Prevalence of obesity and hypertension in children and determination of associated factors by CHAID analysis.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of obesity and hypertension in children is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and increases the prevalence of heart failure and associated morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of obesity and hypertension, as well as the associated risk factors, in school-age children. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 21 schools in Antalya, Turkey. A total of 5160 students between the ages of 5 and 15 years participated in the study. The data were collected using a questionnaire, and students' height, weight, and blood pressure were measured. The data were evaluated using numbers, percentages, mean, and chi-squared automatic interaction detector (CHAID) analysis. RESULTS: In all, 11.4% of children were overweight, 11.8% were obese, 6.8% had prehypertension, and 5.7% had hypertension. School level, school location, and father's educational status were determined as factors associated with overweight and obesity; BMI, school level, school location, and mother's working status were determined as factors related to hypertension in the children. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of hypertension, overweight, and obesity was found to be significantly high in the children, especially those living in rural areas. Therefore, it is recommended that these health issues be monitored in children and that necessary measures be taken by considering regional differences.

Translation and Psychometric Testing of the Healthcare Environment Survey in Turkey.

AIM: This study aimed to translate and psychometrically test the Healthcare Environment Survey, describe the strengths and needs of job satisfaction for nurses in Turkey, and advance an international discussion across countries that used Healthcare Environment Survey. The Healthcare Environment Survey was the only instrument found that measured multiple facets of nurses' satisfaction in caring for patients. Healthcare Environment Survey has been psychometrically tested in Jamaica, Scotland, and the USA. METHOD: This study was a methodological design. A convenience sample of 400 nurses from 2 hospitals in Antalya, Turkey, was asked to complete the Healthcare Environment Survey. A total of 241 nurses (60.3%) responded to all 57 items. RESULTS: Factor analysis revealed all items loaded into 10 facets, with all factor loadings greater than 0.40, except 1 item regarding executive leadership. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of 0.91 revealed a good model fit. The Healthcare Environment Survey explained 75% of the variance in nurse job satisfaction. The Cronbach alpha coefficient for the 10 facets ranged from 0.83-0.90. A comparison of these results with the other 3 countries that used the Healthcare Environment Survey revealed that caring for patients had a high factor loading in Turkey, Scotland, and the USA but a low one in Jamaica. CONCLUSION: The Healthcare Environment Survey -Turkish form was found to be a valid and reliable tool, which could be used by nurse managers to evaluate satisfied and unsatisfied areas. It provides new opportunities for national/international benchmark, cooperation, and research with others.

Nurses' perceptions of motivational factors: a case study in a Turkish university hospital.

PURPOSE: This study investigates the perceptions of nurses regarding work motivation factors. BACKGROUND: Work motivation of nurses is of utmost importance so that patients may receive high-quality and effective nursing services as well as higher levels of care satisfaction. METHOD: This descriptive study was conducted with nurses in a university hospital in Turkey. A personal information form and the motivation factors questionnaire form were used as data collection tools. Data analysis was conducted using mean, anova, t-test, Tukey test and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. RESULT: Appreciation (mean 4.76) had the highest score among all the factors. It was also found that the respondents' perceptions regarding motivation varied significantly (P < 0.05) depending on their age, professional experience and institutional experience. No differences were found in the respondents' perceptions with respect to professional position (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results show that appreciation was perceived as the most effective factor by nurses. Furthermore, nurses' perception of the influence of motivation factors varied according to age, duration of professional experience and institutional experience. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nursing managers can maximise the potential of nurses by implementing appropriate motivation strategies. When developing suitable motivation strategies, they should consider age, duration of professional experience and institutional experience and monitor recent changes. It is strongly recommended that experimental studies are conducted and significant appreciation techniques analysed.

Nurse-nurse manager conflict: how do nurse managers manage it?

This study was conducted to determine the conflict management styles used by nurse managers when in conflict with nurses and to ascertain the differences between sociodemographic characteristics and the style used. The study was conducted on 71 nurse managers working in 3 different hospitals in Antalya (Turkey). A personal information form and Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory II were used for data collection. The most commonly used style by nurse managers when in conflict was integrating, and the least commonly used was avoiding. There was no difference between the style used and the nurses' educational status, marital status, and years of employment. The obliging style was used the most by those 45 years and older and those with 20 years or more of management experience, whereas the avoiding style was used by nurse managers with 6 to 10 years of management experience. This study suggests that nurse managers who are older and have management experience need to be encouraged to use effective conflict management and that there is a need for further research of the subject of factors that affect conflict management style.