Perceptions and predictors of dating violence among nursing and midwifery students.

AIMS: To determine the prevalence and predictors of victimization and perpetration of dating violence among nursing and midwifery students. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study design. METHODS: The sample consisted of nursing and midwifery students (N = 603) at the largest state university in southeastern Turkey. Data were collected with a validated, investigator-designed survey instrument between September 2015 and January 2016. FINDINGS: Most participants had been exposed to dating violence. Jealousy, controlling behaviour, and restrictions on another's social life were not perceived as violent behaviour in dating relationships. There was no significant relationship of dating violence with gender, smoking, place of residence, or marijuana use. Exposure to parental violence and alcohol use were found to be the strongest predictors of being a perpetrator of violence in the dating violence perpetration model. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the lack of recognition of dating violence among nursing and midwifery students. The perceptions of students should be enriched by adding content on violent behaviours in the curriculum of nursing and midwifery programmes. IMPACT: Efforts to reduce and stop dating violence have a crucial role in preventing future violence in established relationships. We acknowledge that the prevalence of dating violence among nursing and midwifery students is high. Psychological and verbal violence are extremely common and most are not recognized as violent behaviours by the students. This study contributes to the understanding of violent behaviours related to dating violence among nursing and midwifery students for establishing healthy relationship.

The Level of Hopelessness and Psychological Distress among Abused Women in A Women's Shelter in Turkey.

Hopelessness prevents abused women from participating in social life and increases the risk of suicide. The aim of this study was to determine the level of hopelessness and psychological distress among abused women admitted to shelter in a conservative country. The sample included 40 abused women. A questionnaire, Beck Hopelessness Scale and the General Health Questionnaire were used to collect data. Chi-square, the Pearson correlation analysis test, and variance analysis were performed. Half of the women experienced moderate and severe hopelessness. Higher levels of hopelessness were found to be associated with higher psychological distress. Women had problems with decision-making, concentrating on a job, felt unhappiness, and depression. The results of the study would be useful in designing training programs for nurses, social workers and counselors as well as policy makers who assist women facing domestic violence to provide better physiological and psychological care for sheltered women in conservative countries.

Knowledge and perception of female nursing students about human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer, and attitudes toward HPV vaccination.

Objective: The researchers aimed to evaluate the knowledge and perceptions of first-year female nursing students about human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer (CC), and HPV vaccination. Participants: The sample included 690 female nursing students from sampled universities between April and June 2015. Methods: Students were surveyed by using a pretested HPV and CC awareness questionnaire. Results: More than half of the students (65.1%) answered questions incorrectly with a mean HPV knowledge score of 6.085 ± 3.38. The majority of students (82.6%) did not hear HPV vaccine. Only, 2.8% of the students had been vaccinated. A statistically significant relationship was found between HPV knowledge score and hearing about HPV vaccine (U = 28280.500, p = .015), and believing HPV vaccine protectiveness (χ2 = 14.153, p = .001). Conclusions: This study highlights the lack of knowledge and low level of awareness about HPV, CC, and HPV vaccination among first-year nursing college students.

Traditional practices for maternal and newborn care among Turkish postpartum women.

AIM: Researchers used descriptive study design to examine the traditional practices of women in relation to maternal and newborn care in the postpartum period. METHODS: 523 postpartum women included who were between 15 and 49years of age, had at least one child, and had no medical complications that affect the mother-infant health. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Comparisons were made between the responses about the women's knowledge of traditional practices and other variables. RESULTS: We found that women widely used traditional practices such as putting Koran (Holy book for Muslims) and packing needle under the mother's pillow to prevent mother from "al basmasi", pouring lead in a cup over the head of the newborn to repel evil spirits, and covering the baby's face with a piece of yellow cloth to prevent neonatal jaundice. The rate of using postpartum traditional practices increased with age and number of pregnancies and decreased with education (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Educational activities are recommended to increase awareness of harmful traditional practices in the field of reproductive health for nurses and midwives. Health professionals should pay special attention to less educated, older and primiparous women from rural areas enable them to reinforce positive cultural practices, and discourage them from using harmful ones by providing non-critical scientific explanations.

Predictors and measurement of satisfaction with postpartum care in a government hospital.

In this study, the predictors of satisfaction with postpartum care at a government hospital were evaluated. The descriptive research sample included 300 mothers in their postpartum period. Data were collected using a questionnaire and the Postpartum Nursing Care Evaluation Scale. The regression analysis undertaken showed that mothers who received prenatal care had a significantly higher evaluation score (compared to those who had not received prenatal care), as had mothers who had a caesarean delivery (compared to vaginal birth), as well as those who had received support from friends and relatives during their postpartum period (compared to those who did not receive such support). Our recommendation is that postpartum nursing care be improved for mothers who deliver vaginally, have not received prenatal care, were unintentionally pregnant, and have problems with breastfeeding. The results will help nurses who work with an international population of postpartum women to give professional, systematic, and patient-centered care to postpartum mothers in order to increase patient satisfaction.

Opinions and Attitudes About Vasectomy of Married Couples Living in Turkey.

This study was conducted as a descriptive study, designed to determine the opinions and attitudes of married couples living in Turkey about vasectomy. The sample consisted of 350 women. Researchers used a questionnaire to collect data. Descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis were used. The results showed that 14% of women and 43.0% of men were of the opinion that undergoing a vasectomy procedure was a sin. Chi-square analysis determined statistically significant differences between the male and female groups ( p < .05). More than 88.0% of the men were not willing to have vasectomy and 35.4% thought that vasectomy had a negative effect on marriage and sexual health. In addition, 58.9% thought that vasectomy had a negative effect on men's health. Women were more likely than men to see vasectomy as merely a cultural taboo instead of a sin. Sociocultural factors, such as ideas that contraception is the woman's responsibility, that sterilized men lose status in society, or that sterilized men lose authority in the family, as well as misconceptions about vasectomy such as concerns about sexual functioning, psychological effects, and effects on physical strength, were determined to be the main barriers for vasectomy use in Turkish culture. The study recommends determining strategies for overcoming sociocultural barriers by raising awareness and increasing the utilization of vasectomy. Couple-specific family planning programs can make an important contribution toward improving awareness of the benefits of vasectomy.

Opinions of women towards cesarean delivery and priority issues of care in the postpartum period.

This study was conducted, in order to determine the opinions of women who had a cesarean delivery and the problems that they faced in the postpartum period. This descriptive study was conducted with 337 women who delivered babies by cesarean section. The data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The results of the study showed that 53.4% of women underwent cesarean delivery for the first time, and 83.1% said that it was the obstetrician's decision to have a cesarean delivery. More than half of the women (61.1%) had a negative experience with cesarean delivery due to postpartum pain (44.7%) and inability to care for their infant (35.9%). The most common problems associated with cesarean delivery were postpartum pain (96.1%), back pain (68.2%), problems passing gas (62.0%), bleeding (56.1%), breastfeeding problems (49.6%) and limitation of movement (43.6%) respectively. Understanding the the opinions and problems of women towards cesarean delivery assists healthcare professionals in identifying better ways to provide appropriate care and support.

Quality of sexual life and its effect on marital adjustment of Turkish women in pregnancy.

Pregnancy is an important period of a woman's life that can affect marital relationships because of decrease in the sexual function. This study aimed to examine the effect of sexual life on the marital adjustment of 607 healthy, pregnant women using the self-administered Sexual Quality of Life Questionnaire-Female and the Marital Adjustment Scale. Results showed that 30% of the pregnant women experienced problems during sexual intercourse and 50% had painful intercourse. The median total score of the Sexual Quality of Life Questionnaire-Female for pregnant women was 35.5, and the median total score of the Marital Adjustment Scale was 41.0. The authors found a positive moderate level correlation between the sexual quality of life for women and their marital adjustment for being pregnant (r = 0.468, p =.001). The results imply that the variance in the sexual activity during the childbearing period does occur and pregnant women need to be assessed regularly with regards to their sexuality by health care providers in a professional atmosphere.

Determination of the use of traditional practices to ease labour among Turkish women.

The purpose of this study was to determine the use of traditional practices to ease labour among Turkish women. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 809 women by using an investigator-designed questionnaire. The mean age of the women was 28.9 ± 8.33 years (min = 15, max = 74), 49.4% were between 20-29 years of age and more than half (56.2%) of the women had had one to two pregnancies. The results showed that traditional practices were known and applied mostly by the women who were at an advanced age, less educated and who lived in rural areas. In addition, the knowledge and application status of traditional practices related to religious beliefs were found to be very high compared with superstitious practices. It was suggested that nurses provide culturally competent care that requires a commitment by the individual nurse to develop, refine and use specific skills in the care of women.

Determinants of family planning use among Turkish married men who live in South East Turkey.

This study assesses the determinants of family planning methods use by Turkish married men in South East Anatolia. A descriptive and cross-sectional survey research design was used among 1,352 men aged 20 to 52 years who lived in South East Turkey. A pilot-tested questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics, chi-square, and multivariate regression analysis were used. The rate of nonusage of contraceptive methods among the participants was 60.4%. Within the nonusers, 34.9% reported a religious prohibition and 9.4% had misconceptions about family planning. Chi-square analysis determined four factors that were significantly related to the men's usage of contraception. These factors are the following: the men's age, educational level, number of existing children, and their perception of their household income level. These four factors were also subjected to multivariate regression analysis, the results of which were used to compute odds ratios for each value of each factor indicating the likelihood for using contraception by men within each group. Male-specific family planning programs can make an important contribution to the overall efforts to improve the usage of contraceptives by men. It is important to note that family planning services and education programs related to family planning should be appropriate for men.

Turkish nursing students' knowledge and perceptions regarding virginity.

The aim of this study was to describe the level of knowledge and perceptions of the Turkish nursing students regarding virginity, the virginity examination and the hymen repair. A convenience sample was used for the study purpose. An investigator designed questionnaire was administered to a total sample of 781 undergraduate nursing students originating from two universities in Mersin and Gaziantep, Turkey, respectively. The results showed that the participating nursing students agreed that a man must marry a virgin woman and the students' opinions had been affected by the social pressures and the social values regarding virginity. In additon, it was found that the repair of the hymen was acceptable by the participating students. The findings of this study addressed and highlighted the gap in the knowledge on virginity related violence so as to improve the educational programmes and clinical practice within the context of preparing nurses for an extended role in violence against women.

Examination of midlife women's attitudes toward menopause in Turkey.

This study used a cross-sectional descriptive design to examine the attitudes of 154 Turkish women aged ≥ 40 years towards menopause. A questionnaire and the Menopause Attitudes scale were used. The mean score of the attitudes was determined as 34.70 ± 8.56. Most women in the study had negative attitudes towards menopause. The majority of women with positive attitudes were older, well educated and had used hormone replacement therapy (P < 0.05). Using multiple linear regression analysis, age and education level were found to be statistically significant (P < 0.001). A statistically significant difference was found between the women in the premenopausal and menopausal years in terms of sexuality after menopause (P < 0.05). This study suggests that Turkish women 40 years and older have negative attitudes towards menopause and their primary concern in the premenopausal period is sexuality after menopause. Counseling of women on menopause-related issues in gynecology clinics is recommended.

Examining barriers to emergency contraception use.

Using a cross-sectional survey research design, this study examined barriers to emergency contraception (EC) use among a sample of 318 Turkish women. Only 34% of the respondents reported being aware of EC methods, and about 20% had actually used EC. More than 90% of the participant women considered use of EC methods as a sin. The results of the study showed that the major barriers to EC use are lack of awareness and common misconceptions about EC methods. This study highlights the need of education for Turkish women regarding EC to increase awareness and dispel misconceptions related to EC.