Disaster management competence, disaster preparedness belief, and disaster preparedness relationship: Nurses after the 2023 Turkey earthquake.

AIM: To examine the relationship between nurses' competency levels in disaster nursing management, their disaster preparedness and disaster preparedness beliefs. BACKGROUND: Nurses' competency in disaster nursing management makes disaster response easier. Factors that may affect this reason should be examined. METHODS: The study was conducted between April and July 2023 with nurses working in a province in the first-degree earthquake zone in Turkey. The sample of the study consisted of a total of 207 nurses who were selected from primary, secondary, and tertiary care institutions by using the stratified sampling method. Data were collected with a personal information form, the Competencies for Disaster Nursing Management Questionnaire, the Disaster Preparedness Scale, and the General Disaster Preparedness Beliefs Scale. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests, Spearman regression coefficient, and multiple linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: There was a positive correlation between nurses' competency levels regarding duties and responsibilities and their disaster preparedness levels. Having disaster-related training also positively affected the level of competence in duties and responsibilities. Belief in disaster preparedness and having "partial" knowledge about the disaster had no relationship with competencies. DISCUSSION: According to the International Council of Nurses and current studies on disaster nursing, "competence areas" are among the priority study subjects. CONCLUSION: According to the study results, disaster preparedness and having disaster-related education are effective factors in nurses' competencies related to duties and responsibilities. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING POLICY: The results of this study may increase awareness in the healthcare system about nurses' disaster management competency levels and the factors that may affect this. It is recommended that disaster preparedness and disaster-related education factors should be taken into account in the initiatives and policies to be planned to improve the duty and responsibility competence of nurses.

The effect of solution-focussed education and counselling on problematic internet usage, sleep quality and school achievement: A randomized controlled trial.

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of solution-focussed education and counselling on problematic internet usage, sleep quality and school achievement. METHODS: This randomized controlled trial was conducted between January - December 2016 with 44 adolescents who participated in a solution-focussed intervention to address their problematic internet usage and poor sleep quality. After the intervention, the teens were followed up for 6 months to measure problematic Internet usage, sleep quality and school achievement using the Internet Addiction Test, Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, Parent-Child Internet Addiction Scale and the students' end-of-term school grades. Data were analysed in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences programme using Chi-square test, Independent t test, Man-Whitney U test, Friedman test and Spearman correlation analysis. RESULTS: The median Internet Addiction Test and Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index scores of the adolescents in the intervention group were significantly lower than those of the controls (P < 0.05), and there was a positive and moderate association between problematic Internet usage and sleep quality in both groups after the follow-up (r = 0.537, P = 0.010; r = 0.576 P = 0.005). CONCLUSION: The education and counselling intervention decreased problematic Internet usage and increased sleep quality. There was also an improvement in school achievement, but the difference was not significant.

A discriminational attitude and behavior in the healthcare field: Homophobia level in healthcare professionals working in primary health services and the affecting factors.

PURPOSE: To investigate the homophobia level among the healthcare professionals working in primary healthcare services and the affecting factors. DESIGN AND METHODS: This descriptive and cross-sectional study conducted between November 2018 and April 2019, included 184 healthcare professionals. FINDINGS: The mean total score of the Hudson and Ricketts Homophobia Scale was 103.55 ± 30.47. There was a statistically significant difference between the marital status of the healthcare professionals, what they felt during the care/treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals, level of knowledge about such individuals, willingness to know more about them, and the status of having LGBTI acquaintances and the median homophobia score. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The results will be beneficial for LGBTI individuals, who have problems in communicating with primary healthcare personnel, to benefit from the services effectively.

Hand Washing in Primary School Students Using "Demonstration, Puzzle, Dance, Song": A Nursing Project Based on Multifaceted Skills Training.

BACKGROUND: The effects of an educational strategy, "demonstration, puzzle, dance, song (DPDS)," on the hand washing skills of primary school students was examined. METHOD: This study used a quasi-experimental, training research format with a pre- and posttest research design and was conducted by a research team from a university department of public health nursing. The study included 671 (90.2%) of 744 students who attended primary schools in Nevsehir, Turkey. Data were collected with a demographic data collection form and a Hand Washing Skills Evaluation List. McNemar, Friedman, and Wilcoxon tests were used to analyze findings. RESULTS: Immediately after training, all steps of hand washing were performed at higher levels than before training (p < .01), and the difference between hand washing times was significant (p < .001). CONCLUSION: Hand washing skills and times increased after undergoing hand washing training using the DPDS method. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2020;51(4):158-166.].

Evaluation of goat milk as storage media to preserve viability of human periodontal ligament cells in vitro.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of goat milk as a storage media for maintenance of periodontal ligament (PDL) cell viability of avulsed teeth and compare it with commonly used and/or investigated storage media. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PDL cells were obtained from the root surface of healthy premolars and were cultured in Eagle's maintenance medium (EMM). Cell cultures were treated with the following storage media: tap water (negative control); EMM (positive control); Hank's balanced salt solution; ultra high temperature (UHT) long-shelf-life lactose-free cow milk; UHT long-shelf-life whole cow milk; UHT long-shelf-life skimmed cow milk; UHT long-shelf-life soy milk; UHT long-shelf-life goat milk, UHT long-shelf-life follow on milk with probiotic, 20% propolis, and egg white. Culture plates were incubated with experimental media at 20°C for 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h. PDL cell viability was assessed by tetrazolium salt-based colorimetric (MTT) assay at each test period. One-way anova was used to evaluate the effects of storage solutions at each time point, followed by post hoc Duncan's multiple comparison test (P = 0.05). A dendrogram was constructed to show the arrangement of hierarchical clustering. RESULTS: Goat milk displayed the highest capacity to maintain cell viability at all test intervals (P < 0.001). Between 3 and 24 h, milk with the probiotic showed the lowest time-dependent PDL cell viability among all test media (P < 0.001). Compared with all milks, HBSS performed significantly less effectively in maintaining PDL cell viability during the entire test period (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Based on PDL viability, goat milk can be recommended as a suitable storage medium for avulsed teeth.

Knowledge of medical hospital emergency physicians about the first-aid management of traumatic tooth avulsion.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of emergency medical physicians employed in hospital emergency rooms as to their potential role in the treatment for traumatic teeth avulsion injuries (TTAI). METHODS: A 15-item questionnaire was distributed to the emergency rooms of one university and 10 public hospitals. The questionnaire gathered data on the respondents' professional profiles and self-assessed perceived knowledge and actual knowledge of the emergency management of TTAIs. RESULTS: The study was implemented with 69 emergency physicians present at their workplaces during the time of data collection. Of these, 55 (79.7%) were employed at public hospitals and 14 (20.3%) at a university hospital. The professional profiles indicated that 47 (68.1%) of the participants were general practitioners and the remaining 22 (31.9%) were distributed among various other medical specialties. Overall, 28 respondents (40.6%) assessed their knowledge regarding medical treatment for TTAI as insufficient, and the majority (78.3%) stated that they would like further education. Importantly, a large majority of practitioners could not provide correct answers to questions related to the emergency management of TTAI. CONCLUSION: There is a need to improve the knowledge of emergency medical physicians regarding the emergency treatment for TTAI.