Transition to motherhood in women with an infant with special care needs.

BACKGROUND: Mothers of infants with special care needs experience multiple transitions, as their babies are diagnosed with congenital anomalies and hospitalized during their transition to motherhood. AIM: To examine the transition to motherhood in mothers of infants with special care needs, under the guidance of Meleis's Theory of Transition. METHODS: A descriptive qualitative approach was used. We followed a semi-structured form prepared in accordance with Meleis's Theory of Transition's concepts. The sample of the study consisted of eight mothers of infants with congenital anomalies in a neonatal intensive care unit of a university hospital in Turkey. Interview transcripts were analysed using the content analysis method. RESULTS: After the interviews, transition to motherhood was obtained in three themes: facilitating and inhibiting, nursing therapeutic and response patterns. It was determined that mothers who can breastfeed their baby and touch them have a better adaptation to the transition process. Mothers' touching and breastfeeding their infants were accepted as turning points in their transition process. CONCLUSION: It could be helpful for nurses to use Meleis's Theory of Transition in order understand the process of transition to motherhood for mothers of infants with special care needs. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: This study highlights a necessity to prepare an orientation programme for families who will have a baby with a congenital anomaly. Such a programme, developed with multidisciplinary approaches, may help mothers having a baby with a congenital abnormally to adapt to their babies' situation and need for post-partum care.

Self-confidence, gender and academic achievement of undergraduate nursing students.

The aim of this study was to determine the self-confidence levels of nursing students and the factors related to such self-confidence. Data were obtained via a questionnaire for socio-demographic characteristics and a 'Self-Confidence Scale' prepared by the researchers. High self-confidence levels were noted in 78.6% of female students and 92.3% of male students. While 84.5% of second-year students had high self-confidence levels, this rate was 76% in fourth-year students. Female nursing students were significantly less self-confident than male students. Self-confidence should be nurtured in a caring nursing curriculum; however, there is a lack of clarity as to what confidence means, how it is perceived by students and what educators can do to instil self-confidence in nursing students.

The reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ) with pregnant women.

This methodological study was planned to translate the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ) into Turkish and to investigate its reliability for both nulliparous and parous women in Turkish population. A total of 660 healthy women with normal pregnancies at gestational ages of between 28 and 40 weeks were recruited. The internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α) was used for determining the reliability of the W-DEQ. Construct validity was also determined utilizing the known-groups method. In this study, independent sample t-tests were used to compare the nulliparous and parous groups differing in known fear status. In order to test the construct of the W-DEQ, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale and Brief Measure of Worry Severity scales were chosen as these scales are expected to correlate with the W-DEQ. Analysis of the construct validity of the W-DEQ version A using Pearson's correlation coefficients was performed for both nulliparous and parous women separately. All the scales in both groups showed a statistically significant correlation with the W-DEQ. The alpha coefficient (0.89) is well above the 0.70 criterion for internal consistency reliability. Turkish form of Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire Version A was fixed as reliable and valid means to measure the level of fear of childbirth among Turkish pregnants.

Stigmatization by nurses against schizophrenia in Turkey: a questionnaire survey.

Individuals who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia face discrimination, exclusion and stigmatization by society. Nurses who work on psychiatric wards frequently face individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia throughout their careers. This study was conducted for the purpose of evaluating nurses' opinions about individuals who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. A total of 543 nurses working on the psychiatric wards of 27 university hospitals (164), six training and research hospitals (21) and six psychiatric hospitals (358) in Turkey completed the questionnaire. The majority of the nurses stated that schizophrenia is caused by social problems, that they would be able to work with someone who has schizophrenia, that they would not be able to marry someone with schizophrenia, that they would not be bothered by having a neighbour with schizophrenia, that schizophrenia cannot be completely cured, that it can be improved with psychotherapy, that schizophrenic patients are aggressive and that medications used to treat schizophrenia have serious side effects and are addictive. It is important for nurses to avoid stigmatizing patients in order to promote a therapeutic environment--particularly on the wards--and also to improve individual awareness and perceptions in society.