Evaluation of nurses opinions about "Z technique" which is used in intramusculer injection applications

The main purpose of this study was to determine the nurses' views about the Z technique used in intramuscular injection applications and the factors that hindered its use. In order to realize the mentioned aim, a qualitative research was carried out in the phenomenological design and maximum diversity sampling, which is one of the purposive sampling methods, was used in sampling selection. The sample of the study consisted of 38 nurses who worked at Düzce University Health Application and Research Center for at least one year. The research was conducted between 2016-2017 with the permission of the institution and ethics committee. The data of the study was collected through semi-structured in-depth individual interviews using face-to-face interviews. The interview records were deciphered by the researcher and 528 pages of data were obtained as a result of the interviews. In the analysis of the data, content analysis, qualitative data analysis methods and NVivo 11, which is one of the qualitative data analysis programs, were coded. As a result of the content analysis of the interview, seven (7) themes were identified: opinions about personal experiences, factors affecting use, opinions about colleagues, diseases where the Z technique was applied, medications, and recommendations for dissemination. Interview data were evaluated in terms of institution, health worker, education and patient under these themes and sub-themes. In the study, nurses were the most important factors that positively affected the use of Z technique, preventing leakage, not losing dose and experiencing less pain; they did not want to leave the familiar techniques as obstacles and not to be included in the in-service training program content. However, it was determined that the barriers to the use of Z technique started in the training period and continued in the institution studied. As a result, it was seen that the obstacles related to the use of Z technique were mostly due to lack of education and role models. In addition, it was determined that there is a need for regulations regarding the determination, development and dissemination of standards related to the application of Z technique. Key words: Nurses, injection, intramuscular injection, Z technique