Reva Balcı Akpınar

Violence experienced by Turkish nursing students in clinical settings: Their emotions and behaviors

AIMnThis descriptive study aimed to determine the violence experiences of nursing students in clinical settings, the types of violence, and the way their behaviors and emotions are affected after such an experience.nnnBACKGROUNDnThe risk of being subjected to violence among health staff is very high and the students who worked in the same kind of work environments also faced similar risks.nnnMETHODSnThe data of the study were obtained from the 380 nursing students who were studying at 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades. Participation was voluntary. A questionnaire form was developed by the researchers and distributed to the students.nnnRESULTSnIt was found that 50.3% of the students were subjected to violence, and 91.6% of these students were subjected to verbal violence. The students most frequently experienced anger, fury, and enmity (84.3%) after confronting violence.nnnCONCLUSIONnFindings of our study showed that similar to nurses, nursing students, who spent a significant proportion of their education in areas of practice, also experienced violence. Therefore, measures should be taken to prevent the violence inflicted upon nursing students in clinical settings, and nursing students should be provided with information related to communication and the coping methods with violence during their education.

Effect of aromatherapy massage on dysmenorrhea in Turkish students.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of aromatherapy massage on dysmenorrhea. The study used a quasiexperimental design with the subjects as their own control. Every participant applied both aromatherapy massage with lavender oil and placebo massage with odorless liquid petrolatum [soft paraffin]. The population comprised 438 midwifery and nursing students. The 150 students who had declared that they had suffered from dysmenorrhea used a visual analog scale to indicate their level of pain. Higher scores reflected a greater severity of dysmenorrhea. Forty-four students volunteered to participate in the study. When the lavender massage and the placebo massage were compared, the visual analog scale score of the lavender massage was found to decrease at a statistically significant rate. This study showed that massage was effective in reducing dysmenorrhea. In addition, this study showed that the effect of aromatherapy massage on pain was higher than that of placebo massage.

The pain response of infants in Turkey to vaccination in different injection sites

This study was carried out with the aim of comparing pain responses of children who receive intramuscular (IM) vaccination in deltoid muscle versus the pain responses of those who receive IM vaccination in the vastus lateralis. A total of 185 infants were randomly assigned to one of the two study groups. The deltoid group and the vastus lateralis group were vaccinated respectively in the deltoid muscle and the vastus lateralis. Our results indicated that pain response of infants was similar in each group. However, crying duration of the children who received the vastus lateralis vaccination was shorter than that of the deltoid group after the procedure.

An evaluation of the hand and nasal flora of Turkish nursing students after clinical practice

AIMnThe purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the hand and nasal flora of nursing students before and after the clinical practice.nnnBACKGROUNDnHospitals are places where infective agents abound. Healthcare workers, relatives of patients and students practising in the hospital medium are often exposed to these infective agents. Although the role of the hand and nasal flora of healthcare workers in the development of nosocomial infections has been emphasised by earlier studies, there are a limited number of studies which investigate the hand and nasal flora of nursing students.nnnDESIGNnDescriptive.nnnMETHODSnThis descriptive study involved 66 volunteer nursing students. Two samples of flora from both hands and nose of each student were obtained. The inoculated samples were then evaluated through routine bacteriological study methods. Chi-square and percentage calculations were used in comparisons.nnnRESULTSnNone of the students had methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococcus colonisation in the hand samples before clinical practice, 6.1% of the students had methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and 4.5% had methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococcus colonisation after the practice. Although the differences between the rates of contamination with pathogen micro-organisms in the hand and nasal flora of the student nurses before and after clinical practice were not significant, the rate of colonisation after clinical practice was higher.nnnCONCLUSIONSnIn this study, the rate of colonisation after clinical practice was higher. These findings indicate that students might have been contaminated with bacteria during clinical practice.nnnRELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICEnThe results of this study have practical importance in clinical practice. The role of the hand and nasal flora of nursing students in the development of nosocomial infections is significant. For this reason, some precautions, such as using gloves and handwashing with special solutions when needed, should be taken to prevent nosocomial infections and protect students against associated risks.

The effect of foot reflexology and back massage on hemodialysis patients' fatigue and sleep quality

OBJECTIVEnThe aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of foot reflexology and back massage on optimizing the sleep quality and reducing the fatigue of hemodialysis patients.nnnMETHODSnThe study includes 105 volunteer patients who were registered at a private dialysis clinic and were receiving hemodialysis treatment. Foot reflexology and back massage were administered to the patients two times a week for four weeks. The Visual Analogue Scale for Fatigue and the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index were used to collect data.nnnRESULTSnThe differences between the pretest and posttest score averages of the patients on the Visual Analogue Scale for Fatigue and the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index were statistically significant (pxa0<xa00.001).nnnCONCLUSIONnFoot reflexology and back massage were shown to improve the sleep quality and reduce the fatigue of hemodialysis patients. Compared to back massage, foot reflexology was determined to be more effective.

The effect of local dry heat pack application on recovering the bruising associated with the subcutaneous injection of heparin.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVESnTo determine the effect of the local dry heat pack application on recovering or alleviating the bruising associated with the subcutaneous injection of heparin.nnnBACKGROUNDnIn studies conducted to prevent the bruising associated with the subcutaneous injection of heparin, it is observed that bruising cannot be prevented completely; however, there is a decrease in frequencies and sizes of bruising. There is no study aimed at accelerating the bruising recovery.nnnDESIGNnQuasi-experimental.nnnMETHODSnThirty-three patients, who were treated for heparin and had bruising in the injection site, were included in the study. One of their upper arms with bruising was considered as the experimental arm, and the other upper arm with bruising was considered as the control arm. Local dry heat pack application was performed on the bruising area in the experimental arm 72xa0hours after the heparin injection. As the bruising areas in the other upper arm were considered as the control arm, no application was performed. The sizes of bruising areas were drawn on the transparent film and determined as square centimetre.nnnRESULTSnThe size of bruising areas was 3·21xa0±xa03·78xa0cm² in the experimental arm and 5·22xa0±xa04·45xa0cm² in the control arm 120xa0hours after the injections. The difference between the bruising sizes of the experimental and control arms was statistically significant.nnnCONCLUSIONSnIt was observed that local dry heat pack application had a positive effect on the recovery of bruising, associated with the subcutaneous injection of heparin.nnnRELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICEnThe acceleration of bruising recovery will enable decreasing patients anxieties, improving their body image and increasing their adherence to therapy.

The effect of watching funny and unfunny videos on post-surgical pain levels

OBJECTIVEnThe aim of this study was to describe pain intensity before and after watching funny and unfunny videos on post-surgical pain levels.nnnMETHODSnNinety patients were divided into three groups. Group A watched funny videos, Group B watched unfunny videos, Group C did not watch any videos. Pain assessment of the patients was carried out before (first), immediately after (second), and 30xa0min after (third) watching videos.nnnRESULTSnThe first pain scoremean in Group A was 40.83xa0±xa022.62, in Group B was 37.46xa0±xa024.31, in Group C was 48.86xa0±xa024.06. The second pain scoremean in Group A was 32.93xa0±xa020.28, in Group B was 29.76xa0±xa020.26, in Group C was 48.96xa0±xa024.11. The third pain scoremean in Group A was 37.43xa0±xa023.07, in Group B was 36.80xa0±xa022.67, in Group C was 52.30xa0±xa023.97.nnnCONCLUSIONnWatching funny or unfunny videos reduces the post-surgical pain level.

SUBKUTAN HEPARİN UYGULAMASINA BAĞLI GELİŞEN EKİMOZ HEMATOM VE AĞRININ ÖNLENMESİ İÇİN HEMŞİRELERİN ALDIKLARI ÖNLEMLER / The Precautions Taken by the Nurses to Prevent the Bruise Haematoma and Pain Associated with Subcutaneous Heparin

Subkutan heparin uygulamasina bagli enjeksiyon bolgesinde gelisebilen ekimoz, hematom ve agri sonraki enjeksiyonlarda kullanilabilecek bolgelerin sinirlanmasina, hastanin endiselenmesine, tedaviyi reddetmesine, beden imajinin bozulmasina, hemsire ve hasta arasindaki guven iliskisinin azalmasina ve yol acabilmektedir Bu arastirma, subkutan yolla heparin uygulamasina bagli enjeksiyon bolgesinde gelisen ekimoz, hematom ve agri olusumunun ortadan kaldirilmasi yada azaltilmasi icin hemsirelerin aldiklari onlemleri belirlemek amaciyla yapilmistir. Tanimlayici olan arastirmaya 50 hemsire alinmistir. Hemsireler subkutan heparin uygulamasi yaparken arastirmaci tarafindan gozlenmistir. Hemsirelerin %54’unun enjeksiyon icin ust kol bolgesini, %50 sinin daha onceden kullanilan enjeksiyon alanini tercih ettigi, %36.0’inin kanama kontrolu icin aspirasyon yaptigi, %78.0’inin hava kilidi teknigi uyguladigi, %48.0’inin ilaci dokuya 2-4 saniye icinde verdigi, %6.0’inin igneyi geri cekerken dokuyu kuru pamukla destekledigi bulunmustur. Hemsirelerin hicbiri islem oncesinde ya da sonrasinda uygulama alanina soguk uygulama yapmamislardir

MOĞOL VE TÜRK KATILIMCILARIN DUYGUSAL YÜZ İFADELERİNİ TANIMA BECERİLERİ / Emotional Facial Expression Recognition Skills of Mongols and Turkish Participants

Bu calisma duygusal yuz ifadelerinin taninmasinda Mogol ve Turk katilimcilar arasinda herhangi bir farklilik olup olmadigini belirlemek amaci ile tanimlayici olarak yapilmistir. Arastirmaya eriskin, en az okuryazar olan, olcegin uygulandigi gun herhangi bir saglik sikâyeti olmayan ve calismaya katilmayi gonullu olarak kabul eden 60 Mogol ve 65 Turk alinmistir. Katilimcilarin duygusal yuz ifadelerini tanima duzeylerini belirlemek icin Dokmen tarafindan gelistirilen, “Duygusal Yuz Ifadelerini Teshis Testi” kullanilmistir. Verilerin degerlendirilmesinde yuzdelik hesaplamalar ve bagimsiz gruplarda t testi kullanilmistir. Arastirma kapsamina alinan Mogol katilimcilarin “duygusal yuz ifadelerini teshis testi” puan ortalamasi 47.78 ±10.8 iken Turk katilimcilarin puan ortalamasi 62.60 ±7.6 olarak belirlenmistir. Puan ortalamalari arasindaki fark istatistiksel olarak anlamlidir (p < 0.001). Testte yer alan duygulardan aldiklari puan ortalamalari incelendiginde Mogol katilimcilarin en fazla puani (59.90) “mutlu” en az puani ise (20.83) “kucuk gorme” duygusundan aldiklari saptanmistir. Arastirmanin sonucunda Mogol ve Turk katilimcilarin duygusal yuz ifadelerini tanimalari arasinda farkliliklar oldugu ortaya cikmistir.