OBJECTIVE: This descriptive survey’s aim was to determine how nurses recognize and distinguish between symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When traumatic events occur, nurses are in a position to make a significant impact on the course of the disorder by early diagnosis.

METHODS: The study population included the nurses who were employed at nine military hospitals in regions where there is a high rate of trauma victim admissions. The sample of the study consisted of nurses who worked in surgical units and emergency units in these hospitals. The responses of 122 nurses who voluntarily participated in the study were evaluated in the data analysis. The data of the study were collected using a Case Recognition Form that consisted of four trauma cases, a PTSD symptom checklist consisting of the items of the PTSD scale and a questionnaire covering some characteristics of the nurses’ professional and trauma experiences.

RESULTS: Almost one-fourth of the nurses were unable to recognize the PTSD symptoms. In particular, their recognition of withdrawal and hyperarousal symptoms and psychological problems that accompany PTSD was low. The rate of mental trauma recognition in terms of the cases given in the Case Recognition Form was not adequate. However, the nurses acknowledged that they have responsibilities to assist individuals who have experienced traumatic events.

CONCLUSION: It is important to increase nurses’ knowledge of PTSD and their skills in this regard through proper training after graduation.

OBJECTIVE: The present research was carried out descriptively in order to determine the compliance to treatment among patients with chronic psychiatric disorders according to their relatives.

METHODS: The research was carried out with the relatives of 73 patients who were hospitalized at Erkilet Hospital for Mental Health during 1-28 February 2008. The data were collected using a questionnaire form by means of face-to-face interview. Percentage distribution and chi-square test were used for the data evaluation.

RESULTS: It was determined that most of the caretaker relatives were the mothers or spouses of the patients. The relatives expressed that they believed the patients would recover with medications and that the treatment should be continued. According to the responses, two-thirds of the patients did not use the medications regularly and did not present for medical check-ups regularly. With respect to descriptive features of the patients and the characteristics of the course of illness, there were no statistically significant differences regarding the regular use of medication, stopping medication without the physician’s permission and regular visits to polyclinics for check-ups (p>0.05). However, it was determined that patients with schizophrenia, those hospitalized twice a year, and those who had been ill for 2-5 years took their medications irregularly, discontinued treatment without the physician’s permission and attended medical check-ups irregularly.

CONCLUSION: We determined in this research that the relatives believed the patients would recover with medications and that treatment should be continued. However, most of the patients used the medications irregularly, did not attend medical check-ups regularly and had compliance problems to the illness.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between anger and manner of anger expression with self-care agency in individuals diagnosed as having hypertension.

METHODS: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out in 305 patients with hypertension. Data were collected using the Self-Care Agency Scale, the Trait Anger and Anger Expression Scale and Individual Identity Form, and were evaluated by percentage, mean, standard deviation, and correlation analysis.

RESULTS: The mean trait anger score was 21.13±6.61; the mean internalized anger score was 19.44±4.94; and the mean externalized anger score was 13.10±4.49. The mean anger control score was 23.40±4.97, and the mean self-care agency score was 103.87±19.31.

CONCLUSION: There was a negative correlation between trait anger, internalized anger, externalized anger and self-care agency scores. When trait anger, internalized anger and externalized anger scores increased, the self-care agency decreased. However, there was a positive correlation between anger control and self-care agency. When anger control score increased, the self-care agency score also increased.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between self-perception and psychiatric symptoms in a group of adolescents preparing for the university entrance examination with respect to variables such as age, gender, parents’ educational background, income level, type of school, and number of times the exam had been taken.
METHODS: This study was conducted among 161 private tutoring students. Information Forms, Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and Social Comparison Scale (SCS) were used as data collection tools. Percentage method, variance, correlation analysis, and t-test were used to evaluate the data.

RESULTS: The average SCS score of the students was 72.4±22.5. This score indicates that students’ self-perceptions were positive when they compared themselves with peers. The BSI average score was 79.2±45.65, and sub-scale scores were as follows: anxiety 32.5±9.40, depression 30.4±8.93, negative self-perception 28.6±9.89, somatization 22.1±6.98, and hostility 16.9±5.47. The mental symptom frequency was low according to the average score results. When variables were compared with respect to BSI average scores, statistically significant differences were found in mental symptoms frequency according to the number of entries into the exams and income level. It was found that as income level increased, mental symptoms frequency decreased (F=7.81; p=0.001). A statistically significant high-level negative relationship was found between SCS and BSI and its subscales. The mental symptoms frequency increased with a negative self-perception of students.

CONCLUSION: In general, students who take the elimination-based university examination, which affects an adolescent’s future, do not have negative self-perception; however, gender, socioeconomic variables and repetitive entries to the exam may cause negative perception and this in turn may affect mental symptom frequency.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate life satisfaction of university students living at home or in the dormitory.

METHODS: One hundred students living at home and 200 students residing in a dormitory who accepted to be involved in this research were the sample of the study. Data were collected by Student Introductory Information Form and Life Satisfaction Scale (LSS). Data were analyzed using number, percentage distribution, Student’s t test, variance analysis, and Duncan test.

RESULTS: Eighty percent of the students were satisfied with living at home and 17% were satisfied with living in a dormitory. The mean LSS for students staying at home was 27.66±6.19 and for those living in a dormitory was 25.14±6.07, and the difference between the two groups was significant (t=-2.917, p<0.01). With respect to life satisfaction for those living at home, perception of economic status, satisfaction with living at home, and perceptions of mental health and life quality were determined to be the effective factors. With respect to life satisfaction of the students residing in a dormitory, perception of economic status, satisfaction with residing in a dormitory, and perceptions of physical and mental health, interpersonal relations and life quality were determined to be the effective factors.

CONCLUSION: Students who assess their economic status, physical and mental health, interpersonal relations, and life quality as “bad”, and who are not satisfied with staying at home or in a dormitory have a lower level of life satisfaction. As a result, it is suggested that students should be supported in terms of physical, mental, social, and economic aspects, and a suitable living environment should be provided for them.

Personality is, for the most part, unconsciously acquired behavioral patterns and manner of perception and thought. It manifests itself automatically in every function of the individual and does not change easily. The healthy development of personality passes through complicated and sometimes risky processes that are affected by a number of factors, such as genetic, family and environmental factors. The deficiencies, traumas and disorders that are experienced during these processes may cause disorders in personality development by hindering the integration of many parts that constitute psychological structure. The treatment of personality disorders involves, primarily, psychotherapy, but medication and, if necessary, hospitalization together with medication might be employed. The recovery in general is a long process. Frequent hospitalization might be necessary. Working with inpatients with psychological disorders has its own drawbacks for the psychiatric team and nurses who provide for their full-time care. The foremost of these is the difficulties faced in maintaining the therapeutic framework, which is the psychoanalytic/psychotherapeutic environment created by the treatment arrangements and involving the agreements regarding the duties of the patient and the therapist, and the place, time and duration of interviews. Nurses can foster this therapeutic relationship by special patient-based care plans that also maintain the framework. This review contains two parts that are intended to guide the nurses who work with patients with personality disorders and the psychiatric nursing students. In the first section, we aimed to provide information on personality disorders, the clinical features and treatment process. The second part addresses the most frequently seen nursing diagnoses, goals and nursing interventions.

Involuntary/compulsory treatment or hospitalization is a situation often encountered in patients with psychiatric disorders. The reason for compulsory treatment is justified on the grounds that patients are not in a position to accept their illness or the need for treatment; thus, they cannot provide informed consent. As a result, refusal of treatment by patients with psychiatric disorders is not taken into consideration, and they are even admitted to the hospital unwillingly by surrogate consent. Since involuntary treatment of patients is an infringement of their rights and privacy, health workers may face both ethical dilemmas and legal issues. Health policies, mental health laws and professional ethics codes in developed countries have been instrumental in resolving ethical problems that arise because of compulsory hospitalization and treatment of patients with psychiatric disorders without their informed consent. Regulations regarding compulsory treatment are based on two main opinions. In both, a diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder is required. The first focuses on the presence or the possibility of a dangerous situation, while the second opinion is based on the need for treatment. In Turkey, a comprehensive mental health law and other guiding regulations are needed. The draft of the Mental Health Law prepared by the Turkish Psychiatric Association has not yet been accepted. Consequently, rights of patients with psychiatric disorders as well as professional ethics codes have not yet been put into practice. Thus, the health team may face difficulties in deciding a course of action when patients refuse treatment or do not want to be hospitalized. In this report, we review the conditions of compulsory or involuntary treatment of patients with psychiatric disorders in different countries, together with the recent developments in our country.

In this report, we describe an adolescent case with marijuana addiction who underwent a bio-psycho-social evaluation by a psychiatrist nurse/addiction consultant involved in mental health in the school environment. Interviews with the patient (AC) have been ongoing for three months, once a week. AC is 16 years old and a tenth grade student at the Industrial Vocational High School. It was determined that he was a marijuana user. He was characterized as a very quiet, introverted and respectful student, but with low academic achievement. In the first meeting, he was informed about addiction, and an agreement was made to begin the consultation process. There was no sign of deprivation in the patient. In the first four meetings, some changes were made with regard to his social environment, social activities, family life, school relations, and school schedule. His teachers were contacted to determine how they could support the process. After evaluating AC’s mother’s anxiety and depression symptoms, she was referred to a psychiatrist. Depression was diagnosed and appropriate medication was prescribed. In the fifth meeting, AC complained of encopresis and was referred to pediatric surgery. In the sixth and seventh meetings, following a series of exercises about recognizing and expressing his own feelings, AC was enabled to express his feelings through a role play approach. In the ongoing meetings, he was freer in expressing his emotions and was able to discuss things he did not like. The patient lives in a risky district in terms of drug use, and he faces in addition the normal difficulties of the adolescence period. He is shy in his social relations, does not feel loved in the family, is compared with his siblings, and is an insignificant student and underachiever at school. At the end of the three months, new balances were established in AC’s life, and the consulting process is continuing.