The Effect of the Coronavirus Disease-19 Pandemic Process on Midwifery and Nursing Students’ Tendency to Violence

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the effect of the coronavirus disease-19 pandemic process on midwifery and nursing students' tendency toward violence. Materials and Methods:The study, which used a cross-sectional descriptive design, was carried out with 549 university students studying midwifery and nursing. Data were collected using "Socio-Demographic Data Form" and "Violence Tendency Scale." Research data were collected between March 23, 2020 and September 15, 2020. The study was implemented online. The questionnaires were uploaded to https://docs.google.com/forms/ and the link to the questionnaires was sent to the students through e-mail and WhatsApp. Results:The pre-pandemic and while-pandemic median values of the violence tendency scale of the students were found to be 35 (min: 20-max: 86) and 34 (min: 20-max: 71), respectively, and the difference between the two was statistically significant (p=0.004). The tendency of students to violence who were male was studying nursing, was 2 nd and 3 rd -year students, graduated from a health vocational high school, had inadequate income, had a nuclear family, and were placed in their departments with low scores, statistically significantly decreased during the pandemic process (p<005). Conclusion:In conclusion, it was determined that the tendency of nursing and midwifery undergraduate students toward violence was low before and during the pandemic process and that their tendency toward violence decreased during the pandemic process. We recommend that topics about violence should be integrated into the curriculum of future midwives and nurses and that training programs raising awareness and informing students should be organized especially during the pandemic process when the rate of violence is on the increase.