Interventions to improve ethical decision-making skills in nursing students: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Interventions to improve ethical decision-making are available in nursing education. Evidence of its effectiveness is essential.

OBJECTIVE

This review examined the effectiveness of interventions to improve nursing students' ethical decision-making skills.

METHODS

A structured search was performed in Google Scholar, Web of Science, Science Direct, Pubmed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Elsevier, CINAHL EBSCO, and ULAKBIM. The Joanna Briggs Institute Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instruments (JBI-MAStARI) was used to assess the quality of studies.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Ethical approval was not required for this systematic review.

FINDINGS

The final review was composed of six studies of published between January 2013 and 2023. Nine different teaching methods applied to students. Although the importance of ethical decision-making skills in solving ethical problems that nurses may encounter at any time is known, it is thought that there is a lack of data in the literature in the last 10 years. The last 10 years were chosen as this aims to provide a review based on the most current, relevant and quality information. The review indicated that all of the teaching methods improved ethical decision-making.

CONCLUSION

Different teaching methods can be used in the nursing education curriculum to meet the learning needs of nursing students in ethical decision-making.

Missed nursing care: A cross-sectional and multi-centric study from Turkey

AIM

The aim of this study is to explore the extent of missed nursing care in Turkey and identify its predictors.

DESIGN

This was a descriptive, cross-sectional, multicentre study.

METHODS

A total of 477 nurses working in seven public hospitals participated in this study from March to July 2019. The survey included two components: a personal and professional characteristics data form and the MISSCARE survey.

RESULTS

The study revealed that emotional support, patient bathing and ambulation were the most frequently missed nursing care activities. An inadequate number of assistive personnel and staff, along with an unexpected increase in patient volume, were identified as the primary reasons for missed nursing care. Of the 21 missed nursing care activities, nine predictive models showed statistical significance (p < 0.05). Factors such as the type of unit, years of work experience, working hours, number of patients cared for in a shift and intention to leave the unit were found to be significant predictors of seven missed nursing care activities (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

This study found that numerous variables influence each care activity, which suggests the need to devise more targeted and specific strategies to minimize missed nursing care. Thorough investigation into the impact of these strategies on each care activity is essential.

The effect of education on self-care agency and rational drug use of patients with COPD

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the effects of education given to patients diagnosed with the COPD on self-care agency and rational drug use.

METHODS

This study has a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. Participants were divided into two groups, those who received training with the COPD Guide booklet (n = 40) and routine clinical care (n = 43).

RESULTS

As a result of the study found a statistically significant difference between the self-care agency and rational drug use scale post-test mean scores of the patients in the intervention and control group in favor of the intervention group (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Education on COPD management increased patients' self-care agency and their information, attitudes, and behaviors regarding rational drug use.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Clinicians can integrate a COPD Guide into routine care for patients with COPD.

The effect of the application of cold on hematoma, ecchymosis, and pain at the catheter site in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

Objective

This study was conducted to determine the effect of the application of cold on hematoma, ecchymosis, and pain in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

Methods

It is a quasi-experimental study with a control group. A total of 200 patients (100 in the control group and 100 in the experimental group) were included in the research. In the experimental group, a cold pack was applied to the bottom of the sandbag for the first 15 min after withdrawing the femoral arterial catheter. Both groups were assessed and followed up at the first 15th minute and 4th, 48th and 72 nd h.

Results

After the femoral arterial catheter was withdrawn, ecchymosis and hematoma were smaller and pain was less in the experimental group at the catheter entry site compared to the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.01).

Conclusion

It was determined that the application of cold reduced the formation of hematomas, ecchymoses and pain in patients after the withdrawal of the femoral arterial catheter.

Investigation of the prevalence of pressure ulcers and patient-related risk factors in hospitals in the province of Erzurum: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Pressure ulcers are a significant health care problem all across the world due to their associated high mortality and morbidity rates and high health care costs. The prevalence of pressure ulcers serves as one of the most important indicators of the quality of nursing care.

STUDY AIM

This study aims to determine the prevalence of pressure ulcers and patient-related risk factors in inpatients receiving treatment in the province of Erzurum, located in the eastern part of Turkey.

DESIGN

This is a cross-sectional study.

PARTICIPANTS

which included 832 inpatients hospitalized for at least 24 h after admission in five hospitals in the province of Erzurum. All of the study patients were 18 years of age or older and agreed to participate in the research. Patients hospitalized in the obstetric, emergency, and pediatric clinics were excluded from the study (due to the low probability of pressure ulcers in these clinics).

INSTRUMENTS

For the collection of data, the "Introductory Information Form" was used to learn the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients, and the "Braden Risk Assessment Scale" was used to determine the risk of pressure ulcers. The stage of the pressure ulcers of the patients was determined according to the classification of the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP).

METHODS

Since the study was planned as a point prevalence study, research data were gathered by the researchers and interviewers on a single day designated for each hospital during the first week of October 2016.

RESULTS

Among the patients included in the study, 53.1% were male, mean age was 56.62 ± 17.95, 57.2% were treated in internal clinics, and the mean hospital stay was 9.02 ± 13.36 days. In terms of the patients' risk of pressure ulcers, it was determined that 28% were at risk. The overall prevalence of pressure ulcers was calculated to be 12.7% (for stages I-IV), with the overall prevalence decreasing by 6.7% when the patients with stage-I were excluded. Furthermore, it was found that 48.3% of the pressure ulcers were stage-I, and that the sacral region (37.3%) was the most affected region. According to the logistic regression analysis conducted to determine the factors, along with their weights, that affect the development of pressure ulcers, the age of the patient, the duration of the hospital stay, the presence of incontinence, albumin level problems, and a Braden score below 17 were found to have an impact (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

In this study, the prevalence of pressure ulcers was calculated to be 12.7%, with the highest prevalence found in intensive care clinics (35.3%). The age of the patient, the duration of the hospital stays, the presence of incontinence, albumin level problems, and a Braden score below 17 were found to be effective in the development of pressure ulcers.