No abstract

Objective:To determine the effects of patient education about the safety of warfarin therapy on related-knowledge levels and on International Normalized Ratio (INR) control.Methods:In the study, randomized controlled experimental study design was used. It was conducted between September 2014–March 2015 with 63 patients who use warfarin at least two months at cardiology and cardiovascular surgery outpatient departments of two different hospitals in Manisa. Participants in the intervention group received one-to-one education about the safety of warfarin therapy and a booklet. Participants in the control group received usual care. Patients’ warfarin knowledge levels in both groups were measured three times at monthly intervals.Results:Before education warfarin knowledge levels were inadequate in intervention group, but it was higher after education and reached a good level. No significant difference was found between the International Normalized Ratio controls of the two groups. No significant relationship was found between pre- and post-education warfarin knowledge levels and the INR number in the therapeutic range.Conclusion:One-to-one education supported by written and visual material was effective in increasing patients’ warfarin knowledge levels.

The purpose of this study was to examine the menstruation and dysmenorrhea characteristics and the factors affecting dysmenorrhea of health school students, and the knowledge and use of the methods of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) on the part of those students with dysmenorrhea. This is a descriptive study. A descriptive analysis was made by calculating the number, percentage, mean, Pearson χ, and logistic regression analysis. A total of 488 female students participated in the research and 87.7% (n = 428) of all students experienced dysmenorrhea. It was detected that a family history of dysmenorrhea and regular menstrual cycles of the students were dysmenorrhea-affecting factors (P < .05). Seven of 10 students with dysmenorrhea used CAM methods. Heat application of CAM methods for dysmenorrhea management was the most commonly used and also known by the students. The students who experienced severe pain used analgesics (P < .05) and CAM methods (P < .05).

Abstract:The aim of this research was to determine Turkish nursing students' knowledge, practices and perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care and to investigate the relationship between their perceptions and their demographics. This study was a descriptive survey conducted at a nursing school providing degree-level education in the city of Manisa, in the western part of Turkey. The sample of the study consisted of the 400 nursing students. A nursing student sociodemographic form, a form on nursing students' knowledge and practices of spirituality and spiritual care, and the Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale were used to collect the data. Half of the students could meet patients' or individuals' spiritual needs, and the spiritual care that they gave was most frequently listening, empathy, and psychological support. The research findings were that nursing students' perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care were "sufficiently" although not "very sufficiently" defined. Being female, being in the second year of education and seeing spiritual care education as necessary were determinants of their perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care.

This research aimed to describe nursing students' perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care and their spiritual care competencies and to investigate the relationship between these variables. The sample of this descriptive and correlational study consisted of 325 nursing students. The questionnaires used in the study were the Student Nurse Information Form, the Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale, and the Spiritual Care Competency Scale. The mean scores of the Turkish versions of Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale and Spiritual Care Competency Scale were 3.90 ± 0.45 and 3.69 ± 0.68. Importance to giving spiritual care to the patients in nursing care, willingness to receive training in spiritual care, and listening to patients to meet their spiritual requirements accounted for 17% of the spirituality and spiritual care perceptions of the students (F = 16.118, P = .001, R = 0.17). The participants' spirituality and spiritual care perception levels accounted for 14% of their spiritual care competences (F = 16.851, P = .001, R = 0.14). It was determined that the students' perceptions of spiritual care competence were not at the desired level and that they should be improved. Therefore, it is recommended that changes should be made in the curricula and that training programs should be improved in order to strengthen students' spiritual care competency.