Attitudes of Married Muslim Women Regarding Family Planning Methods During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Western Turkey.

COVID-19 had negative effects upon family planning. Women cannot visit healthcare facilities because of a fear of curfew-related sanctions or exposure to COVID-19. It is seen that religious beliefs are influential especially in terms of family planning method preference and having abortions. This study was conducted to determine the attitudes of married Muslim women regarding family planning methods during the COVID-19 pandemic period. The descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 611 married Muslim women who presented to the family planning outpatient clinic of a public hospital in Western Turkey between 1 September 2020 and 1 March 2021. The mean Family Planning Attitude Scale score of the women was found to be 137.53 ± 27.11. It was observed that, as the mean age of the women increased, their family planning attitudes were more positive, and as their number of pregnancies, abortions and living children increased, their attitudes were more negative (p < 0.05). Women do not want to get pregnant during the pandemic process. This is because the effects of COVID-19 on both themselves and the baby to be born are not known, which worries women. Therefore, in order to transform positive attitudes regarding family planning into behavior, it is recommended to provide effective training and consultancy services during the pandemic period.

Relationship of knowledge about and attitudes towards violence with recognition of violence against women among health staff in pre-hospital emergency medical services.

BACKGROUND: Domestic violence, specifically, violence against women, is prevalent in all segments of society regardless of social class, ethnicity, culture or country. In other words, domestic violence is a global concern. AIM: The study aims to investigate the relationship between the attitude and knowledge of the health staff in pre-hospital emergency medical services about violence against women and their recognition of such form of violence. METHODS: This descriptive study was conducted on 1023 paramedics and emergency medicine technicians who work in the pre-hospital emergency health setting and are members of the Paramedic and Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine Association. The Attitudes towards Violence against Women Scale (ATVAWS) and Health Staff's Recognition of Signs of Violence against Women Scale (HPRSVAWS) were used for data collection. RESULTS: The mean scores for the ATVAWS and HPRSVAWS were 46.68 ± 6.92 and 20.31 ± 3.23, respectively. Of the participants, 48.5% had been subjected to violence, 43.93% had been subjected to violence perpetrated by their mothers, 41.53% had been exposed to physical violence and 4.2% remain exposed to domestic violence. Participants who had been exposed and those who remain exposed to domestic violence produced high scores in ATVAWS, which indicates an improvement in the traditional approach (less opposing view) to violence. High scores in the ATVAWS for (a) those who were exposed to violence in their workplaces, (b) who had never attended to actual or suspected cases of violence against women in their professional life, (c) who had attended to seven or more cases of violence against women, (d) who were less competent in physically examining actual or suspected cases of violence and (e) who had not been trained on violence against women, which indicates an increase in the traditional approach to violence. CONCLUSION: The study found that health staff in emergency health stations better recognised the signs of violence against women as their attitudes towards violence were less similar to the traditional approach. That is, they mostly held non-violent views. The characteristics, attitudes, perceptions and values of health professionals were considered important factors in addressing violence.

Intercultural awareness, communication, and empathy skills in nurses and midwives working in provinces with mass migration.

PURPOSE: The study was to evaluate the intercultural awareness, communication, and empathy skills of midwives and nurses (n = 479) DESIGN AND METHODS: The descriptive study data were collected using the Communication-Skills-Scale (CSS), the Basic-Empathy-Scale (BES), and the Intercultural-Awareness-Scale (IAS). FINDINGS: The total average scores of the CSS, BES, and IAS were found to be 100.07 ± 13.03, 70.70 ± 13.99, and 83.51 ± 14.24, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between age, education, position, experience and the BES and IAS; gender, providing care for Syrian patients and the CSS and BES; marital status and the BES (P %3C .05). PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Nurses and midwives have important responsibilities in terms of protecting and improving the health of migrant women.

Evaluation of School of health students' ethics position in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: The advances in science and technology increasingly lead to the appearance of ethical issues and to the complexity of care. Therefore, it is important to define the ethics position of students studying in health departments so that high quality patient care can be achieved. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the ethics position of the students at Shool of Health of an University in western Turkey. METHODS: The study design was descriptive and cross-sectional. The study population included 540 first, second, third, and fourth year students from the Departments of Nursing, Midwifery, and Rescue and Disaster Management in the 2013-2014 academic year. Data were collected with a Personal Identification Form and The Ethics Position Questionnaire. Obtained data were analyzed with Chi-square test, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and Nested Analysis of Variance. Ethical considerations: Before conducting the research, approval was obtained from Ege University Clinical Research Ethics Committee in Izmir and written informed consent was taken from all the participants. FINDINGS: There was no significant difference in the mean scores for the Ethics Position Questionnaire between the students in terms of years and fields of study. Although the mean scores for the subscale idealism did not differ between fields of study, the mean scores significantly differed between years of study. However, the mean scores for the subscale relativism did not differ in terms of years and fields of study. DISCUSSION: Whether students are idealistic or relativistic in terms of ethical judgment will be effective in ethical decision-making skills during patient care. Therefore, we need to define the factors that influence students' ethics position in the future. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that the courses and practices that teach students to be aware of their ethics position to create an ethical outlook can be placed in the curriculum in health schools.

Awareness and attitudes of Turkish nursing students towards research and development in nursing.

BACKGROUND: The research course in nursing is included in almost all nursing curricula in national and international scales. PURPOSE: To compare awareness and attitudes of Turkish nursing students towards research and development in nursing. METHODS: This study had descriptive and cross-sectional research design. The research sampling is consisted of 390 senior students studying during the 2013-2014 academic year in six schools of health in six different geographical regions in Turkey. The Personal Identification Form and Nursing Students' Attitudes to and Awareness of Research and Development within Nursing Scale were utilized in data collection. RESULTS: It was determined that there is difference between awareness and attitude scores of nursing students from six different schools towards research and development in nursing according to their schools and background. CONCLUSION: It can be suggested that initiatives to increase awareness of students at nursing schools towards research course must be planned.

The information requirements and self-perceptions of Turkish women undergoing hysterectomy.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the affects, information requirements and self-perceptions of Turkish women undergoing hysterectomy. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 37 Turkish women undergoing hysterectomy and followed in a gynecology unit of a state hospital in Canakkale, Turkey, between February and August 2012. Data were collected before discharge with a questionnaire composed of 32 questions. Percentage distributions and Chi-square test were used in the evaluation of the data. RESULTS: There was a significant relationship between fear of anesthesia and number of pregnancies (p=0.007) and between death during surgery and number of pregnancies in the preoperative period (p=0.027). The relationship between knowing type of surgery and knowing when sutures would be removed was also significant in post-operative period (p=0.045). In addition, there was a significant relationship between women's living only with their husbands and worrying about not having children anymore (p=0.032). CONCLUSION: The women's information needs were high and women's self-perceptions had been affected negatively after hysterectomy. It is recommended that nurses, primarily health professionals should have adequate knowledge on comprehensive care and psychosocial support after hysterectomy.

Effectiveness of online education in teaching breast self- examination.

BACKGROUND: This research evaluated the effectiveness of an online education model in teaching breast self- examination to university staff and students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 1,679 women participated in a breast self-examination online training program. Breast self-examination knowledge evaluation forms developed by Maurer (1997) were used in the research and were evaluated on a 100 point scale. Paired t-test and McNemar's Test statistics were employed. RESULTS: The participants scored an average of 46.5 (14.0%) on knowledge on breast self-examination before training, but 77.4 (11.0%) one month after education and 76.7 (9.52%) after six months. There was a clear significant difference between these knowledge levels (p<0.05). Similarly, while the rate for systematic practice of breast self-examination among women was 30.8% before training it increased to 47.8% afterwards. Again the difference was significant (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Online education is an effective method for teaching breast self-examination to women.