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This study was conducted between August 15 and September 20, 2013, to determine the effects of workload and working conditions on operating room (OR) nurses and technicians. The study sample included 74 OR nurses and technicians working in a private university's six hospitals. The Individual Workload Perception Scale and a questionnaire that collected data on risk and environmental factors were used. The mean age of study participants was 29.3 ± 6.7 years, and 62.2% of the participants were female. More than 90% of the nurses and technicians had experienced spills or splashing of blood or other body fluids; anesthetic gases and radiation had affected 63.5% and 71.6% of nurses and technicians, respectively; 63.5% reported lumbar pain; and 46.6% defined the work environment as very stressful. The average workload scale score was 32.4 ± 6.2 (min = 11, max = 55). OR nurses and technicians are exposed to many occupational risks.

Objective:The aim of this study was to determine the awareness about skin cancer, prevention, and early detection among university students.Methods:This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with 404 students in a university located in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. A 35-item questionnaire was used for data collection.Results:Less than half of the students (37.9%) had knowledge about skin cancer mostly through the internet (24.5%) and media (24.1%). Half of them aware of the risk factors; mostly as avoiding direct exposure to the Sun between 10 am and 4 pm (45.3%); smoking and alcohol (38.4%); having fair skin color (34.9%); and ultraviolet light exposure (25.7%). Only one-third of them (32.9%) are knowledgeable about skin cancer signs and symptoms, such as a change in color and appearance of the nevus/moles (24%). The majority of the responders (77.3%) did not know about screening tests for skin cancer and only 18 (4.5%) students were practicing skin self-examination.Conclusions:This study showed a lack of knowledge about skin cancer, prevention, and early detection among university students and reported the need for educational interventions to raise awareness in this target group.

Objective:The aim of this study was to determine oncology nurses awareness of drug interactions.Methods:This descriptive study was conducted with nurses working in the oncology clinics who are a member of Oncology Nursing Association of Turkey. A total of 115 nurses (response rate %20) were responded to the online survey that consists of 28 questions.Results:The mean age of the nurses was 33 ± 6.8. The majority of nurses work in university hospital (60%) as a clinical nurse (62.6%) and have a Bachelor Degree in Nursing (63.5%). The mean working years in oncology was 4 years. Half of them stated receiving information on drug interactions mostly through in-service education and courses/congresses in last 5 years. The majority of them (84.3%) indicated that they are considering the possibility of drug interactions when they are scheduling the medication administration time. More than half of the responders (59.1%) encountered drug interactions; however, few explored drug interactions with food, drinks, and nutritional supplements. Their practices to assess possibility of drug interactions were reviewing the drug prospectus (78.3%); consulting with their colleagues (58.3%) and searching on the available website (42.6%) and looking at the drug interaction (39.1%). More than half (65.2%) stated lack of any system to identify drug interactions in their workplace. Nearly half of them indicated to including the drug interaction into patient education mostly for food-drug (73.9%) and drug-drug (63.5%) interactions.Conclusions:Almost all indicated the needs for further education on drug interactions and suggested to have guideline/packet guide.

PURPOSE:The aim of this study was to determine sleep problems and the sleep quality of individuals with intestinal stomas. DESIGN: Descriptive quantitative design was used. SUBJECTS AND SETTING:The research was carried out from September 2018 to September 2019 at 3 university hospitals with stoma units located in Ankara, Turkey. The study sample comprised 222 individuals with intestinal ostomies who were being monitored in these 3 centers. Approximately half (N = 113, 50.9%) had an ileostomy and 68.5% (N = 152) had a temporary stoma. More than half of the participants (N = 116, 52.3%) reported current sleep problems, 59.5% (N = 132) reported that their stoma affected their sleep, and 64% (N = 142) had problems at night due to their stomas, reporting that they woke up frequently during their main sleep period due to ostomy-related problems. METHODS: Three instruments were used to measure study outcomes: the researcher-designed instrument determining the descriptive characteristics of individuals with intestinal stomas, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale. RESULTS:The mean Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score was found to be above 5 (13.42, SD: 3.01) indicating poor sleep quality. The mean Epworth Sleepiness Scale score was 7.54 (SD: 6.37) indicating that participants had daytime sleepiness. The mean Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores of participants with ileostomies (P = .002) and those with temporary stomas (P = .009) were found to be significantly higher. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings indicate that individuals with intestinal stomas have poor sleep quality and problems with daytime sleepiness; those with ileostomies and temporary stomas had the worst quality of sleep.