Nazan Tuna Oran

Quality of life of oncology nurses.

The aim of the study was to determine the quality of life (QOL) of nursing staff working in oncology units in Turkey. The study was a descriptive study and included 89 oncology nurses from 12 different cities in Turkey who participated in the course “Basic Chemotherapy Courses for Oncology Nurses” in İzmir. This course was organized by Ege University Faculty of Medicine and the Turkish Ministry of Health. Quality of life was assessed with the Questionnaire for Socioeconomic Status and the World Health Organization QOL Scale (WOQOL-BREF). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including Student t tests, analysis of variance, and the Scheffe test for post hoc analysis. Mean scores for QOL were 14.52 for the physical health domain, 14.3 for the psychologic domain, 13.57 for the social relationships domain, and 11.78 for the environment domain. It has been concluded that providing care for patients with cancer has a negative impact on the QOL of oncology nurses.

Impact of heparin locking frequency on preventing temporary dialysis catheter dysfunction in haemodialysis patients.

A prospective analysis was conducted comparing dysfunction attributable to catheter thrombosis in subjects who received a heparin catheter lock three times a week (n = 15) to those who received a heparin lock six times a week (n = 15) immediately after the insertion of a temporary haemodialysis catheter. Thrombus related catheter removal occurred in two patients in control but no patients in the experiment group. Heparin locking six times a week was found to be effective in prolonging the mean of the first day where difficulty was experienced in aspiration. It also prevented any possible difficulty in catheter flushing. Increased locking frequency prevents any thrombus accumulation within the temporary catheter, while it has limited but significant preventive effect on thrombus accumulated around the catheter.

Academic dishonesty among health science school students

Background: Academic dishonesty has become a serious problem at institutions of higher learning. Research question: What is the frequency of academic dishonesty and what factors affect the tendency of dishonesty among Turkish health science school students? Research design: This descriptive and cross-sectional study aims to evaluate academic dishonesty among university nursing, midwifery, and dietetic students. Participants and research context: The study sample consisted of 499 health science students in Turkey. The tendency toward academic dishonesty was investigated using the Academic Dishonesty Tendency Scale. Ethical considerations: Institutional review board approved the study. Written permission was obtained from the researcher to use Turkish version of the Academic Dishonesty Tendency Scale. Findings: Of all the students, 80.0% claimed to refer to Internet during homework preparation and 49.1% of students reported to cite the references at the end of article on some instances. Of the students, 56.1% claimed never to have cheated in the exams. It was found that academic dishonesty was partly low (1.80–2.59) in students. For students using a library while doing their homework, mean scores were significantly lower (p < 0.05). There were also statistically significant difference between mean scores and student’s year in school, student’s perception of school success, and frequency of Internet use while doing homework (p < 0.05). Discussion: The tendency of academic dishonesty was lower among students who use Internet and library more frequently. These findings are consistent with previous studies. Conclusion: Measurements to take against academic dishonesty should be directed toward not only students but institutions and instructors as well.

Management of patients with malignant obstructive jaundice. Nursing perspective from the interventional radiology room.

Most patients with obstructive jaundice caused by primary pancreaticobiliary malignancies and metastatic disease cannot be cured by surgical resection when diagnosed. Biliary drainage in the management of obstructive jaundice therefore represents one of the most important issues in the palliative treatment of these patients. For more than 20 years, percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage procedures have allowed a nonsurgical approach to the management of malignant biliary obstruction. Improvements in radiologic access systems have extended the use of the percutaneous biliary approach, especially since the advent of metallic stents. Nursing care of these patients before, during, and after the percutaneous biliary intervention is challenging. Patient and family need to be educated about the aim and consequences of the procedure as well as its complications. To care for these patients, the nurse must understand the techniques of percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage. The purpose of this article is briefly to review the etiology of biliary obstruction, the current treatments to relieve obstructive jaundice, and the basic steps of biliary intervention techniques. The nursing management throughout the procedure, the patient preparation before the procedure, and most importantly, the postprocedural nursing care are discussed.