The Knowledge, Practices, and Perceptions of Surgical Nurses Concerning Spirituality and Spiritual Care.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this descriptive study was to describe the knowledge, practices and perceptions of nurses concerning spirituality and spiritual care. DESIGN: A descriptive study. METHODS: The study was performed with 142 surgical nurses working in three public hospitals in a city in Turkey. A "Personal Information Form" and the "Spirituality and Spiritual Care Grading Scale" were used for data collection. The data were analysed on SPSS 25.0 software. FINDINGS: While 77.5% of the nurses reported having heard about the concepts of spirituality and spiritual care, 17.6% reported having received instruction concerning spirituality and spiritual care during their initial nursing education and 19.0% after graduation. In addition, 78.2% provided spiritual care in the clinics where they worked, 40.5% reported that patients were given religious support and 37.8% stated that patients were given the opportunity to be involved in their own care. The nurses' total mean spirituality and spiritual care grading scale score was 57.6±5.6. A statistically significant difference was determined in mean scale scores between nurses who had and had not heard about the concepts of spirituality and spiritual care (P=0.049) and between those who practiced and did not practice spiritual care in the clinics where they worked (P=0.018). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of surgical nurses had heard about the concepts of spirituality and spiritual care but had not been exposed to them during their initial nursing education. However, the majority practiced spiritual care in their clinics, and their perception levels were above average.

Exploration of nursing students' views on the theory-practice gap in surgical nursing education and its relationship with attitudes towards the profession and evidence-based practice.

AIM: The aim of this study was to explore nursing students' views on the theory-practice gap in surgical nursing education and determine its relationship with attitudes towards the profession and evidence-based practice. BACKGROUND: In nursing education, the discrepancy between the theoretical knowledge and clinical practices is known as the "theory-practice gap". Although this problem was defined many years ago, scientific information on the subject is very limited in terms of surgical nursing. METHOD: This descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was carried out in three different universities in the Black Sea Region of Türkiye. The sample consisted of 389 nursing students. The data collection was carried out in May-July 2022 through the use of the following tools: The Attitude Scale for the Nursing Profession (ASNP), the Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors Questionnaire for Evidence-Based Practice (KABQ-EBP) and the researchers made form to determine students' views on the theory-practice gap. The data were analysed with Student's t-test, multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: 72.8% of the students stated that they thought there was a discrepancy between their theoretical surgical nursing courses and clinical practice. While the total ASNP score of students who thought that there was a discrepancy between theoretical education and clinical practice was lower than that of the other students (p = 0.002), no difference was found among the students in terms of the total KABQ-EBP score (p > 0.05). In the multiple linear regression analysis, it was determined that thinking about gap (ß = -0.125, p = 0.009), gender (ß = -0.134, p = 0.006), willingness to choose the profession (ß = 0.150, p = 0.002) and KABQ-EBP score (ß = 0.247, p < 0.001) had significant effects on nursing students' attitudes towards the profession. In the model, %12 of the total variance was explained by the variables. CONCLUSION: The study shows that the gap between theory and practice for the surgical nursing course is a problem perceived by most students. Also, students who thought that there was a theory-practice gap for the surgical nursing course had a more negative attitude towards the profession, while their attitudes towards evidence-based nursing were not different from others. The results of this study encourage further research to gain a better understanding of the impact of the gap between theory and practice on nursing students.

Development and psychometric testing of Perceived Preoperative Nursing Care Competence Scale for Nursing Students (PPreCC-NS).

BACKGROUND: For nurses to carry out their responsibilities related to preoperative care in the best possible way, it is very important for them to receive competency-based training and for their competences to be measured with reliable and valid tools in the training process. OBJECTIVE: To develop a measurement tool that evaluates nursing students' perceived competence for preoperative nursing care. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, methodological study. SETTING: Two universities in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 661 second, third and fourth grade nursing students participated in the study. METHODS: Items were created in line with the nursing competencies published by the International Council of Nurses, the competencies in the perioperative period nursing practices published by the European Operating Room Nurses Association, and a review of the literature. Then, to test the content validity, the items were submitted for expert opinion and a pilot implementation was made with 50 nursing students. Furthermore, the construct validity of the scale was tested with exploratory factor analysis (n = 253) and confirmatory factor analysis (n = 350). Test-retest stability was also investigated for the PPreCC-NS (n = 58), in the study. RESULTS: According to the results of the exploratory factor analysis, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value was 0.948, and the Bartlett test χ2 was 7765.23; p < 0.001. Three items with a factor loading value below 0.50 were removed from the scale, and the obtained factor structure explained 62.25 % of the variance. The fit indices of the scale model tested in the confirmatory factor analysis were determined as χ2/df = 2.74, RMSEA = 0.07, CFI = 0.92, GFI = 0.88, AGFI = 0.85, IFI = 0.92. The structure of the draft scale was confirmed with 5 factors and 22 items. The Cronbach alpha values were found to be 0.79-0.96 for the sub-dimensions of the scale and 0.94 for the total scale. Data also showed a good test-retest stability (ICC = 0.72). CONCLUSIONS: This scale is a reliable and valid measurement tool for nursing students to determine their level of perceived competence for preoperative nursing care. It is recommended that the psychometric structure of the scale be evaluated with further studies on larger and more diverse samples.

Relationship of Cachexia with Self-Care Agency and Quality of Life in Cancer Patients: The Case of Turkey.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the effects of cachexia, causing major problems in the world and Turkey, on self-care agency and quality of life in cancer patients. METHODS: The population of this cross-sectional and relationship-seeking study consisted of cancer patients in Turkey from April 1 to April 20, 2021. Using the snowball sampling method, 174 patients were sampled. "Patient Information Form," "The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer C30 Cancer Quality of Life Scale," and "Exercise of Self-Care Agency Scale" were used as data collection tools. RESULTS: In the study, 52 patients (29.9%) were found to have cachexia. Function, general well-being, symptom (except insomnia), and self-care agency, which are subdimensions of the quality-of-life scale, were found to be significantly lower in patients with cachexia than patients without cachexia (P < 0.001). It was determined that there was a significant negative correlation between the cachexia status of the patients and the five basic functions in the functional scale (physical, role, emotional, cognitive, and social function), general well-being, and self-care agency, and there was a significant positive correlation between the cachexia status of the patients and the symptom scale (P < 0.001). According to the results of multiple linear regression analysis, it was found that the factor that significantly affected the cachexia status of the patients was their self-care agency (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: It was determined that cachexia caused significantly lower self-care agency and quality of life in cancer patients. Furthermore, quality of life was related to self-care agency.

The Efficacy of Lavender Aromatherapy in Reducing the Overcrowding-Related Anxiety in Health Care Workers.

In general, emergency departments (EDs) are stressful workplaces with excessive workloads and time pressures. Crowding, which is an important problem worldwide disrupting ED functions, leads further increases in the stressors which health care workers are exposed to. Long-term exposure to stressors can lead to anxiety in health care workers. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of aromatherapy on crowding-related anxiety in ED health care workers. Crowding was measured simultaneously with the National Emergency Department Overcrowding Scale objectively and the Health Care Workers' Crowding Perception Evaluation Form subjectively. The state-trait anxiety level was measured at each crowding level according to the health care workers' perception. When perceived crowding was at severely overcrowding level, lavender oil aromatherapy was applied. Anxiety level was measured before and after aromatherapy. Aromatherapy was repeated 3 times on different days. A significant positive correlation was found between state anxiety level and perceived crowding (r = 0.415, p < 0.001). Aromatherapy was found to have a significant correlation in reducing the overcrowding-related anxiety in health care workers (p < 0.05). This study showed that there is a significant correlation between anxiety level and perceived crowding, and aromatherapy is related to a decrease in overcrowding-related anxiety. In EDs, lavender oil aromatherapy can be used as a complementary method in reducing the overcrowding-related anxiety. But further researches are needed to verify that aromatherapy has a causative effect on reducing overcrowding-related anxiety.

Evaluation of Caregiver Burden of Family Members Providing Support for the Care of Patients Undergoing Brain Surgery at the Hospital.

AIM: The brain regulates various functions which control and coordinate the body. As brain surgeries influence the structures that regulate body functions, they can cause serious complications in patients, such as disability or death. This study aimed to determine the caregiver burden of family members providing support for the care of patients who had undergone brain surgery. METHOD: The descriptive study was done with family members of 102 patients who had surgery at the neurosurgery department of a university hospital in Turkey. Data were collected using the descriptive features form for the patients, descriptive features form for the care providing family members, Zarit Care Load Scale adjusted for the clinic, and Barthel daily living activities index. RESULTS: The results of the study revealed that patients undergoing neurosurgery were dependent to an extreme level and that care providing family members had mild or moderate level of care load. A statistically significant difference was found between the averages of family members and their age, sex, marital status, education level, monthly income level, and working status (p < .05). CONCLUSION: As the level of dependency of the patients undergoing neurosurgery increased, the load of the family members providing care also increased. It would be beneficial to evaluate the support sources owned by care providing family members for taking care of patients and to direct them to people and institutions from where they could get assistance.

Evaluating ethical sensitivity in surgical intensive care nurses.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Surgical intensive care nurses should have ethical sensitivity allowing them to identify ethical issues in order that they can recognize them and make the right decisions. This descriptive study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the ethical sensitivity of surgical intensive care nurses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research was carried out with the participation of 160 nurses in six Turkish hospitals, four state, one university, and one private. The data were collected using the "Nurse Description Form" developed by the researcher and the "Ethical Sensitivity Questionnaire." The percent, mean, standard deviation, median, minimum and maximum values, significance test for the difference between two means, variance analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, and Kruskal-Wallis Variance Analysis test were used to evaluate the data. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Ethical commission permission and the corporate permission of the hospitals were received before conducting the research. RESULTS: It was determined that the ethical sensitivities of surgical intensive care nurses were moderate based on the Ethical Sensitivity Questionnaire total score and subdimension score averages. A statistical difference was determined between the Ethical Sensitivity Questionnaire total score of surgical intensive care nurses and the institution where they worked, the period of working in the occupation, and the period of working in the intensive care unit (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Based on the results of the research, the organization of training and studies devoted to the elimination of ethical sensitivity differences between institutions and workers is suggested.

Presurgery Anxiety and Day Surgery Patients' Need for Information.

PURPOSE: This study was done to determine day surgery patients' presurgery anxiety levels related to information received. DESIGN: A descriptive and cross-sectional model was used. METHODS: The study was conducted with 151 patients who underwent day surgery at surgical clinics of a university hospital in Turkey. The data were gathered with the Patient Information Form and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. FINDINGS: The findings were that most of the patients received information about their day surgery, but the rate of receiving information about some issues was very low. Most of the patients reported that although they did not have any anxiety about surgery and anesthesia, observations revealed that their average state and trait anxiety scores were high. CONCLUSIONS: Study results can be used as a basis to provide patients with clarifications about surgeries during the presurgery period and as a means of decreasing their anxiety about surgery and anesthesia.

Therapeutic Effects of Nurse Telephone Follow-up for Lung Cancer Patients in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Patients with lung cancer can encounter many difficulties as they adjust to the side effects of chemotherapy treatments. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine the therapeutic effects of nurse telephone follow-up for lung cancer patients. METHODS: In this quasi-experimental study, the sample consisted of 60 patients with lung cancer assigned to an intervention group (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30). The control group participants were sequentially enrolled first and then the intervention group participants were enrolled. The data were collected using the Patient Information Form, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status, the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale, and the Functional Living Index-Cancer. The Nursing Care Guide was created by the nurse researchers' team and given to both the intervention and control groups. Telephone follow-up calls were conducted with intervention patients within the first week after their chemotherapy session. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Pearson χ, Fisher exact, Mann-Whitney U, and Friedman test and descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the data. RESULTS: Patients in the intervention group demonstrated significantly better adjustment to the symptoms secondary to chemotherapy and higher social functioning quality of life scores compared with reported scores in the control group. CONCLUSION: Nurse telephone follow-up can reduce chemotherapy-related symptoms for lung cancer patients and improve participants' social functioning. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Nurse telephone follow-up is an acceptable and feasible form of patient contact and is a convenient and efficient way to offer patients the support and continuity of care they need.

Factors affecting the sleep status of surgical and medical patients at a University Hospital of Turkey.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the factors that affect sleep status of surgical and medical patients during hospitalisation. METHODS: This hospital-based, cross-sectional study was conducted at Karadeniz Technical University's Farabi Hospital, Trabzon, Turkey, from July to October 2014. Data was gathered using a questionnaire and the Form of Factors Affecting Sleep Pattern. SPSS 15 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Of the 184 participants, there were 92(50%) each from the surgery and medical clinics. The mean score for the Form of Factors Affecting Sleep Pattern was 84.57±8.65 among the surgical patients and 78.01±17.61 among the medical patients. It was found that noise at the hospital affected sleep patterns among 73(79.3%) of the surgical patients and among 64(69.6%) of the medical patients. There were statistically significant differences between mean scores of the surgical patients and gender and marital status (p=0.001 and p=0.012, respectively), whereas among the medical patients statistically significant differences existed between mean scores and having operation (p=0.09). CONCLUSIONS: Both groups of patients underwent changes in sleep routines during hospitalisation.

Assessment of death anxiety among medical and surgery clinics patients of a teaching hospital.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the level of death anxiety among inpatients in Medical and Surgery clinics. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted at the Medical and Surgery clinics of the University Hospital of Trabzon, Turkey, from June 15 to October 15, 2014. Data was gathered using a questionnaire and Death Anxiety Scale was applied. RESULTS: There were 170 subjects in the study. Mean death anxiety score was 7.82±2.73 among Medical patients, while it was 8.09±2.73 for surgical patients. Those who stayed at Medical Clinic showed statistically significant differences between death anxiety and gender, patients' profession, the type of patient room, and patients' previous surgeries (p<0.05 each). Patients who stayed at Surgery Clinic showed statistically significant differences between death anxiety and age, marital status, having visitors, frequency of thoughts about death and sharing thoughts of death with others (p<0.05 each). CONCLUSIONS: Death anxiety was higher among patients who stayed at the Surgery Clinic than those at the Medical Clinic.

Nonmedical methods to relieve low back pain caused by lumbar disc herniation: a descriptive study in northeastern Turkey.

Low back pain due to the effects of lumbar disc herniation is a common complaint of patients who often subsequently seek help from medical professionals. It is also a significant health problem which is quite difficult to treat. This descriptive study was conducted to determine nonmedical methods used by patients with lumbar disc herniation to relieve low back pain; the patients' intensity of low back pain when they were admitted to the hospital was also explored. Ninety-two patients with lumbar disc herniation participated in this study, which was carried out at a university hospital in northeastern Turkey. Data were collected using a patient information form and the visual analog scale (VAS). When the patients were admitted to hospital, their mean VAS score was 6.56 ± 2.45. The study results showed that as a first choice nearly all of the patients (94.6%) with lumbar disc herniation preferred consulting with their physicians before to obtain relief for low back pain. However, in addition to seeing their physician, more than one-half of these patients (57.6%) also used nonmedical methods. The primary nonmedical methods were hot/cold compresses, wrapping various substances on the back, and herbal preparations. An increase in pain was noted by 17.0% of patients after using nonmedical methods. Findings indicated that more than two-thirds of patients experienced either no change or an increase in pain after using nonmedical methods to find relief.

Alexithymia among elderly patients with diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To determine alexithymic characteristics and affecting factors in the elderly with diabetes mellitus. METHODS: This study was planned as a cross-sectional and descriptive study and was conducted in a state Hospital with 120 elderly patients with diabetes. Data were collected using a personal information form and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. RESULTS: Alexithymia was found in 75.8% of the elderly with diabetes mellitus. It was determined that patients experienced higher than average difficulty in describing and identifying feelings. They also had more externally-oriented thinking styles. Patients' income levels, family structure and illness duration affected their manifestation of alexithymic characteristics. CONCLUSION: Majority of elderly patients with diabetes exhibited alexithymic characteristics. However, these were not shown to be associated with sex, age, marital, educational or professional status. In addition, no connection was found between alexithymia and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), body mass index (BMI), postprandial glucose (PBG), and the treatment and complications of diabetes mellitus.

Nursing and midwifery college students' expectations of their educators and perceived stressors during their education: a pilot study in Turkey.

Nursing and midwifery education is known to be negatively affected by several factors. Nevertheless, the present learning environments for students can be effectively altered to optimize their learning and practical training and decrease their stress levels. In order to minimize the stressors and to encourage the qualities needed of a competent educator, it would be important to first determine students' perceived stressors and the expectations they have of their educators. The main purpose of the study was to define the expectations that nursing and midwifery college students have of their educators as well as the stressors they perceive during their education. The present descriptive study was carried out with 474 students; there were 345 nursing students and 129 midwifery students at a college in northeastern Turkey. Data were obtained with a questionnaire and assessed with X(2) analyses. The findings of the study demonstrated that a majority of the students had some expectations of the educators and perceived stressors during their education. The students' most common expectations of the educators included their desire to be understood during their clinical education. In addition, students wanted the educators to make more use of visual materials during the theoretical part of their courses. The study also determined that the students felt very stressed when they were questioned by the educator on both clinical and theoretical aspects of their coursework.

Measuring mobbing experiences of academic nurses: development of a mobbing scale.

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to develop a mobbing scale for academic nurses and to determine their mobbing experiences. DATA SOURCES: Data were collected between January and June 2006 with a 60-item mobbing scale and a questionnaire composed of 6 questions concerning demographics and 10 questions regarding nurses' opinions about mobbing. CONCLUSIONS: For the Mobbing Scale for Academic Nurses, the content validity index was 88%, item-to-total correlations ranged from .41 to .73, Cronbach alpha was .97, and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was .72. Barlett's test yielded quite significant results (chi2= 7905.47, p = .000). The scale was composed of eight subscales. One fifth of the academic nurses experienced mobbing, and there was evidence of mobbing at university nursing schools. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The mobbing scale for academic nurses can be used to collect reliable and accurate data about mobbing experienced by academic nurses. If there is mobbing in nursing faculties and schools, appropriate precautions should be taken to protect people against mobbing, and a safe and comfortable atmosphere must be created in nursing faculties and schools.