The study was aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Chemotherapy-induced Taste Alteration Scale (CiTAS), and was conducted on adult patients receiving ...chemotherapy (N = 184) in the Chemotherapy Unit and Hematology Clinic (Outpatient) of a university hospital between December 2013 and May 2014. The results showed that the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (.869) was satisfactory. The alpha value was .89 for the Decline in Basic Taste subscale, .70 for Discomfort subscale, .82 for Phantogeusia and Parageusia subscale, and .72 for General Taste Alterations subscale. The coefficients of the relationship between test–retest reliability results were significantly high (r = .939, n = 28). The Turkish version of the CiTAS was a sufficient and suitable tool in evaluating the taste alterations associated with chemotherapy.
E-learning is a relatively recent and rapidly expanding trend of nursing education that increased particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, assessing the attitudes of nursing students ...towards e-learning with standardized tools has gained importance.
To determine the validity and reliability of nursing students’ attitudes towards e-learning (NSA-E-learning) scale.
This methodological study was performed from 1 July to 15 August 2021 with 404 nursing students in Turkey. The item pool of the scale was created based on the relevant literature. The data were evaluated using descriptive statistics, explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Pearson correlation analysis, t-test for dependent variables and Cronbach alpha coefficient.
The content validity index of this scale calculated according to experts’ opinions ranged from 0.87 to 1.00. According to the exploratory factor analysis, 4 factors had an eigenvalue > 1. These 4 factors accounted for 69.66 % of the total variance. CFA showed favorable results for Chi square/degrees of freedom (χ2/df), comparative fit index (CFI) and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). The Cronbach alpha of the scale was 0.96 and the Cronbach alpha coefficient of the sub-dimensions ranged from 0.82 to 0.94. The NSA-E-learning scale had moderate test-retest reliability.
The 29-item NSA-E-learning scale was a valid and reliable tool for assessing the attitude of the nursing students towards e-learning.
This study is aimed to determine factors that affect conditions of patients receiving chemotherapy in terms of experienced taste alteration.
In this descriptive study, 184 patients receiving ...chemotherapy were included in the sample. Data were collected during the period of December 2013 to May 2014 using "Patient Characteristics Identification Form" and "Chemotherapy-induced Taste Alteration Scale (CiTAS)." The data were analyzed using SPSS 20 (SPSS Inc., Chicago IL, USA) statistical software in terms of number, percentage, Mann-Whitney U test, and Kruskal-Wallis H test.
The mean age of the patients was 55.5±11.8 and 57.1% of them were female. The clinical diagnosis of the patients were most frequently breast cancer (n=46), colorectal cancer (n=45), and lung cancer (n=25). Furthermore, 37.5% of the patients were in clinical stage II; 15.8% of the patients received paclitaxel+herceptin and 14.1% received gemcitabine+cisplatin chemotherapy protocols. Data demonstrated significant differences in mean scores (p<0.05) taken from "Decline in Basic Taste" and "Phantogeusia and Parageusia" subscales with patients with or without xerostomia. There were significant differences in the average scores of the subscales between those with and without a sore mouth "Discomfort" and "General taste alterations" (p<0.05).
It has been established that patients receiving chemotherapy experience substantial alteration in taste by exposure of different subscales of CiTAS. Analysis of scores collected from different subscales of CiTAS with respect to sociodemographic and pathological differences showed that patients with xerostomia and sore mouth experienced more severe taste alterations.
Abstract Background Eye care and assessment of the eye are critical for intensive care patients to prevent ocular complications like dry eye and corneal abrasion. However, there is no measurement ...tool developed for intensive care patients that examines the risks of ocular complications. Aims This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable tool, the Critically Ill Patient Eye Assessment Scale (CIPEAS), for assessing the risk of ocular complications and determining the frequency of eye care. Study design This study is an instrument development study. This methodological study was conducted with 151 intensive care patients in Turkey between March 2022 and March 2023. Data were collected with the Patient Information Form and the CIPEAS. The data were evaluated using SPSS 23 statistical software. AMOS 21 was used to verify the structure obtained with CFA. Exploration and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to determine the scale's factorial structure. Results As a result of exploratory factor analysis, a six‐item scale consisting of a single dimension was obtained, explaining 59.993% of the total variance. The fit indices of the scale were found to be χ 2 /SD = 2.653, GFI = 0.954, RMSEA = 0.075, NFI = 0.949 and CFI = 0.967. Cronbach's alpha of the scale was found to be 0.862. Conclusion The CIPEAS was found to be a valid and reliable assessment tool. Relevance to Clinical Practice The Critically Ill Patient Eye Assessment Scale is a valid and reliable tool for Turkish society for assessing the risk of ocular complications. It is recommended for various national and international studies with different patients in intensive care units.
This study aimed to determine the Internet use, eHealth literacy levels, and influencing factors in Turkish cancer patients.
A descriptive and correlational study was conducted in a single cancer ...center with 296 patients. Data were collected using a personal information form, an Internet Usage Form, and the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Mann‒Whitney U test, Kruskal‒Wallis test, and multiple linear regression analysis.
The participants received health-related information from the Internet (36.8%) with a mean total eHEALS score of 22.92 ± 9.67. In the multiple linear regression analysis, the descriptive characteristics of the participants were negatively affected by age (β = –0.143) and education level (β = 0.204). The use of the Internet to obtain information about cancer (β = 0.455) positively affected the level of eHealth literacy. The eHealth literacy of patients is at a level that needs to be improved and there are factors affecting it.
Nurses should increase patients' eHealth literacy and guide them on how to access accurate information about cancer on the Internet. While doing this, it should be planned to consider the age, education level, and Internet use of the patients.
•Chemotherapy drugs are often used in the treatment of breast cancer. Because these drugs cause many symptoms to develop, it is important to prevent and control them. Uncontrollable symptoms ...negatively affect patients’ quality of life, therefore, causing patients to stop treatment, decrease treatment dose, and terminate treatment. To not to experience the problems related to the treatment process, symptoms should be evaluated correctly, and as a result, symptom management should be provided and follow evidence-based practices. For this purpose, symptom reporting has recently been using mobile applications. As symptoms worsen over the course of days or weeks, the mobile application reports these as part of the symptom monitoring process and interventions can be started.•In patients receiving chemotherapy, it is common to use mobile applications for reporting symptoms and planning maintenance and treatment applications accordingly. These applications provide many advantages to the patient, health care staff, and health care system because the patient reports the symptoms experienced and helps contribute to the quick management of the symptoms. A study in breast cancer patients in which symptom monitoring was performed with symptom reporting was conducted. More studies that evaluate the symptoms of breast cancer patients through mobile applications are needed.
Patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy experience many symptoms. This study set out to determine the effect of the mobile application-based symptom monitoring process on symptom control and quality of life in breast cancer patients.
The research sample consisted of 57 patients who applied to an outpatient chemotherapy unit of a university hospital. The patients in the intervention group reported symptoms starting from the first day when they received chemotherapy with Msemptom and until the 15th day after chemotherapy. After evaluation of the daily symptom reports of the patients, the patients were instructed via text message to report symptoms as moderate, severe, or very severe symptoms. After the application, the median of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS)-physical subscale score of the patients in the control group was found to be statistically significantly higher than in the intervention group (P = .028). It was also found that after application, the medians of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Quality of Life (EORTC-QLQC30), symptom scale and nausea-vomiting score (P = .012), QLQ-BR23 Module sexual function (P = .024), and sexual pleasure subscale score (P = .026) were statistically significantly higher than patients in the intervention group.
The process of symptom monitoring with mobile applications is especially effective in controlling physical symptoms.
It is recommended to expand mobile application-based symptom monitoring process in breast cancer patients and to support the patients in using this application-based process.
Aim
To explore how the nursing profession reflected on Twitter in Turkey about the Nursing Week celebration during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
Background
The COVID‐19 pandemic affected the whole world, ...made every aspect of life extremely difficult, and required excessive involvement by healthcare professionals—especially nurses. Nurses have played a key role in meeting the care needs of people during this time.
Methods
A qualitative research design was used for this study. Turkish social media data were analysed via a data crawler on Twitter. Tweets regarding the COVID‐19 pandemic during 12–18 May 2020 and 12–18 May 2021—dates celebrated as Nursing Week in Turkey—and tweets containing at least one of the following relevant hashtags: #nurse, #nursesday, #nursesweek, #nursingweek, #12May, or #12Maynursesday, were considered.
Results
The hashtag #12May was used the most in both years, and the most tweets were posted with the hashtag #12May (n = 2996) in 2020. Three categories, ‘Being a nurse in the pandemic’, ‘Nursing Week with celebrations’, and ‘Nursing Week with definitions’, were identified through a thematic analysis. The categories included the importance of nursing, respectability, difficult working conditions, insufficiency in the number of nurses, difficulties in social life, etc.
Discussion
Turkish society posted tweets to celebrate Nursing Week. In addition to the celebration, there were many statements revealing the positive aspects of nurses and the nursing profession, as well as the difficulties nurses faced during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
Conclusion
Our findings revealed that in the celebrations of Nursing Week in Turkey, the important role of nursing in the health system, difficulties experienced during the COVID‐19 pandemic, and definitions describing the roles of nursing were reflected on Twitter.
Implication for nursing and health policies
This presents a source for perspective on the opinions reflected on social media about nurses and the nursing profession via Nursing Week celebrations during the pandemic. The findings can guide the development of policies on the rights and social privileges of the nursing profession that need to be improved in exceptional situations like a pandemic.
This study aimed to identify the resilience and burnout status of nurses working in the field of oncology.
This descriptive study was conducted with 140 oncology nurses. The data were collected using ...a socio-demographic attributes form, Resilience Scale for Adults, and the Maslach's Burnout Inventory. Percentage ratios, mean and median values, Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney
test, correlation analysis, and multiple stepwise linear regression analysis were used to evaluate the data.
The Maslach's Burnout Inventory total median score was 49.00. The emotional exhaustion median score was 24.00, the depersonalization median score was 9.00, and the personal accomplishment median score was 16.00. The Resilience Scale for Adults total median score was 134.00. The median resilience subscale scores, such as structural style, perception of future, family cohesion, self-perception, social competence, and social resources, were 16.00, 16.00, 24.00, 25, 23, and 31, respectively. A relationship existed between emotional exhaustion and perception of future; depersonalization and structured style and self-perception; and personal accomplishment and structured style, perception of future, and self-perception. Multiple stepwise linear regression analysis revealed a significant relationship between the number of years in the field and emotional exhaustion and depersonalization scores. Moreover, a significant relationship between structured style variables and personal accomplishment scores was observed.
This study demonstrated the relationship between burnout and resilience situations among the oncology nurses. The results can be used to plan individual and organizational interventions to increase resilience and reduce the experience of burnout by developing measures such as improving communication skills, providing education on stress management and coping strategies, using social resources, and organizing programs that provide psychological support.
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