Abstract:

Moral support and counseling services in the modern sense have started to be offered in Turkey recently. It is stated that spiritual support has positive returns for both the supporter and the support recipient. The study was carried out in a province of the Black Sea region between 21.10.2019 and 21.01.2020. The study aimed to measure the moral support perceptions of nurses and reveal the opinions of the provincial moral support unit supervisor and hospital administrators. Nurses' moral support perceptions were measured using quantitative methods, and qualitative evaluation methods were used to determine the opinions of moral support service providers and hospital administrators. Considering the findings obtained from quantitative methods, 83.8% (n=218) of the participants were female, and 16.2% (n=42) were male. 51.5% (n=134) were between the ages of 18-38 and 48.5% (n=126) were between the ages of 39-60. 23.1% (n=60) were single, 76.9% (n=200) were married. The participants' perceptions of moral support are no significant difference in terms of gender, age, education level, marital status, working status, and time spent in the profession. Qualitative research was carried out with 5 participants. As a result of the evaluations, five main themes were determined: the definition of moral support, the moral support knowledge and attitude of health professionals, the moral support knowledge and attitude of patients and their relatives, the effects of moral support on the patient and treatment, and opinions on moral support. In line with the research findings, it can be suggested to inform society and health professionals about the scope of moral support and spiritual support practices. The service can be made more visible with sufficient information and promotional activities.

Keywords: