Turkish psychometric characteristics of the humanistic practice ability of nursing scale: differences by education, working year, and professional satisfaction.

BACKGROUND: Humanistic nursing practices scientifically improve the knowledge structure of nursing, enrich its theoretical system and support its development. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate the humanistic practice abilities of nurses. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to test the psycholinguistic features, language and construct validity of the Humanistic Practice Ability of Nursing Scale and to examine it according to nurses' demographic characteristics. DESIGN AND METHODS: This study was a methodological type of analytical research conducted with 397 clinical nurses working in a hospital. A questionnaire including demographic information and evaluating empathy and compassion adequacy was used. Data were analyzed using explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha, item-total score correlation, split-half analysis, t-test, analysis of variance and correlation analysis. RESULTS: The scale consists of 29 items and four factors, explaining 61.15% of the total variance. Factor loads were > 0.30. confirmatory factor analysis results were χ2/df: 2.58, GFI: 0.86, TLI: 0.91, IFI: 0.92, CFI: 0.92, RMSEA: 0.06, and SRMR: 0.03. The Cronbach alpha value for the full scale is 0.95. A significant relationship was found between the scale and empathy and compassion proficiency. It was observed that the scale scores differed according to the nurses' education level, working years and job satisfaction (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study shows that the Turkish version of the HPAN scale is valid and reliable for 29 items and four factors. The humanistic practice ability of nurses differ according to postgraduate education, years of working in the profession and professional satisfaction.

Practices of midwives working in delivery rooms for protection of perineum during intrapartum period and their feedback on these applications.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Perineal traumas occurring during labor are undesirable for both the midwives and the woman. Midwives and obstetricians could use different techniques to protect the perineum. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the practices of midwives working in the delivery room to protect the perineum during the second stage of labor. METHODS: This is a prospective observational study regarding practices of midwifes for protection of perineum during intrapartum period. The study was conducted with a total of 20 midwives in a maternity unit of an training and research hospital. The data were collected through the forms prepared by the researchers. FINDINGS: The average age of the midwives was 34 ± 8.77. The majority of midwives (n: 17, 85%) believed that the need for practices to protect the perineum during labor; 40% of them used perineal protection (hands on) technique to protect perineum and they preferred to perform routine episiotomy in all primiparas. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: As a result of the study, it was observed that evidence-based practices was not applied sufficiently enough by the midwives although they were knowledgeable and believed that they are beneficial. Studies are needed for the obstacles to these practices to be identified and removed.