Dilek Sarı

Ethical Decision Making Levels of Nursing Students

Objective: The present study was conducted to determine nursing students’ levels of ethical decision-making. Methods: The sample of the descriptive study consisted of 240 nursing students. The data were collected using the Student Information Form and “Nursing Dilemma Test”. Results: It was found that Principled Thinking (PT) mean score (48.38±7.97) of nursing students was above average while their Practical Consideration (PC) mean score (17.87±4.13) was close to average. It was also determined that the nursing students participated in the study were not familiar (17.75±2.77) with the dilemmas included in the Nursing Ethical Dilemma Test. Conclusion: The students paid attention to consider ethical principles when making decisions about ethical dilemmas; however, they are also affected by environmental factors as well. Sex and class level were found to be influential in the process of ethical decision making.

Ethical decision-making levels of oncology nurses:

Aim: This study was carried out in order to determine ethical decision-making levels of oncology nurses. Ethical Consideration: Research Ethics Committees approval was obtained prior to the data collection. Permission to use the Turkish version of the Nursing Dilemma Test was received from Birgül Cerit. Written approval was taken from school administrators to conduct the study confirming that there were no invasive procedures planned for human beings during the study period. The study was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. Verbal consent was obtained from each of the nurses who agreed to participate after they were informed about the study content. Method: The population of this study conducted in a descriptive way consisted of a total of 96 nurses working at the oncology units and outpatient chemotherapy units of four different hospitals between September 2017 and March 2018. The study sample included 60 nurses who responded to the question form. The data of the study were collected using “Nurses Information Questionnaire” and “Nursing Dilemma Test” developed by Crisham in 1981. Results: Oncology nurses’ mean scores in Principled Thinking (49.00 ± 6.46) and those in Practical Considerations (18.35 ± 4.47) were found to be above the moderate level. It was determined that the oncology nurses participated in the study were familiar with situations similar to the dilemmas included in the Nursing Dilemma Test (15.00 ± 4.20). Conclusion: It was concluded that oncology nurses try to take ethical principles into consideration but are also affected by environmental factors while making decisions concerning ethical dilemmas. The most frequently encountered ethical dilemmas by oncology nurses include the following: deciding not to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, telling the truth to the patient, studies being carried out without the patient’s content, and patient’s refusal of treatment. In order to improve oncology nurses’ critical thinking and ethical decision-making skills, it is important to determine ethical dilemmas encountered by oncology nurses, and nurses should be encouraged to be involved in ethical decision-making process through cooperation with the other healthcare personnel.

The Use of Aromatherapy in Patients with Pain: A Literature Review

Pain, which is referred as the oldest experience of the mankind, is a complicated and undesirable feeling. Affecting individuals physically, mentally and socially, it affects sleep patterns, social life, work efficiency and the quality of life adversely. Taking pain under control is extremely important for relaxing the individual and improving life quality. Pharmacological methods are widely used in pain control. Another method used for taking pain under control is non-pharmacological methods. Aromatherapy is among the non-pharmacological methods which could be directly and independently applied by nurses. Aromatherapy strengthens nursing care practices by providing the unification of science and art in nursing and ensures that the care given is more effective. Aromatherapy is used in the treatment of depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, nausea and pain. This article was aimed to examine the results of studies on the use of aromatherapy in reducing pain. The population of the present study consisted of 48 studies published in the past 10 years which were reached as a result of the review of the data bases “Medline”, “Ebscohost”, “Pubmed”, “Science Direct”, “Google Scholar” and “Scopus” using the keywords “aromatherapy and pain” in April-May 2017. In the review, articles which were published in Turkish and English and had their full texts were chosen for examinations. 34 studies meeting the criteria of the present research comprised the study sample. When the results of the studies included in the review were examined, it was found that aromatherapy came out to be effective in reducing pain in 27 studies.

An Important Problem for Patient Safety: Nursing Handover

* N Taşkıran, Yrd. Doç. Dr. Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi Söke Sağlık Yüksekokulu Hemşirelik Esasları Anabilim Dalı, Söke / Aydın Yazışma Adresi / Address for Correspondence: Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi Söke Sağlık Yüksekokulu Hemşirelik Esasları Anabilim Dalı, Yenikent Mahallesi 09400 Söke / Aydın Tel.: 0 256 512 14 26 Faks: 0 256 511 14 24 e-posta: nihal_tas@hotmail.com.tr ** D Sarı, Doç. Dr. Ege Üniversitesi Hemşirelik Fakültesi Hemşirelik Esasları Anabilim Dalı, Bornova / İzmir ÖZ