Determination of conscious stress levels and consciential objection experiences of nurses and midwifes working in the field of women's health: A mixed method study

Objective: The aim of the study is to determine the conscientious stress levels and conscientious objection experiences of nurses and midwives working in the field of women's health. Method: In the design of this research, the explanatory sequential method, one of the mixed methods designs that includes quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, was used. There were 45 nurses, 35 midwives in the quantitative phase of the research, and 7 nurses, 4 midwives in the qualitative phase. Between May 2022 and December 2023, data was obtained using the Personal Information Form, Conscience Stress Scale (CSS) and Individual In-Depth Interview Form. Statistical Analysis System was used in the analysis of quantitative data, and content interpretive phenomenological analysis method was used in the analysis of qualitative data. Results: It was found that the participants' CSS scores differed depending on the institution they worked for (internal factors: F = 3.62, p = 0.0168; external factors: F = 7.45, total score: p = 0.0002; F = 5.36, p = 0.0021). It was found that the CSS scores of the study participants differed depending on the sufficient number of nurses/midwives (internal factors: t = -2.21, p = 0.0300; external factors: t = -2.61, p = 0.0107; total score: t=-2.55, p=0.0129). It was found that the participants' CSS scores differed according to their satisfaction levels with the service (internal factors: F = 3.76, p = 0.0277; total score: F = 3.29, p = 0.0425). In the analysis of qualitative data, 6 themes and 17 subthemes were obtained: 'situations that cause conscience stress', 'crisis of conscience', 'acts of conscientious objection', motivations for conscientious objection, 'rationalisation of conscientious objection' and 'consequences of conscientious objection'. Conclusion: It has been determined that nurses and midwives working in the field of women's health experience serious conscientious stress, as a result of which they often resort to conscientious objection and that they carry out their conscientious objection experiences in order to increase the quality of patient care by considering the benefit of the patient. Key words: nurse, midwife, conscientious objection, conscientious stress, women's health