Knowledge opi̇ni̇ons and experi̇ences of nurses ontermi̇nati̇on of breastfeedi̇ng

Objective: Mothers need information about weaning as well as initiating and maintaining breastfeeding. Nurses, who are the most important providers of breastfeeding counseling, should support mothers in terminating breastfeeding as well as in all stages of breastfeeding. This thesis study, which aims to investigate the competencies of nurses on termination of breastfeeding, aimed to examine nurses' knowledge, opinions and experiences regarding termination of breastfeeding. Materials and Methods: This study is a cross-sectional descriptive study and was conducted on nurses working at Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University Faculty of Medicine Hospital between 15.10.2023-15.01.2024. Results: A total of 244 nurses participated in the research. It was determined that 49.2% of the participants who breastfed their babies had weaned their babies. When the weaning methods were examined, it was determined that the participants resorted to inappropriate traditional methods, 32.3% applied a substance to the nipple that had a different or bad taste, and 23.1% applied a substance to the nipple that had a different or bad appearance. The Mean±Standard Deviation (Mean±SD) of the participants' total score based on their correct answers to the statements about weaning was found to be 10.4±2.1. When the total weaning knowledge scores of the participants were compared according to general and professional variables; it was determined that nurses who were under 40 years of age, women, working in units for pregnant or breastfeeding women, or working in baby care units under 3 years of age received higher scores (p=0.030, p=0.006, p<0.001, p=0.036, respectively). Conclusion: This study showed that nurses do not have sufficient knowledge about termination of breastfeeding and that a significant portion of nurses resort to inappropriate traditional methods for weaning. There is a need to increase the knowledge and skills of nurses in this field. For this purpose, both pre-graduation and post graduation training should be reached to an adequate level on termination of breastfeeding. Thus, nurses can provide effective counseling to mothers about weaning. Keywords: Termination of breastfeeding, Weaning, Nurses, Traditional methods