Perceived stress, optimism-pessimism, psychological adjustment, and death distress of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: the aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between death distress, psychological adjustment, optimism, pessimism and perceived stress among nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: this study was designed as cross-sectional/cohort. The population of the study involved 408 nurses from Northern Cyprus, which are registered as full members of the Nurse Council. The sample comprised 214 nurses, who volunteered to participate in the study. The study data was collected using a web-based online survey (Demographic form, the Coronavirus Stress Measure, The Optimism and Pessimism Questionnaire, The Brief Adjustment Scale-6, The Death Distress Scale). RESULTS: the results indicated that perceived stress significantly and negatively predicted optimism (ß = -0.21, p < 0.001) and pessimism (ß = 0.38, p < 0.001). Perceived stress had significant and positive predictive effects on psychological adjustment (ß = 0.31, p < 0.001) and death distress (ß = 0.17, p < 0.01). Further analysis results revealed that pessimism mediates the association of stress with psychological adjustment and death distress; however, optimism only mediates the effect of stress on psychological adjustment among nurses. CONCLUSION: a low level of pessimism is effective in strengthening nurses' psychological adjustment skills againt perceived stress and death distress. Nurses should consider behavioral strategies to help reduce the level of pessimism during periods such as pandemics. BACKGROUND: (1) High levels of perceived stress increased higher score of psychological adjustment. (2) Pessimism mediates the association of stress with adjustment and death distress. (3) Optimism only mediates the effect of stress on psychological adjustment among nurses.

Defining the experiences of adolescent patients with multiple sclerosis in transition from pediatric care to adult care.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the experiences of patients aged 18-24 years who were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis before the age of eighteen, during the transition from pediatric care to adult care. METHODS: This research was in the type of phenomenological qualitative research. Focus group interviews were conducted between December 2020 and October 2021 with seventeen participants who had been diagnosed with multiple before the age of eighteen, aged 18-24, voluntarily having agreed to participate in the study. The views of the participants were analyzed with Maxqda Plus v10 data analysis software, and thematic coding was created by the researchers. RESULTS: Of the participants, 58.9% were female, 76.5% had their first attack after the age of 13, and it was determined that 64.7% of them took oral tablets for therapeutic purposes. As a result of the content analysis; four thematic codes emerged: (a) Perceptions of the Illness and Pediatric Clinic Before Transition, (b) Perceptions of the Disease and Adult Clinic After Transition to the Adult Clinic, (c) Expectations from the Clinic They Received Service from During Their Childhood, (d) Expectations from the Clinic They Used in Adulthood. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that individuals with multiple sclerosis did not receive any medical care regarding the transition from pediatric clinics to adult clinics. Describing the experiences of young adult patients with multiple sclerosis in pediatric clinics and their experiences in the transition to adult clinics allows for the definition of comprehensive, individualized and transitional nursing interventions.

Perceptions and Experiences of Privacy Among Persons With an Ostomy Receiving Treatment and Care: A Mixed-Methods Study.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine ostomy patients' experiences and opinions on protection of privacy during treatment and care. DESIGN: Mixed-methods, descriptive correlational study. SAMPLE AND SETTING: The study sample comprised 80 patients with an ostomy receiving treatment and care in a university hospital in Turkey. METHODS: Data were collected using a form developed by the researchers based on literature review. The survey consisted of statements that examined demographic characteristics, experiences, and opinions of patients with an ostomy. RESULTS: For participants, 64.8% (n = 35/54) defined privacy from a physical dimension, 64.1% (n = 25/39) suffered from ostomy-related psychosocial discomfort, 48.7% experienced ostomy-related discomfort mostly during nursing care (n = 19/39), 48.7% (n = 39/80) were uncomfortable when their ostomy was seen by others, Approximately 56.3% (n = 45/80) thought that they disturbed other patients and their families during ostomy care, and 46.3% (n = 37/80) stated that healthcare professionals discussed information about their ostomy when other patients and their families were present. In addition, 21.3% (n = 17/80) opined that the physical conditions of patient rooms failed to provide privacy. Analysis revealed no significant relationship between education levels and reading the Patient Rights Regulation (P = .129). Analysis also found no significant relationships between age (P = .086), marital status (P = .382), educational background (P = .143), hospitalization experience (P = .427), and satisfaction with perceptions of privacy when receiving ostomy care. CONCLUSION: Patients with an ostomy reported physical and psychosocial problems concerning privacy, felt uncomfortable about the way information on their ostomy was discussed, and thought that physical conditions were not suitable for ostomy care. We recommend that healthcare professionals be provided with more training on psychosocial problems and privacy for patients with ostomy and that institutional policies and procedures be developed to address patients' problems.

Determination of Nursing Diagnoses in Children of Agricultural Laborer Families in South Eastern Regions of Turkey.

PURPOSE: Identifying functional health patterns and nursing diagnoses of migrant agricultural laborer families. METHODS: Interpretative-qualitative study based on interviews with 162 mothers of 0- to 2-year-old children in two Turkish provinces. FINDINGS: Health perception-health management: growth and development, risk for being delayed; health maintenance, ineffective; health behavior, risk-prone; risk for contamination; risk for sudden infant death syndrome; and risk for injury. Nutritional-metabolic: Risk for infection; and breastfeeding, interrupted. Self-perception: risk for chronic low self-esteem, disturbed self-esteem; and powerlessness. Role-relationship: impaired parenting; and dysfunctional family process. Coping-stress tolerance: coping, disabled family; violence, risk for other-directed. Cognitive-perceptive: knowledge deficit CONCLUSIONS: Nursing diagnoses of this population were reported for the first time. IMPLICATIONS: Addressing agricultural laborer families' diagnoses will positively affect maternal-child health.

Nursing diagnosis in intensive care unit: the Turkey experience.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine intensive care unit nurses diagnostic abilities and diagnoses that they provide. METHODS AND SUBJECT: A vignette study was performed. The vignette contained a patient's history, treatment, and signs/symptoms of 18 nursing diagnoses based on NANDA-I as the criterion standard. Turkish intensive care unit nurses (N = 45) stated nursing diagnoses described by patient data in the vignette. The resulting nursing diagnoses were grouped into Gordon's Functional Health Patterns, and descriptive analyses were performed. One-way analysis of variance was used to detect possible differences in diagnostic abilities based on nurses' education levels. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Nurses identified 14 nursing diagnoses. Four of the predetermined psychosocial nursing diagnoses were not identified. The highest percentage of diagnoses was risk for impaired skin integrity (62.2%) and impaired oral mucous membrane (60.0%). The lowest number of diagnoses was impaired verbal communication (2.2%). A statistically significant difference was found between the educational level of nurses and their abilities to determine nursing diagnoses (P < .05). The findings are important for nursing education. They demonstrate the need to focus on patients as complete human beings, covering not only biological aspects but also cultural and social values, as well as emotional and spiritual care needs.

Nursing diagnoses determined by first year students: a vignette study.

PURPOSE: The study aimed to determine the ability of first year students in identifying nursing diagnoses. METHODS: In a descriptive evaluation study, an expert-validated vignette containing 18 nursing diagnoses was used. RESULTS: The students determined 15 nursing diagnoses. The highest percentages of diagnoses identified were disturbed sleep pattern and nutrition imbalance. Students also considered medical diagnoses as nursing diagnoses: hypertension and tachycardia. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the fact that students were only at the end of their first semester and had limited clinical experience, they successfully identified the majority of nursing diagnoses. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Patient case study vignettes are recommended for education. To foster students' knowledge and experience, it is also suggested that evaluating nursing diagnoses in clinical practicals becomes a requirement.

Surgical patients' and nurses' opinions and expectations about privacy in care.

The purpose of this study was to determine the opinions and expectations of patients and nurses about privacy during a hospital admission for surgery. The study explored what enables and maintains privacy from the perspective of Turkish surgical patients and nurses. The study included 102 adult patients having surgery and 47 nurses caring for them. Data were collected via semistructured questionnaire by face-to-face interviews. The results showed that patients were mostly satisfied by the respect shown to their privacy by the nurses but were less confident of the confidentiality of their personal data. It was found that patients have expectations regarding nursing approaches and attitudes about acknowledging and respecting patient autonomy and confidentiality. It is remarkable that while nurses focused on the physical dimension of privacy, patients focused on informational and psychosocial dimensions of privacy, as well as its physical dimension.

Nursing students' perceptions towards cancer and caring for cancer patients in Turkey.

PURPOSE: This descriptive study investigated nursing students' perceptions about cancer and their experiences of caring for cancer patients. METHODS: The study was conducted in a school of nursing in Ankara, Turkey. In the first instance, a self-report questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics, experience of caring for cancer patients, and a 22 item Likert scale questionnaire eliciting students' perceptions about cancer was administered (n = 167). In the next stage, 24 third and fourth year students were invited to attend two focus groups to explore their experiences of caring for cancer patients. RESULTS: Less than half of the students in the study had prior experience of caring for cancer patients but the majority displayed positive perceptions towards cancer. The main themes emerging from the study were: hardship, uncertainty, fear, hope, and the association of cancer with death. Difficulties encountered included communication problems, helplessness and fear of doing wrong. Preceptors, nurses and peers were the most common sources of support. Students suggested the need for orientation programs, introduction by the facilitator to the oncology team, organizing meetings to share experiences, extending the duration of practice placements and organizing motivating activities. CONCLUSIONS: Educational programs and supportive strategies may alleviate fears and promote a more positive image of cancer amongst nursing students.

Think globally, act locally: understanding sexual harassment from a cross-cultural perspective.

OBJECTIVES: Sexual harassment in medical education has been studied in the Americas, Europe and Asia; however, little is known about sexual harassment in Middle Eastern cultures. Our initial aim was to describe the sexual harassment of female doctors-in-training by male patients and their relatives in Turkey. During our analysis of data, we expanded our objectives to include the formulation of a framework that can provide a theoretical background to enhance medical educators' understanding of sexual harassment across cultures. METHODS: Questionnaires were provided to female resident doctors. Respondents were asked about their experiences of sexual harassment, about their reactions and about any precautionary measures they had used. Descriptive statistics were generated using SPSS software. Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. RESULTS: Forty-nine (51.0%) of 96 distributed questionnaires were completed. Thirty-three (67.3%) participants stated that they had been sexually harassed by a patient or patient's relative at some point in their career. 'Gazing at the doctor in a lewd manner', selected by 25 (51.0%) participants, was the most common form of harassment. The methods of coping selected by the highest numbers of respondents involved seeking the discharge of the patient (24.2%), avoiding contact with the patient or relatives (24.2%) and showing rejection (21.2%). Participants' comments about the prevention of sexual harassment revealed a deep sense of need for protection. The interface between quantitative and qualitative findings and a review of the literature supported the development of a value-based, cross-cultural conceptual framework linking the valuing of hierarchy and conservatism with the occurrence of sexual harassment. CONCLUSIONS: We relate our findings to issues of patriarchy, power and socio-cultural influences that impact both the perpetrator and the target of sexual harassment. Medical educators are responsible for the control and prevention of sexual harassment of students. The globalisation of medical education requires that medical educators use a multi-cultural approach which considers socio-cultural influences and the diversity of female and male students' actions and perceptions of sexual harassment.

A Turkish version of Kogan's attitude toward older people (KAOP) scale: reliability and validity assessment.

The considerable growth in the elderly population in Turkey has brought with it problems as well as concerns regarding gerontological education for health care professionals. The quality of care provided for older people is directly related to the attitudes of health care professionals. Validated instruments are needed in order to study attitudes toward old people. Aim of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of a Turkish version of KAOP among faculty of health sciences (health management, nutrition and dietetics, nursing, physical therapy, social workers and sports) students (n=594) at a university. The scale was translated using the back-translation technique. A two-phase data collection design was used. Four weeks following the first completion, another KAOP form was given. Content validity, construct validity, internal consistency, and stability reliability were assessed. Scores were between 86 and 175. The study sample reported slightly positive attitudes (132.9 ± 14.74). All of the 34 items were found to have significant item-to-total correlations. The content validity index was 0.94. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.84 for the total scale. The Turkish version of the KAOP can be considered reliable and valid scale for assessing the attitudes toward older people.