Nalan Akbayrak

Medication errors: Perspectives of newly graduated and experienced nurses

UNLABELLED This study investigated the perspectives of newly graduated and experienced nurses concerning medication errors. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in a military education and research hospital in Turkey, which was performed between July and August 2009. Totally, 169 nurses were involved in this study: 87 were new graduates and 82 were experienced nurses. The Modified Gladstones Scale of Medication Errors was used to collect data on rates, causes and reporting of medication errors. The two highest perceived causes of medication errors were nurse exhaustion and nurse distraction. Most medication errors were preventable errors. The reasons for error occurrence and failure to inform co-workers of medical errors were examined. IMPLICATIONS Training nurses to understand the causes of medication errors and related prevention methods should be provided to newly graduated nurses, and continuous training should be provided.

Development of an assessment scale for treatment compliance in type 2 diabetes mellitus in Turkish population: Psychometric evaluation

Objectives Compliance to treatment is important for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and the prevention of complications. The purpose of the study was to develop a scale and test its psychometric properties for the treatment compliance of the diabetic Turkish population. Methods This multicenter study was conducted in four training and research hospitals. The convenience sample consisted of 350 patients with type 2 DM. The items of the scale were determined after a literature review and qualitative interviews with the patients. Items were psychometrically analyzed. Content validity of the scale was evaluated using opinions from experts and a pilot study. Principal component analysis and the varimax rotation technique were used to evaluate construct validity in exploratory factor analysis. Criterion validity was evaluated with the Attitudes Towards Diabetes Scale, a subgroup of the Diabetes Care Profile scale. Reliability was evaluated with Cronbach’s α coefficient and test-retest analysis of internal consistency. Results The scale consisted of 7 factors that explained 47.36% of the total variance. The KMO test was conducted to determine whether the sample size was sufficient before the factor analysis. The KMO test result of the data was 0.75. The Cronbach’s α value of the sample was 0.77. The test-retest reliability analysis result was r = 0.991. We found a positive correlation between total scores of the developed scale and the Attitudes Towards Diabetes Scale (r = 0.31). Conclusion The results of the study demonstrated that the scale with 30 items is a valid and reliable scale for the evaluation of patient compliance with type 2 DM treatment. Thus, by using this scale, nurses and healthcare providers can evaluate the treatment compliance of patients with type 2 DM.

Responsibilities of Nurses in Metabolic Syndrome Management

Sağlık, günümüzde kültürün bir parçası ve hayatın rutinlerinden birisi haline gelmiştir. Bu nedenle eskiye göre, hastalıkların tedavisindeki yaklaşımlar değişmiştir. Bu değişimin temelinde ise “bireylerde yaşam tarzı değişikliğini sağlamak” kavramı önemli bir yer tutmaktadır. Son yıllarda, Metabolik Sendrom, obezite ve Tip 2 Diyabetes Mellitus (DM) hastalığı dramatik şekilde artmıştır. Metabolik Sendrom, DM ve kardiyovasküler hastalıkların risk faktörleri ile alakalı kompleks bir hastalıktır. Metabolik Sendromun tedavisinde en önemli amaç, tüm yaşam düzeninin sağlıklı hale getirilmesi ve kontrol altına alınmasıdır. Bunun için bireyin ciddi yaşam tarzı değişikliği yapması gerekmektedir. Bu değişikliğin yapılabilmesi için önderlik yapabilecek en uygun sağlık elemanı hemşire olduğundan, hemşirelere büyük rol düşmektedir. Çünkü hemşireler, hastalara ulaşılabilirliği en yüksek sağlık personelidir. Bu makalede Metabolik Sendrom hakkında genel bilgiler ve yaşam tarzı değişikliği sağlamada hemşirelerin sorumlulukları, literatür doğrultusunda tartışılacaktır. Hemşireler Metabolik Sendrom ve risk faktörleri konusunda bireyleri bilinçlendirmek için, kişiye özel müdahaleleri planlamalı ve uygulamalıdır.

PO-0904 Describing The Knowledge Of Parents About Newborn Screening

Screeningis generally consider part of the routine care for newborns. Newborn screening for phenylketonuria (PKU) has been available since the early 1960s. The fist newborn screening for PKU started in Ankara in Turkey in 1986 and extended country wide in 1993. PKU rate in Turkey occurs 1 in 4000 newborns because of consanguineous marriage. Consanguineous marriage rat in Turkey is 21%. This research was planned to describe the knowledge of parents about newborn PKU screening. A questionnaire was used to gather the data. To determine the effects data were evaulated by using chi square test and percentage analysis on the SPSS 11.0 program package. The study was performed during the period of January 2005 and March 2005 in a University Hospital and 150 mothers in postpartum period were included in the research. The questionnaire was obtained by face to face technique. Results The mean age of mothers was 26.49% of mother were graduated basic school. 74.7%of mother were house wife. 68% of mothers were primipara. 47% of mothers statedthat the test was ‘a IQ test’. Sixty-four percent of mothers didn’t know how toexecute the test. 69.3% of mothers didn’t know how long to continue the test.61.3% of mothers didn’t know how to learn the results of the test. Although99.3% of newborns were seem to be physically healthy, it was stated thatpostpartum screening tests should be applied. Considering this results, inorder to inform the mothers about the obtained results, a PKU educationbrochure was prepared and given to the unit. Conclusions Nurses who understand the pathophysiology and management of PKU in pregnancycan provide the care necessary for maternal and neonatal health. Healthcare providersare responsible for informing parents about the implications of newbornscreening to improve awareness and understanding.