Knowledge, behavior and beliefs related to cervical cancer and screening among Turkish women.

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to explore Turkish women's knowledge, behavior and beliefs related to cervical cancer and screening. METHODS: The study was performed in two cities in the East of Turkey between September 2009 and April 2010, with a sampling group of 387 women. Data were collected by means of an interview form with the Health Belief Model Scale for Cervical Cancer and Pap Smear Test - Turkish Version. RESULTS: Women in the research group were found to have poor knowledge, inadequate health behavior and low/medium level false beliefs regarding cervical cancer screening. There was relation between health beliefs and characteristics of women and particularly education (F = 10.80, p = 0.01). Similarly, it was found that Pap smear barriers were influenced by demographic characteristics and that women with low-level education (p = 0.001), divorced women (p = 0.05), women with low-income(p = 0.05), women who gave their first birth when they were 18 or younger (p = 0.05) and women not applying any contraceptive method at all (p = 0.01) were determined to have negative Pap smear barriers. CONCLUSIONS: Primarily the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of women in the target group should be evaluated to increase their participation in cervical cancer screening and to prepare effective education strategies.

Violence experienced by Turkish nursing students in clinical settings: their emotions and behaviors.

AIM: This descriptive study aimed to determine the violence experiences of nursing students' in clinical settings, the types of violence, and the way their behaviors and emotions are affected after such an experience. BACKGROUND: The risk of being subjected to violence among health staff is very high and the students who worked in the same kind of work environments also faced similar risks. METHODS: The data of the study were obtained from the 380 nursing students who were studying at 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades. Participation was voluntary. A questionnaire form was developed by the researchers and distributed to the students. RESULTS: It was found that 50.3% of the students were subjected to violence, and 91.6% of these students were subjected to verbal violence. The students most frequently experienced anger, fury, and enmity (84.3%) after confronting violence. CONCLUSION: Findings of our study showed that similar to nurses, nursing students, who spent a significant proportion of their education in areas of practice, also experienced violence. Therefore, measures should be taken to prevent the violence inflicted upon nursing students in clinical settings, and nursing students should be provided with information related to communication and the coping methods with violence during their education.