An investigation of factors affecting compassion levels of midwives

INTRODUCTION The profession of midwifery is seen as a genuinely individual-centric catalyst transforming compassion to care. Due to this, compassionate care should be the basis of midwives’ care, especially for those who care for women and children. This research investigated the compassion levels of midwives to determine the factors affecting them. METHODS This descriptive research was conducted between 10 February and 29 May 2020, with 119 midwives working in a training and research hospital in Istanbul. The data were collected using the ‘Compassion Scale’ and analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test and logistic regression model. RESULTS The total mean score on the compassion scale of midwives participating in the study was found to be 71.46 ± 9.60. Sociodemographic data and vocational belongings of participants were compared with the mean scores of the compassion scale subdimensions. It was determined that as the age of the midwives increased, they showed more kindness and awareness of compassion (p<0.021, p<0.023, respectively). It has been determined that as the education level of midwives decreases, their compassion level also decreases and they become more insensitive (p<0.044). It was found that being married increased the kindness (p<0.023) and common humanity characteristics (p<0.032) that affect compassion. It was found that the levels of kindness (p<0.020) and awareness (p<0.048) increased for those who had children, and compassion was associated with having a child. In addition, a statistically significant relationship was found between the professional commitment and kindness of the midwives participating in the study (p<0.034). It was found that midwives’ knowledge of rules related to professional ethics increased their compassion scale scores by 1.2. CONCLUSIONS Midwifery is a profession with a high sense of spirituality. However, professional belonging, love of the profession and professional development positively affect midwives’ levels of compassion. Improving midwives’ feelings of belonging and their professional development will also contribute to the quality of maternal and infant health

THE DIGITAL GAMING ATTITUDE SCALE (DGAS): A Reliability and Validity Study

In this study, it is aimed to develop a tool that can measure attitudes of university students towards digital gaming in a valid and reliable way. 368 university students studying at Gazi University Faculty of Sports Sciences in the 2018-2019 academic year participated in the study. In this study, a mixed design, integrating qualitative and quantitative research designs, was used. In the qualitative step of the study, students were asked about digital gaming, and item pooling was conducted. In the quantitative step, reliability and validity studies were conducted by using SPSS 23 and Lisrel 8.8 programs. According to Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), a structure with three sub-scales consisting of 18 items was obtained. The scale consists of Cognitive (5 items), Affective (5 items) and Behavioral (8 items) sub-scales. Following exploratory factor analysis, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed and an evidence was obtained that fit indices of the scale obtained according to CFA were within the acceptable range. Subsequently, item and reliability analyses were conducted for the scale. In this context, the total variance ratio explained by the scale is 65.11% and Cronbach's Alpha is .82. Overall, it was found that the Digital Gaming Attitude Scale is a tool that can accurately and reliably measure participants' attitude towards digital gaming

A brief overview on geothermal scaling

Hot spring waters are rich in terms of minerals. Since there are dramatic changes in thermodynamic parameters in geothermal power plants, such as a decrease in temperature and pressure, severe precipitation occurs throughout the system components in an uncontrolled manner. There are three main chemistries in deposits: carbonates (mainly calcium carbonates), silicates (metal silicates), and sulphides (antimony sulphide-stibnite). Energy harvesting is remarkably reduced out of the insulating nature of the deposit. Various actions need to be taken to mitigate this undesirable issue of scaling in geothermal systems. Geothermal systems are in fact quite complex, and the composition of brine and, accordingly, the chemistry of the deposit are not identical. Therefore, each system should be studied individually, and a tailor-made remedy should be developed. In this overview, the types of deposits in terms of chemistry and the actions (pH modification or antiscalant dosing) that should be taken to reduce scaling are mentioned, and potential chemistries of antiscalants are given

Türkiye’de ulusal akne haftasında yapılan bilgilendirme seminerlerinin katılımcıların akne hakkındaki bilgi düzeylerine etkisi

Background and Design: To investigate the contribution of informative presentations about acne vulgaris and questionnaires administered before and after informative meetings on patients' awareness and consciousness. Materials and Methods: Participants were asked to fill out a 20-question survey before and after informative seminars in hospitals and secondary and high schools as part of National Acne Week. The level of statistical significance was set as p <= 0.05. Results: A total of 466 participants completed the survey before and after the seminar, and the mean age of the participants was 17.4 +/- 6.9. Before the seminar, 31.1% of participants thought that acne is originated from the liver, whereas this figure decreased to 16.7% after the seminar. In all, 47.6% of participants consulted doctors and 23.9% consulted social media to seek information about acne; however, after receiving training, 77% preferred to consult a doctor. Of the participants, 51.1% were expecting to see the results of acne treatment in 1 or 2 weeks, whereas 83.3% stated that the effects would be seen in 2 or 3 months after the seminar. When the participants' educational background was grouped as "secondary-high school-other," a statistically significant difference was obtained (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our study features both patients' misconceptions and their incorrect attitudes about acne, and their level of knowledge improved significantly as a result of educational seminars. The relative benefit derived from educational seminars was positively related to the participants' highest level of education.Amaç: Akne vulgaris ile ilgili bilgilendirme toplantısı öncesi ve sonrasında uygulanan anket formları ile bilgilendirici sunumların akne hakkındaki farkındalık ve bilinç düzeylerine katkısını incelemek amaçlanmaktadır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Ulusal Akne Haftası kapsamında hastane, ortaokul ve lise dengi okullarda verilen bilinçlendirme eğitimi öncesi ve sonrasında katılımcılardan 20 soruluk bir anket doldurmaları istendi. İstatistiksel anlamlılık düzeyi p≤0,05 olarak kabul edildi. Bulgular: Eğitim öncesi ve sonrasında anket formunu dolduran 466 kişinin yaş ortalaması 17,4±6,9 idi. Eğitim öncesi katılımcıların %31,1’i aknenin karaciğer kaynaklı olduğunu düşünürken, eğitim sonrası bu oran %16,7’ye indi. Akne hakkında bilgi almak için eğitim öncesi katılımcıların %47,6’sı doktora, %23,9’u sosyal medyaya başvururken, eğitim sonrası %77’si doktora başvurmayı tercih edeceğini belirtti. Katılımcıların %51,1’i akne tedavisinin 1-2 hafta içerisinde etkisini göstereceğini beklerken, eğitim sonrası %83,3’ü 2-3 ay kullandıktan sonra yanıt alınabileceğini belirtti. Kişilerin öğrenim durumları, “ortaokul-lise-diğer” olarak gruplandırıldığında, eğitim sonrası gruplar arasında öğrenim durumlarına göre istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir farklılık saptandı (p=0,005). Sonuç: Çalışmamız bireylerin hem akne hakkındaki yanlış bilgi ve tutumlarını ön plana çıkarmakta, hem de hekimlerin vereceği eğitim seminerleri ve bilgilendirme toplantıları ile bilgi düzeylerinde kayda değer bir gelişme sağlanacağını göstermektedir

Adherence to systemic therapy in patients with psoriasis during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multicenter study

Background: Adherence to treatment is important in chronic dermatological diseases. There are limited data regarding the adherence to treatment in patients with psoriasis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aims: We aimed to determine the rates of adherence to systemic treatments in patients with psoriasis and to identify the causes of non-adherence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional multicenter study from May 2021 to August 2021. A questionnaire including items regarding sociodemographic characteristics of the patients, disease-related characteristics, and treatment-related characteristics were filled out by the physicians. The Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI), Hospital Anxiety, and Depression Scale, and the Dermatology Life Quality Index were calculated. The rate of adherence and non-adherence to treatment and reasons for non-adherence to treatment were examined. Results: A total of 342 patients with psoriasis were included (182 male/160 female) in the study. The mean age of the patients was 45.9 ± 14.2 years. The average duration of psoriasis was 192 ± 134.7 months. While the rate of adherence to treatment was 57.6%, the rate of non-adherence to treatment was 42.4%. There were no significant differences with respect to adherence to treatment in comparison with oral and injection-therapy groups. The most frequent reasons for non-adherence to treatment were inability to go to the hospital (19.2%), concern about the COVID-19 infection (16.3%), discontinuation of the treatment by the doctor (13.7%), inability to reach the doctor (7.3%), and inability to have access to the medication (7.3%). Conclusion: Adherence to oral and injection therapies was fairly high among our patients with psoriasis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psoriasis severity and duration of medication use had a negative impact on adherence to treatment

Bozyaka Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi sağlık çalışanlarına hasta ve hasta yakınları tarafından uygulanan şiddetin değerlendirilmesi

Amaç: Hastanemiz sağlık çalışanlarının hasta ve hasta yakınları tarafından şiddete maruz kalma durumlarını incelemeyi amaçladık. Gereç ve yöntem: Hastanemizde çalışan 300 sağlık çalışanına, kişisel bilgileri içeren 5 soru ve işyerinde şiddet bilgilerine ait 16 sorudan oluşan anket formu çalışanların çalışma ortam ve saatlerinde ziyaret edilerek, gönüllülük esasına göre doldurtulmuştur. Bulgular: Araştırmaya katılan sağlık çalışanlarının %74’ü çalıştıkları bölümde daha önce şiddete maruz kaldığı, son 1 yılda şiddete maruz kalma oranının ise %73 olduğu, acil servis çalışanlarının %94.4’ünün son 1 yılda şiddete uğradığı, şiddetin %69.7’sinin sözel şiddet şeklinde olduğu ve acil servislerde daha çok gerçekleştiği, şiddetin %53.2 oranında 16:00-24:00 saatleri arasında gerçekleştiği, şiddet esnasında %95.6 oranında herhangi bir cisim kullanılmadığı, şiddet sonrası sağlık çalışanların %95.9’unun yara almadığı, %41.0’ının güvenlik görevlisi çağırma şeklinde tepki verdiği, %68’inin mesleki performans kaybı yaşadığı, %85.6’sının şiddeti adli birimlere bildirmediği ve %67.9’unun gerekçe olarak adli yargılama sürecinin uzun olmasını gösterdiği belirlendi. Sonuç: Toplumda giderek yaygınlaşan şiddet sağlık sektörünü de ciddi şekilde etkilemiştir. Sağlık işyerinde şiddeti engellemek için gerekli yasal, idari, toplumsal önlemlerin alınması ve toplumsal farkındalık yaratılması gerekmektedi

Clinical course of psoriasis patients that discontinued biologics during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundSince psoriasis is a chronic disease, it is not recommended to discontinue the treatment agents used. However, in real life, the treatment of psoriasis patients may be interrupted for various reasons. During the pandemic period, the treatment of many patients was also interrupted. ObjectivesTo evaluate relapse and clinical worsening in psoriasis patients whose biological therapy was interrupted during the pandemic and reveal associated factors. MethodsThe study included patients aged >= 18 years, who were followed up with moderate and severe chronic psoriasis controlled by the last biological agent [Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) 75 response achieved] but had to discontinue their treatment during the pandemic. The patients' demographic and clinical characteristics, clinical course after the discontinuation of these agents, presence of clinical worsening, and relapse were evaluated. Risk factors were analyzed with the logistic regression analysis. ResultsThe study included 169 patients, with a mean age of 47.3 +/- 14.5 (18-87) years. The mean biologics-free time was 18.2 +/- 12.3 (2-56) weeks. Clinical worsening was detected in 41.4% and relapse in 48.5% of the patients. The significant risk factors for clinical worsening and relapse in both univariate and multivariate analyses were alcohol use during the biologics-free period, total time off biologics, and the presence of an additional triggering factor. The use of secukinumab and ustekinumab was found to be a protective factor against clinical worsening in multivariate analyses. ConclusionAs the biologics-free period is prolonged, the likelihood of clinical worsening and relapse increases, therefore, we do not recommend discontinuing biological agents

Evaluation of the efficacy, safety, and side effects of secukinumab in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis: Real-world data from a retrospective multicenter study

Background: Clinical studies have demonstrated that IL-17A inhibition with secukinumab is effective for clearing the skin of patients with psoriasis and has a favorable safety profile. Objective: The authors aim to determine whether secukinumab is effective and safe for the treatment of moderate-to-severe chronic psoriasis based on clinical experience with this drug. Method: The authors conducted a multicenter retrospective study in nine referral centers and included patients with psoriasis who had received secukinumab between March 2018 to November 2020. Data on demographic characteristics, Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores, and previous treatments were collected from medical records. Patients were evaluated at 12, 24, and 52 weeks with respect to response to treatment and side effects. Results: In total, 229 patients were recruited for the study. A PASI score improvement of ≥90 points over the baseline was achieved by 79%, 69.8%, and 49.3% of patients at weeks 12, 24, and 52, respectively. The most common adverse events wereCandida infections and fatigue. In total, 74 (32%) patients discontinued treatment by week 52, including due to adverse events, or secondary ineffectiveness. Study limitations: Retrospective design. Conclusions: These findings suggest that secukinumab therapy is reasonably effective in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Comorbidities and time length of the disease can affect the response to treatment. The rates of adverse events were high in this patient population