No abstract

OBJECTIVEWe set out to determine levels of job‐related stress, burnout, and job satisfaction in dialysis nurses and their association with nurses' perceptions regarding relations with co‐workers, and co‐worker opinions on the nursing profession. The subjects compared in this study were employed in the dialysis units, intensive care units (ICUs) and the most preferred (cardiology, general surgery and orthopedics wards) of three different hospitals.METHODSThis descriptive and cross‐sectional study was conducted in April 2003, and included 180 nurses: 31 working in dialysis units, 100 in ICUs, and 49 in the most preferred wards of the same hospitals. The study candidates were assessed with the use of a questionnaire regarding their socio‐demographic characteristics, work places, and views concerning their relations with and the opinions of their professional contacts. Other means of data collection were the Work‐Related Strain Inventory (WRSI), the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Minnesota Work Satisfaction Questionnaire (MWSQ). Percentage estimations, the chi‐square test, and variance analysis were used for statistical evaluation of the data; p > 0.05 was accepted as significant.RESULTWhen compared with ICU and ward unit nurses, dialysis nurses had evidence of decreased job stress and burnout as well as increased job satisfaction, accompanied by decreased intention to leave the profession and higher levels of positive views concerning their relationships with physician co‐workers and the opinions of their professional contacts toward the nursing profession.CONCLUSIONThis study confirmed some established predictors of job satisfaction, work‐related stress, and burnout and provided data on an unexplored area. Dialysis nurses appear to be at a decreased risk for job stress, burnout and premature retirement from nursing, with higher levels of job satisfaction. Further. the quality of relationships with physician co‐workers and the opinions of professional contacts regarding the nursing profession as perceived by nurses may be related to job stress, burnout and work satisfaction.

Purpose -To investigate the main expectations of students from the tourism industry who are studying at the Akdeniz University School of Tourism and Hotel Management in Antalya. Design/methodology/approach -A questionnaire containing 16 closed questions and a multi-item attitude scale was used for 689 students ranging from the first class to the fourth class. Findings -The results generally show negative perceptions and attitudes toward the tourism industry, but some positive perceptions and attitudes are also apparent. Positive emotions were usually mentioned by students who had chosen the tourism and hotel management school within their first three rank order in the university entrance exam, who had chosen the school willingly, and who had carried out their practical work experience outside Turkey. Research limitations/implications -It is not possible to generalize the findings to other tourism schools, but the findings can be evaluated as a useful source of information regarding the perceptions and attitudes of the sampled tourism students in Antalya, Turkey. Originality/value -The findings are of value for government officials, academicians, tourism professionals and also tourism students.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to employ an efficiency analysis and compare the efficiency scores of publicly or privately operated airports in Turkey. Design/methodology/approach This study uses analytic hierarchy process, which is one of the widely known multi-criteria decision-making methods to calculate the relative weights of input and outputs. This study also uses data envelopment analysis and assurance region (AR) method to calculate the efficiency scores of airports at the empirical analysis stage. Findings The empirical results reveal that DEA-BCC and DEA-CCR methods produced almost the same efficiency scores, and 14 airports were found as efficient. Also, AR method was employed and under this method, it was only two airports operated by the private sector that were found as efficient. None of the publicly operated airports was found as efficient. Practical implications The main practical implication of this study is that publicly operated airports must improve their efficiency levels in Turkey. This situation indicates that the government policy for the aviation sector must be changed. It is not a coincidence that all publicly operated airports are inefficient. To cope with this situation, it may be a useful policy that establishes a regional airport system or applies the privatization process to all airports. Originality/value The most significant contribution of this study to literature is that the AR method, which was never used before in a single country’s airport performance evaluation study, was applied for the first time. Also, this technique was applied first time to Turkish airports for measuring their efficiency levels.

The literature has frequently shown how mothers of children with blindness tend to be highly directive and overprotective with their children. This study investigated whether this maternal interactive style can have negative consequences on the psychological development of persons with acquired blindness, or whether it can be considered functional and appropriate to these individuals' needs during childhood. This aim was pursued by adopting attachment theory as a conceptual reference and administering the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) to a sample of participants with early onset blindness. Results suggested that, as long as mothers are loving and are sensitive to their children's needs, their greater physical intervention and control of child exploration can play an important role in helping their severely sight-impaired children develop secure and well-balanced personalities.