Turkish nurses' perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care.

AIM: To explore Turkish nurses' perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care and to investigate the relationship between their perceptions and their demographic/independent variables. BACKGROUND: Nurses' perception of spirituality can directly affect how they behave, deal with their patients and communicate with them in regard to the provision of spiritual care. DESIGN: Survey. METHODS: This study employed a convenience sample of 348 staff nurses from the public hospitals in the west of Turkey. The data were collected with two tools; a 'sociodemographic data form' and the 'Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale' (SSCRS). The response rate was 92% (n = 319). RESULTS: The mean age of the nurses was 31·70 (SD 6·34) years and 22·9% of them had a Bachelor's degree. Among the nurses, 54·98% had ≥ 11 years of clinical experience. The mean score for the SSCRS was 3·21 (SD 0·63) which indicated that nurses' perceptions concerning spirituality and spiritual care were 'uncertain' or 'less clearly' defined. Significant differences were found between nurses' perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care and their ages (p < 0·05), marital status (p < 0·05) and education levels (p < 0·01). CONCLUSION: The research findings suggest that Turkish nurses' perceptions were indecisive and inconclusive. Nurses' educational level, belief in the evil eye and department of employment appeared to have a positive impact on their perception of spirituality and spiritual care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: These findings will enable nurses to consider the importance of spirituality and spiritual care. Grasping these concepts will enable nurses to become more sensitive in their daily practices of spiritual care.

Prevalence and risk factors concerning postpartum depression among women within early postnatal periods in Turkey.

PURPOSE: Postpartum depression (PPD) stands out as an important health issue that affects not only the mother but her partner and the entire family. A few studies from Turkey have found the high prevalence for PPD. In the current study we aimed: (1) to report the prevalence of postpartum depression among Turkish women in Manisa province; (2) description of the association of PPD with risk factors. METHODS: To achieve the goals of the current study, we employed the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS). The perceived social support (PSS) scale was used to assess social support in the postnatal period. Socio-demographic and obstetric variables were collected through a socio-demographic and obstetric questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean EPDS scores of the study participants were 8.53 ± 4.93. The EPDS-based prevalence of PPD (a score of ≥13) was 28.3%. We found a significant negative correlation between EPDS scores and perceived social support from the family (PSS-Fa) and from friends (PSS-Fr) scores. The present study also revealed a significant association between postpartum depressive symptomatology and unintended pregnancy, insufficient social support, and previous history of depression. CONCLUSION: The findings of the current study revealed high EPDS-based PPD prevalence in a sample of Turkish women and described a number of risk factors associated with PPD. The high prevalence found in this study indicated a need for developing new interventions for early detection and treatment of PPD. A significant number of Turkish immigrants live in western countries. We believe the findings of the current study may be helpful for physicians in locations where a large number of Turkish immigrants live.

The evaluation of school of health students' knowledge and behavior of healthy life-styles of related to importance to prevent cancer.

This study was planned as a descriptive evaluation of School of Health students knowledge and healthy lifestyle behavior related to prevention of cancer. The study has been carried out in Nursing, Midwifery and Health Official Departments at Celal Bayar University School of Health, between November 2007 and January 2008. The subjects comprised 345 volunteer students. The data were collected using a questionnaire covering nutritional status and attitudes related to the prevention from cancer, and results were assessed using the Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile Scale. The mean age was 20.9 ∓ 2.01 years and 22.6% were male. Some 88.4% of the students considered cancer to be a preventable illness and 70.1% of them believed that it could be prevented by healthy nutrition. The mean score of the Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile Scale was 124.8 (SD, 19.9). In conclusion, it was found that students participating in this study have good level of knowledge on cancer prevention. Health behavior was found to be moderate.