Hand hygiene beliefs and practices and glove use attitudes of health professionals working in the emergency department.

INTRODUCTION: Hand washing and the use of gloves in accordance with the standards are among the most significant methods used in infection control. METHODOLOGY: This study is an analytical cross-sectional study. The sample of the study consisted of 132 health personnel working in the emergency department of a public hospital. RESULTS: The mean of the hand hygiene belief scale was 85.50 ± 8.71, mean of the hand hygiene practice inventory was 67.70 ± 5.19. The participants' mean general attitude towards the use of gloves was 43.71 ± 7.57, the mean of awareness about the use of gloves was 15.17 ± 3.88, the mean attitude towards the usefulness of glove use was 19.43 ± 1.47, and their attitude towards the necessity of using gloves was 12.63 ± 3.57. It was determined that glove usefulness score has a statistically significant and increasing effect on hand hygiene belief, while glove usefulness and glove awareness scores have statistically significant and increasing effects on hand hygiene practice. CONCLUSIONS: This study determined that the hand hygiene beliefs and practices of the health personnel working in the emergency department are quite high, their attitudes towards the use of gloves are positive, the attitude towards the usefulness of glove use has a significant and increasing effect on hand hygiene belief, and glove usefulness and glove awareness attitudes have a significant and increasing effect on hand hygiene practice.

The manual dexterity of nursing students and factors that affect it.

Aim. The purpose of this study was to define the manual dexterity of nursing students and factors that affect it. Methodology. The sample for this descriptive and analytical study was composed of 196 nursing students. The data collection tools were a survey and the Purdue pegboard test. Results. The mean dominant hand dexterity score of the students was determined to be 19.16 ± 1.36; non-dominant hand dexterity score, 17.04 ± 1.43; mean both hands dexterity score, 14.58 ± 1.35; mean right hand + left hand + both hands dexterity score, 50.70 ± 4.20; and mean assembly skill score, 38.55 ± 6.02. As a result, manual dexterity of the nursing students is relatively high in the 4th year of their education. Also, the students who have a normal body type, a hobby or have chosen the profession voluntarily have better manual dexterity scores. Conclusion. The results of the present study demonstrate that students should be guided to a hobby and adapted to the profession during nursing education. This study may constitute normative data for future study related to this issue, and may be guiding in the achievement of the objectives of nursing training and provision of a higher quality education.

Ethical values of academic nurses: A pilot study.

BACKGROUND: While academics contribute to the development of society through all the subjects that they work on, they also have other important tasks to fulfill, such as being role models for their students and society. Therefore, the place of academic ethical values is a significant topic for academic nurses. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this research was to examine the attitudes of academic nurses toward academic ethics. RESEARCH DESIGN: This descriptive and cross-sectional research study was conducted between March and June 2017 in three different public universities in Turkey. The research sample consisted of 132 nurses in different professional positions at different universities who volunteered to participate in the study. The data were collected with an Information Form and an Academic Ethical Values Scale developed in Turkey. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Ethical approval was granted by the institutions involved, and all participants provided informed verbal consent. FINDINGS: The attitudes of academics participating in the research on academic ethical values were found to be highly positive. When the sub-dimensions of the scale were examined, the dimension with the highest average attitudinal score is found to be "values regarding the teaching process" and the dimension with the lowest average attitude score is found to be "values regarding society." Depending on the participants' academic position, it was determined that the total average score for the Academic Ethical Values Scale and the average scores of the "values regarding scientific research" and "values regarding the teaching process" sub-dimensions differed significantly (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: It was found that academic nurses had highly positive attitudes of toward academic ethical values. It can be argued that academics act more responsibly with regard to the ethical values of the teaching process than other areas. In addition, academics who are professors are most sensitive in their perception of academic ethical values.

Thesis survey results in the field of nursing regarding the use of complementary and alternative medical treatments in Turkey.

This descriptive literature review was planned to identify the prevalence of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) usage, frequency of usage, types/fields of use in master's theses and PhD dissertations based on the CAM methods, which are commonly used in nursing practice in Turkey. Data was collected in Turkey from February to March 2014 through a review of the National Thesis Centre (NTC) Archives at the Chairmanship of the Council of Higher Education and by obtaining the nursing theses/dissertations on CAM done between 1996 and 2013. Data were analysed by distribution of frequencies and percentages for publication year, number in sampling, method, case group, CAM type, and purpose of use/effectiveness. A total of 88 theses/dissertations were located. It was found that a majority of the theses/dissertations investigated were interventional. Investigation of the purpose of CAM use in theses/dissertations showed that the studies examined the effects of CAM on symptom control.

Relationship of anxiety and burnout with extrasystoles in critical care nurses in Turkey.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between levels of anxiety and burnout and prevalence of atrial extrasystoles (AESs) and ventricular extrasystoles (VESs) among critical care nurses. METHODS: The sample of study included 51 nurses who worked in the intensive care units of a university hospital located in western Turkey. Beck's Anxiety Inventory and the Maslach Burnout Inventory were used in the study. RESULTS: The mean emotional exhaustion score of the nurses was 14.68±6.10, the mean personal accomplishment score was 19.19±7.08, the mean depersonalization score was 5.31±3.84 and the mean anxiety score was 12.37±11.12. The rates of VESs and AESs detected in the critical care nurses were 21.6% and 35.3%, respectively. No relationship was found between levels of anxiety and burnout and the prevalence of AESs and VESs among the critical care nurses. A positive correlation was found between personal accomplishment scores and numbers of VESs (r= 0.693, p=0.001) and AESs (r= 0.700, p= 0.001). CONCLUSION: In the present study, there were low mean scores of burnout and anxiety among nurses working in intensive care units. No relationship was found between levels of anxiety and burnout and the prevalence of AESs and VESs among nurses who work in intensive care units. It was found that the people feeling more personal accomplishment have more VES or AES. The prevalence of AESs and VESs among the critical care nurses suffering from burnout and anxiety may be studied in the future studies.

Cultural validation of the "use of intuition by nursing students scale - Turkish version".

PURPOSE: It is well known that intuition ability directly affects patient care quality and outcomes in nursing practice and is therefore an important aspect of nursing education. This study tests the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Scale of Use of Intuition by Nursing Students. DESIGN: The sample for this methodological study was composed of 250 nursing students. Each item of the scale was translated into Turkish by the researchers and validated for Turkish use. RESULTS: The item-total correlation was between .30 and .56 and its Cronbach α coefficient was .86. There was a statistically significant positive relationship between the level of clinical experience and the total points scored on the physical awareness, emotional awareness, and physical sensations subscales and from the total scale. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these results, the Turkish version of the Scale of Use of Intuition by Nursing Students is valid and reliable.

The risk factors effecting the dry mouth in inpatients in Hospital in west Anatolia.

AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the inpatients with dry mouth and the associated risk factors. BACKGROUND: Dry mouth is defined as the excessive decrease in the amount of saliva. Hyposalivation may lead to rapid deterioration in oral health and may facilitate the development of opportunistic oral infections. Oral hygiene and evaluation of oral health are basic nursing activities. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. PARTICIPANTS: The sample size was determined to be 90 inpatients according to the power analysis calculated for the patients with dry mouth who were able or unable to take oral liquids. The study was completed with 247 inpatients in the Internal Medicine Clinic. METHODS: A patient information form was used to collect the data for the present study. Saliva samples taken for analyses of flow rates. RESULTS: The amount of saliva of patients who were unable to take oral liquid was 10·7 times lower than those taking >1500 ml of liquids daily. The amount of saliva of patients receiving humidified oxygen was 2·3 times lower than those not receiving humidified oxygen. The amount of saliva of those receiving anticholinergic drugs was 3·64 times lower than those not receiving anticholinergic drugs. CONCLUSIONS: Inability to take oral liquids and receiving humidified oxygen and anticholinergic drug therapy were significant factors for the development of dry mouth. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The results are important for determining the risk factors for dry mouth. Being aware of dry mouth and knowing the associated risk factors are valuable information for nurses to initiate required procedures, as well as to prevent the development of oral health problems.

The effect of 2 different care products on incontinence-associated dermatitis in patients with fecal incontinence.

PURPOSE: We compared the effects of 2 devices used to contain fecal incontinence--a perianal pouch and adult containment brief--on the incidence of incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD). DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: The sample was drawn from patients hospitalized in the neurology and neurosurgery wards of a large university hospital in Turkey. Thirty bedridden subjects with fecal incontinence and indwelling urinary catheters participated in the study. Subjects were randomly allocated to treatment with a perianal pouch (n = 15) or adult containment brief (n = 15). METHODS: Routine hygiene was completed once daily and repeated whenever the perineal area was found to be soiled.Perineal skin integrity was evaluated daily during skin care. Data were collected using a Patient Identification Form, a Patient Observation Form, and a Perineal Skin Integrity Assessment Form. RESULTS: The mean number of products used on a daily basis by patients with a perianal pouch was 5.80, as compared to 5.46 by patients with adult incontinence briefs. IAD occurred in 66.7%of patients in the perianal pouch group and in 100% of subjects managed by containment briefs, a statistically significant difference (χ² = 6.0, P = 0.04). The onset of IAD occurred later in subjects allocated to management with a perianal pouch than inpatients using adult containment briefs (U = 30.500, P = 0.011). IAD involved an average of 1.8 areas among patients managed with a perianal pouch, as compared to 2.3 areas in patients managed with adult containment briefs (P = NS). CONCLUSION: Management of bedridden patients with fecal incontinence with a perianal pouch reduced the incidence of IAD and delayed to time to onset when compared to management with adult containment briefs. We recommend use of perianal pouches for prevention of IAD in bedridden patients with fecal incontinence.