The effect of motivational messages on radiation protection behavior and increasing knowledge levels: An experimental study of intensive care nurses

Introduction and Objective: The majority of artificial sources of ionizing radiation stem from medical procedures. As a result, healthcare workers operating in areas where ionizing radiation is present face significant occupational risks. This study aimed to investigate the effect of motivational messages on the development of appropriate radiation protection behaviors among intensive care unit (ICU) nurses and to compare this approach with standard radiation safety education. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted as a quasi-experimental design involving two intervention groups, with pre-test and post-test measurements administered to ICU nurses. A total of 120 ICU nurses were invited to participate in the online study and were randomly assigned to one of the two groups. The study was completed with 100 participants, 54 in the motivational message group and 46 in the online training group. Radiation protection knowledge was assessed using the Radiation Protection Knowledge of Healthcare Workers Scale (RPKS). Data were analyzed using the SPSS version 25.0 software package. Within-group differences were analyzed using paired sample t-tests, and between-group comparisons were conducted using independent sample t-tests. The within-group effect size was calculated using Cohen's d. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant in all analyses. Findings: The motivational message and education groups were found to be homogeneous in terms of age, years of experience, educational background, and marital status (p > 0.05). In the within-group pre-test and post-test evaluations of both groups, significant increases were observed in the total and subscale mean scores of the Radiation Protection Knowledge of Healthcare Workers Scale (RPKS). Cohen's effect size was calculated as 3.74 in the education group and 2.17 in the motivational message group. In the between-group post-test comparison, a statistically significant difference was found in favor of the education group across all total and subscale RPKS scores (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Both radiation safety training and motivational messages emerged as effective interventions for improving radiation protection knowledge among ICU nurses. However, considering the post-test results and within-group effect sizes, training programs demonstrated a greater impact compared to motivational messages. Nevertheless, it is important to note that motivational messages also led to a statistically significant improvement within the group. Given their cost-effectiveness and practical applicability, motivational messages may serve as a valuable complementary tool alongside standard occupational health and safety training programs. Keywords: nurse, occupational health, ionizing radiation, motivational message, intensive care