Havva Öztürk

The Hospital Ethical Climate Survey in Turkey.

ABSTRACT This study was planned to assess the validity and reliability of the Hospital Ethical Climate Survey (Olson, 1995) in Turkey and to determine how nurses perceive the ethical climate of their working environment. The study was conducted on 276 nurses working in university, social insurance, state, and private hospitals. Five subfactors measured: assessment of the relationships between unit/department, manager, hospital, colleague, and doctors based on ethical climate. Significant differences were found, showing that the type of hospital greatly affected the level of positive perception as did the age of the nurse and the unit on which they worked.

Nursing Satisfaction and Job Enrichment in Turkey

Survey research was conducted with the aim of better understanding nurses’ perceptions of organizational factors which relate to their job satisfaction and motivation in Turkey. Nurses (N = 290) who were employed at a training and research hospital, part of the Turkish Republic Ministry of Health, were included. The questionnaire used was developed for this study based on Hackman and Oldman’s job enrichment theory. The results showed that only one third of the nurse leaders and one in five of the staff nurses reported being satisfied with their job. The participants saw the five core job dimensions of Hackman and Oldman’s work design model: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback as important for nurses. Nursing was described by the participants as hard and challenging, but they also found it meaningful and said that it gave them the opportunity to use their skills and abilities.

Development of an Administrative Ethical Behaviour Scale

The aim of this study was to develop an Administrative Ethical Behaviour Scale (AEBS) and to determine whether nurses found their head nurses’ behaviours ethical and to reveal head nurses’ ethical and unethical administrative behaviour. It was conducted on 264 nurses working in five state hospitals in Trabzon, Turkey. Content validity index of the scale was 0.87, item-to-total correlations ranged from 0.50 to 0.81 and Chronbach Alpha was 0.98. The scale included five subscales, i.e. truthfulness and honesty, liabilities and supremacy of laws, rights and freedom, good human relationships and humanism, justice and equality. Overall, head nurses’ behaviour was considered ethical by nurses; however, their behaviour in terms of justice and equality, good human relationships and humanism was not found ethical. Positions, satisfaction with head nurses’ behaviour and frequency of contact with them affect nurses’ opinions.

Evaluating medical errors made by nurses during their diagnosis, treatment and care practices.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine whether the nurses committed medical errors and to identify the types of and reasons for the medical errors. BACKGROUND Medical errors have recently emerged as a significant issue both in Turkey and around the world because they result in the death and disability of a number of people each year. DESIGN This study was a descriptive study. METHOD The study was conducted with 1092 nurses working at a university hospital, 12 public hospitals and a private hospital in Trabzon. RESULTS Twenty-two per cent of the nurses stated that they had made medical errors endangering patient safety, and 4% stated that their medical errors had injured a patient. Of the nurses who made a medical error, 10% indicated that a patients treatment was delayed and 6% stated that the patient experienced side effects. In addition, 23% of the nurses stated that they had committed medical errors such as delaying/not administering a patients treatment and 20% stated that they had made medical errors such as using instruments without first checking them. Eighty-three per cent of the nurses stated that they had committed a medical error due to fatigue, 82% were reported to be caused by the hospitals administration due to the limited number of nurses on duty and 75% were caused by physicians and other medical personnel due to a lack of communication. CONCLUSION Two of five nurses had committed a medical error throughout their career; these errors were due to fatigue, a limited number of nurses and communication problems, and patients were harmed because of these errors. RELEVANT TO CLINICAL PRACTICE The results of this study could be used to take precautions against nursing medical errors in Turkey and to enhance institutional policies and activities regarding medical errors and patient safety.

The development of the patient privacy scale in nursing

Background: The developments in technology and communication channels, increasing workload, and carelessness cause problems regarding patient privacy and confidentiality in nursing services. Research objectives: The study was conducted to develop a patient privacy scale to identify whether nurses observe or violate patient privacy at workplace. Research design: This research was a methodological and descriptive study. Participants and research context: Participants were 354 nurses working at private hospitals and hospitals affiliated with the Ministry of Health in Istanbul/Turkey. Data were collected with a questionnaire about the demographic characteristics of nurses and their opinions about patient privacy and with patient privacy scale. Ethical considerations: After getting permission from the top management of hospitals, information about the study was given to nurses. Those willing to participate were informed that participation was voluntary and invited to give written consent before data collection. Findings: The content validity index of scale was 0.91, Cronbach’s alpha was 0.93, Spearman–Brown and Guttman coefficients were 0.85, the upper and lower 27% test was −29.65, and item-total correlation values ranged from 0.47 to 0.71. The scale had five subscales. In addition, 49% of the nurses stated that patient privacy was always observed in their services/units. They appraised with a mean score of 4.51 ± 0.49 for the total scale, 4.39 ± 0.61 for confidentiality of personal information and private life, 4.39 ± 0.70 for sexual privacy, 4.56 ± 0.57 for the privacy of those unable to protect themselves, 4.60 ± 0.59 for physical privacy, and 4.60 ± 0.52 for ensuring a favorable environment. Discussion: The findings of this study were in contrast with the results of some international studies which determined the violation of the patient privacy. Conclusion: The patient privacy scale is a valid and reliable tool to collect data on whether nurses observe or violate patient privacy, and the nurses generally reported observing or paying attention to patient privacy in all hospitals and especially private hospitals.