Developing the neonatal skin assessment attitude scale and evaluation of the technology supported training given to nurses

Routine assessment of neonatal skin in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) minimizes possible skin problems, facilitates early diagnosis and treatment, and shortens the healing process. The behaviors of nurses serving in neonatal intensive care units are directly affected by their individual attitudes in terms of routine skin assessment. The main aim of this study is determined as the development and application of the attitude scale to and to evaluate the technology supported education given to nurses.For this reason, the research was designed in two stages. The first phase is the development of the Neonatal Skin Assessment Attitude Scale for Nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit. To this aim, the study was carried out with 326 nurses serving in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the public and private hospitals in Gaziantep, Batman, and Mersin between May and November 2021. Following a factor analysis of a total of 35 items on the basis of the Neonatal Skin Assessment Attitude Scale, a three-factor structure was formed expressing 76.53% consisting of thirty five items. The Cronbach α coefficient of the scale was respectively found to be 0.978, sub dimensions; 0.983 in terms of the "Awareness Sub-Dimension", 0.977 in terms of the "Practice Sub-Dimension," and 0.919 in terms of the "Avoidance Sub-Dimension." Upon the comparison of test-retest mean scores, it was observed that there was no statistically significant difference. In the light of obtained data it was determined that Neonatal Skin Assessment Attitude Scale is a valid and reliable. On the other hand, the second stage is the investigation of neonatal skin assessment attitude training toward nurses. To this aim, the study was carried out via a total of 73 nurses working in the NICUs of public and private hospitals in Gaziantep and Mersin between March and May 2022, including the training group (n=33) and the control group (n=40). Socio-demographic and occupational characteristics form and Neonatal Skin Assessment Attitude Scale were used as data collection tools. The nurses in the training group received a 4-week training based on the Message Learning Approach, which is the attitude change theory. The process was supported by Virtual Reality Simulator and Quizizz technology. As a result of this training, the comparison of the NSAAS sub-dimension and total pretest-posttest scores of the control and training groups within and between groups; It was observed that the post-test scores of the nurses in the training group improved compared to the pre-test scores and the control group in the total scale score, application sub-dimension score, awareness sub-dimension score and avoidance sub-dimension score. It was determined that the training offered to develop/reinforce a positive attitude toward neonatal skin assessment was effective.