Unveiling the burden of compassion fatigue in nurses.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has placed an unprecedented burden on nurses who have been at the forefront of patient care. The continuous exposure to suffering, death, and overwhelming demands has the potential to lead to compassion fatigue, a state of emotional, physical, and cognitive exhaustion. RESEARCH AIM: The study aimed to explore and understand the phenomenon of compassion fatigue in nurses as the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. RESEARCH DESIGN: A constructivist grounded theory design was used. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT: The research data were collected from 20 nurses who had been employed in pandemic clinics in Turkey for a minimum of 6 months. Data were collected using a two-step approach: purposeful sample selection followed by theoretical sample selection. Individual interviews were conducted via an online platform with participants who consented to participate in the study from January 16th to April 28th, 2022. The collected data underwent initial, focused, and theoretical coding for analysis. The research findings were reported following the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Ethical approval for the study was received from Non-Interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee. The study was conducted following the Declaration of Helsinki. FINDINGS: The study identified a core category, namely the desire to provide the best care, which was accompanied by five main categories: causes, symptoms, consequences, coping methods, and the benefits of coping methods. CONCLUSION: During the pandemic process, nurses have experienced compassion fatigue due to various factors and have seen its symptoms. Nurses have developed various coping mechanisms individually. However, they have not indicated any institutional-level support. It has become necessary to plan nurse-centered comprehensive interventions that will reduce compassion fatigue.

Missed nursing care: A cross-sectional and multi-centric study from Turkey.

AIM: The aim of this study is to explore the extent of missed nursing care in Turkey and identify its predictors. DESIGN: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional, multicentre study. METHODS: A total of 477 nurses working in seven public hospitals participated in this study from March to July 2019. The survey included two components: a personal and professional characteristics data form and the MISSCARE survey. RESULTS: The study revealed that emotional support, patient bathing and ambulation were the most frequently missed nursing care activities. An inadequate number of assistive personnel and staff, along with an unexpected increase in patient volume, were identified as the primary reasons for missed nursing care. Of the 21 missed nursing care activities, nine predictive models showed statistical significance (p < 0.05). Factors such as the type of unit, years of work experience, working hours, number of patients cared for in a shift and intention to leave the unit were found to be significant predictors of seven missed nursing care activities (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study found that numerous variables influence each care activity, which suggests the need to devise more targeted and specific strategies to minimize missed nursing care. Thorough investigation into the impact of these strategies on each care activity is essential.

The empathy level and caring behaviors perceptions of nursing students: A cross-sectional and correlational study.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to investigate the empathy level and caring behaviors perceptions of nursing students. METHOD: This cross-sectional and correlational study was conducted with 276 nursing students. RESULTS: The mean Empathic Tendency Scale score was 62.71 ± 5.10 (min. 20 to max. 100), indicating a low level of empathy. The mean of the Caring Assessment Questionnaire was 5.42 ± 0.80 (min. 1 to max. 7), showing a good perception of caring behaviors. There was a positive, low, and significant relationship between empathy and caring behaviors (r = 0.286, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study revealed that nursing students have low-level empathy and high-level caring behaviors. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Throughout the educational process, the students' caring competencies, which include empathy and caring behaviors, developed. It is suggested that humanistic and value-oriented pedagogical approaches be incorporated into nursing curricula.

Effectiveness of Music Intervention on Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the evidence for the effectiveness of music intervention on postoperative nausea and vomiting in the first 24 hours after surgery. DESIGN: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. METHODS: The study was conducted according to recommendations from Cochrane Handbook. The studies were selected based on PICOS inclusion and exclusion criteria. The revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials was used for bias assessment and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement was used for reporting the study. Data was analyzed using the Comprehensive Meta-analysis version 3 software. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was conducted using both fixed and random-effect models. FINDINGS: There were 576 patients in the seven studies who met the inclusion criteria. The number of participants ranged from 58 to 163. Music was implemented in postoperative, intraoperative, and perioperative periods. Meta-analyses revealed that music interventions significantly reduced postoperative vomiting (95% CI: 0.01 to 0.63, Z = 2.07, P < 0.05, Hedge's g = 0.32), and had no statistical significant effect on postoperative nausea (95% CI: -0.13 to 0.70, Z = 1.34, P > 0.05, Hedge's g = 0.28). CONCLUSION: Music intervention is effective in decreasing postoperative vomiting. Music intervention can be applied by healthcare professionals and the patients. However, more studies are still necessary to estimate the effects of postoperative nausea and vomiting and to increase the amount of available evidence. STUDY REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020209691.

Nursing students' expectations, satisfaction, and perceptions regarding clinical learning environment: A cross-sectional, profile study from Turkey.

AIM: The study aimed to examine the nursing students' expectation, satisfaction and perception regarding the clinical learning environment. BACKGROUND: The clinical learning environment is the place where the students socialize professionally and gain professional competence. DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1484 nursing students enrolled in undergraduate programs for the 2019-2020 academic year. METHODS: A self-designed questionnaire and The Clinical Learning Environment Scale was used to collect the data. Data were collected between May and July 2019. This study followed the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology checklist. RESULTS: Nursing students primarily expected supportive attitudes and active participation in nursing practices. A total of 53.8% of the students were satisfied with the clinical learning environment. The two components they were most satisfied with were technical skills and interpersonal caring experiences. The mean scale score for the clinical learning environment perceived by the students was 70.12 (SD = 9.25) (min: 22, max: 110). The students' professional perspective, ability to transfer theory to practice and satisfaction with clinical practice affected their perception of the clinical learning environment. CONCLUSIONS: This research revealed that nursing students expect support and supervision from both the instructor and the clinical staff. The importance of educational and clinical support, which are the most basic needs of students during the learning process, is also clearly seen in the research results. Considering the unbalanced distribution in the instructor-to-student ratio, the importance of clinical mentoring becomes more evident.

Nurses' responses to monitor alarms in an intensive care unit: An observational study.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to determine the types of monitor alarms and nurses' responses to them in an adult intensive care unit. DESIGN AND METHODS: This was an observational descriptive research study conducted in the adult intensive care unit of a university hospital in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. The nonparticipant observation method was used. Data were collected by two observers using a semi-structured observation form developed according to literature. RESULTS: Between August 2016 and January 2017, 13 registered nurses were observed for 328 hours. There were 1781 alarms, which included alarms for blood pressure (37.6%), respiration and oxygen saturation (35.3%) and heart rate and arrhythmia (27.1%). Nurses responded to approximately half (46.9%) of the alarms that required a response. Responses to alarms included silencing them, responding to the patient's clinical condition and solving contact and transmission problems. CONCLUSION: In the present study, according to response requirement, the division of the alarms was different. The number of alarms that do not reflect the clinical status of the patient was high. It was found that as the false alarm rate increased, the response rate of nurses to these alarms decreased.