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Medical and nursing students are expected to be more competent in terms of being acquainted with different cultures and approaching culturally, compared to many other disciplines. This descriptive study was designed to evaluate the cultural sensitivity levels of nursing and medical students and the affecting factors. One hundred and eleven nursing and 164 medical students were included in the study. The data were collected by using a questionnaire questioning the variables that were thought to affect the cultural sensitivity of students and the intercultural sensitivity scale. According to results of the study; it was observed that university students receiving education in the fields of medicine and nursing had good cultural sensitivity levels and those interacting with people from other cultures and speaking a foreign language had significantly higher cultural sensitivity levels (p < 0.05). According to these results, it was thought that it would be useful to develop plannings aimed at increasing the language proficiency in university curriculums and abroad experience opportunities of students, and to design qualitative studies based on interviews and observations aimed at examining the factors affecting the intercultural sensitivity.

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.

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The aim of the study was to describe nurses' attitudes and beliefs towards discussing sexuality with patients. Sexual health is a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality. Sexual dysfunction occurs quite commonly in the community. A descriptive and comparative design was adopted to explore Turkish nurses' attitudes and beliefs towards discussing sexuality with patients. The rate of participation of nurses was found to be 89 %. Data collection form consisted of two parts: demographic information and the inventory of Sexuality Attitudes and Beliefs Survey (SABS). Mean scores of the nurses SABS was 41.58 ± 7.67. Status of offering counselling on sexuality was found to be significantly related to the SABS scores (p \ 0.05). The majority of nurses (72.2 %) disagreed with spending more time to discuss sexual concerns with their patients, 68.9 % viewed sexuality as 'too private an issue to discuss'. In this study, it was established that nurses were aware of the concerns of the patients about sexuality, but their practical attempts to relieve those concerns were not adequate. In view of these results, it is recommended that sexuality should be discussed more openly in basic education curriculum and that inservice training on the issue of sexuality and health should be addressed.