Background: This study was designed as a pretest–posttest control group experiment. The aim was to identify the influence of music therapy on the perceived stressors and anxiety levels of hemodialysis (HD) patients. Methods: The data were collected in HD Units of Ataturk University Yakutiye Research Hospital and Regional Education, Application and Research Hospital between February and March. The study population consisted of 104 patients who received dialysis. Since four patients refused to participate, the study was completed with 100 patients. While one-half of the patients formed a control group, the other half consisted of an experimental group. Patient introduction form, Hemodialysis Stressor Scale, and State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) forms were used to collect the data. HSS was used to identify the stressors perceived by the patients, and STAI form was used to classify anxiety levels. Data were analyzed by using t-test and chi-square test. Results: It was found that differences between average pretest and posttest scores of perceived psychosocial, physiological, and total stressors were statistically significant. It was also found that differences between average pretherapy and posttherapy test scores of state and trait anxiety were statistically significant. Conclusions: Music therapy was influential in reducing anxiety levels and perceived stressors of HD patients. It is concluded that music therapy—as an independent nursing initiative—can be used to help in fulfilling the physical, emotional, and psychological requirements of patients.

Background: Previous studies have found significant stressors experienced by nurses working in hemodialysis units. The purpose of this study was to determine the burnout levels of hemodialysis nurses working in hemodialysis units and their relation with some sociodemographic variables. Methods: The study was conducted between July 2012 and Sept 2012 in hemodialysis units of four hospitals, including one university, one public and two private hospitals, in the province of Erzurum. The population of the study consisted of 32 nurses rendering service in hemodialysis units of the related hospitals. Information forms, which were prepared by researchers in accordance with the literature, and aimed at determining the personal characteristics of nurses and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used for the data collection. Results: Examining mean scores obtained by nurses from the Maslach Burnout Inventory, it is observed that they scored 17.07 ± 8.29 from subscale of emotional exhaustion, 5.89 ± 4.13 from subscale of depersonalization and 20.64 ± 4.10 from subscale of personal accomplishment. Conclusion: The results of the study revealed that nurses working in hemodialysis units experience a medium-level burnout in terms of subscales of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a high-level burnout in terms of the subscale of personal accomplishment.

This study aimed to characterize the onset of psychopathological manifestations before dialysis in patients with chronic renal disease, thus contributing to the nursing care of these patients. A total of 120 patients registered at the Atatürk University Medical School who fulfilled the eligibility criteria and provided informed consent were included in this study. The majority of the participants, 63.4% were female, 50.0% were 39 years of age or older, 70.0% were married, 80.0% had no current occupation, 56.7% were high school graduates, and 48.3% did not know the cause of their disease. As indicated, 35.0% of the subjects had a depression score over the threshold level, with an average score of 8.53 ± 2.45, while patients with scores over the threshold for anxiety made up 53.4%, with an average score of 11.45 ± 3.56. This study shows the presence of psychopathological problems before patients are started on dialysis. Therefore, nurses may alleviate pre-dialysis patients' fears and provide the necessary support to cope with anxiety and depression, thereby raising the patients' quality of life.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the perceived stress levels of nursing students regarding the clinical practice during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study was conducted between May 20 and June 20, 2020, with 252 students studying in all classes in the Nursing Departments of Necmettin Erbakan University. The data were collected using the Information Form and the Perceived Stress Scale for Nursing Students (PSSNS). 52.0% of the students felt uncomfortable thinking about Covid-19, and 62.2% stated that their anxiety increased when they thought they were infected with Covid-19. The study further revealed that 57.9% of the nursing students were afraid to provide care to the individuals diagnosed with Covid-19 and 82.1% stated that they did not have enough knowledge to provide care to those individuals. Our study revealed that there is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the Perceived Stress Scale for Nursing Students and the students’ gender (p<0.01), the status of willingly choosing the nursing profession (p<0.01), the interest in the nursing profession during the Covid-19 pandemic (p<0.01), having enough knowledge to provide care to individuals diagnosed with Covid-19 (p<0.01), being uncomfortable thinking about Covid-19 (p<0.01), being afraid to provide care to individuals diagnosed with Covid-19 (p<0.01), and the increased anxiety level thinking that they were infected with Covid-19 (p<0.01). In this study, female nurses and nurses who did not choose the nursing profession willingly, whose interests in the nursing profession were negatively affected during the pandemic period, who believe that they do not have the knowledge or who do not want to provide care to individuals diagnosed with Covid-19, who are afraid to provide care, and who are uncomfortable thinking about Covid-19 were found to have higher perceived stress levels. It is recommended to offer training and counseling to the nursing students with high perceived stress levels