of 250 surgical patients (98 males, 152 females) between January 2015 and January 2016. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and the APSPOQ-R. Language equivalence, content and construct validity, and reliability of the scale were evaluated. RESULTS: The Pearson correlation coefficient of the scale for parallel test reliability was 0.362, and the Cronbach's alpha value was determined as 0.88 in the APS-POQ-R-TR. According to fit indexes of the confirmatory factor analysis [x2/SD=362.53/125=2.90; RMSEA=0.087 (90% CI: 0.077-0.098); CFI=0.95; IFI=0.95; NNFI=0.94], three factors were found to be appropriate for the APSPOQ-R-TR. CONCLUSION: The adaptation of the translated APS-POQ-R in Turkey is reliable and valid to measure and evaluate the quality of postoperative pain management in the Turkish population.