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Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly impacted various aspects of healthcare services, including emergency care services. Healthcare staff face mental issues and physical exertion when caring for patients potentially infected with COVID-19. Understanding the experiences and perspectives of emergency department (ED) healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic is essential to inform evidence-based interventions and strategies to mitigate the impact on emergency care services. This study aims to investigate the experiences of ED healthcare staff regarding emergency care services during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus providing valuable insights into the challenges faced., Materials and Methods: This study utilized a cross-sectional study design. Data were collected from 256 ED healthcare staff working in nine different hospitals located in Turkey between November 15, 2021, and December 30, 2021. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics., Results: A total of 256 participants were included in the study. Of the participants, 58.6% were nurses, 19.5% were ED doctors, and 21.9% were emergency medical technicians. In addition, 67.2% of the participants were infected with COVID-19, and almost all of them (94.1%) were psychologically affected by the pandemic process. It was found that 85.2% of ED healthcare staff felt excluded by society due to being healthcare staff and 71.9% had to be separated from their families. Nurses were separated from their families at the highest rate (78%) during this period., Conclusion: More than half of the ED healthcare staff had problems accessing protective equipment and were separated from their families during the pandemic due to the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Although the number of ED visits decreased because of restrictions at the beginning of the pandemic, ED visits increased again with the abolition of restrictions., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. The Non-interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee of Mardin Artuklu University issued approval E-76272411-900-33470. The required ethical approval was obtained from the Non-interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee of Mardin Artuklu University to conduct this study (date: 01/11/2021, reference number: E-76272411-900-33470). Participants were informed about the aim of the study, and verbal consent was obtained from them. This study followed the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: This project was funded by the Scientific Studies Coordination Unit at Mardin Artuklu University, Turkey (project number: MAÜ.BAP.21.SBF.025). Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Bütün et al.)

Background Antenatal breastfeeding training is defined as the provision of breastfeeding information during pregnancy, which can be given in various ways, such as individual training and group training. The inclusion of fathers in this educational approach is associated with the initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding and duration of breastfeeding. However, studies involving fathers are limited. This randomized controlled study aimed to compare the effects of individual and group training given to parents and those of normal hospital practices on mothers' breastfeeding self-efficacy and fathers' attitudes toward breastfeeding. Methods The study was conducted randomly in a training and research hospital between March 2014 and September 2014 and included 180 people. Of them, 90 were prospective mothers who were in the third trimester of their pregnancy and were living with their husbands and received service from the obstetrics outpatient clinic of the hospital. The expecting mothers and their husbands were randomly assigned to three groups: individual training, group training and control group. After randomization, prospective mothers and fathers in all groups received training. In the first week, sixth week, and fourth month after delivery, the mothers' breastfeeding self-efficacy and breastfeeding attitudes as well as the attitudes of the fathers' toward breastfeeding were evaluated. Results There were no differences between the groups in terms of variables such as age, education status, family type, breastfeeding education status, and mode of delivery. There were significant differences between the scores obtained from the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale and its subscales in all three groups during the postpartum period (p <0.05). The highest scale scores were obtained at the postpartum fourth month in the individual training and control groups and at the postpartum sixth week in the group training group. There were differences between the scores obtained by the mothers and fathers during the postpartum process from the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (p<0.05). Conclusion The analysis of all the results indicates that breastfeeding education given to parents in the antenatal period increases their breastfeeding self-efficacy and provides them with a positive attitude toward breastfeeding. However, further research is needed to determine whether individual or group training contributes to the development of breastfeeding self-efficacy and attitudes., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023, Yeşil et al.)