Purpose The aim of this study was to determine the effect of progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) and nature sounds (NS) on students' blood pressure measurement skills, anxiety levels, and vital signs. Design and Methods This randomized controlled study conducted at the nursing department of a university in February 2020. During skill training, one group was given PMR and one group was given PMR + NS. The routine teaching procedure was applied to the control group. Findings The PMR (37.80 ± 10.1) and PMR + NS (31.19 ± 6.15) groups had lower mean postintervention anxiety scores compared with the control group (40.86 ± 9.13). The PMR + NS group had higher mean postintervention knowledge test score than other. Practice Implications PMR + NS and PMR helped reduce nursing students' anxiety levels and pulse rates. PMR + NS helped increase their blood pressure knowledge test scores.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of pain experienced during the COVID-19 infection on the fear of pain and quality of life of individuals. Background: Pain is a complex, multidimensional, neurophysiological and psychosocial experience known only to the person experiencing pain. Although there are studies showing that individuals with COVID-19 experience pain, there are no studies that evaluate the relationship between fear of pain and quality of life of people after COVID-19 infection. Design: The study was carried out as descriptive, comparative and correlational design. Methods: Snowball sampling method was used in the research and the data were collected online. A total of 404 individuals participated in the study. The data were collected using the Descriptive Characteristics Questionnaire, Numeric Rating Scale, Fear of Pain Questionnaire-III and The 36-Item Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire. Results: It was determined that 87.1% of the individuals experienced pain during COVID-19 and the mean intensity of this pain was 6.16 ± 2.75. In addition, 37.1% of the individuals experienced pain for a while after COVID-19 and the mean intensity of this pain was 3.81 ± 3.00. The individuals who experienced pain during COVID-19 had higher fear of pain and lower quality of life than those who did not experience pain. There was a significant correlation between the severity of pain experienced during COVID-19 with the fear of pain and the quality of life. Conclusions: According to the results of the study, it can be said that individuals who experienced intense pain during COVID-19 infection have higher fear of pain and lower quality of life. In addition, as the fear of pain increases, the quality of life of individuals decreases.

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Background: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different wiping techniques used in phlebotomy on vein visibility, procedural success, and phlebotomy-related complications. Materials and methods: This single-center, comparative, randomized study was conducted with 90 patients in the internal medicine clinic of a tertiary hospital. During the phlebotomy procedure, the phlebotomy site was wiped with circular technique in the Group-I, vertical technique in the Group-II, and vertical + circular technique in the Group-III. Results: There was a significant difference between the three groups in terms of vein visibility after wiping of the phlebotomy site ( p < 0.05). The time spent for blood sampling was shorter in the Groups I and II ( p > 0.05). In the 3-day follow-up after the blood sample was taken, the ecchymosis and hematoma rates of the groups were similar ( p > 0.05). Conclusions: Vertical wiping and vertical + circular wiping techniques used in the cleaning of the phlebotomy site increased the visibility of the vein compared to only circular wiping. The time spent for blood sampling was shorter in the vertical wiping and vertical + circular wiping groups.

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