Gulbahtiyar Demirel - Associate Professor, Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Health Sciences, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey
Funda Evcili - Assistant Professor, Child Development Department, Vocational School of Health Care Services, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey
Nurdan Kaya - Lecturer, Department of Nursing, Susehri Health College, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey
Adem Doganer - Assistant Professor, Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, Kahramanmaras Sütçüimam University, Kahramanmaras, Turkey

Background & aim: The prevalence of episiotomy varies significantly between countries (9%-100%). During simulation-based training, the use of materials which are considerably similar to human tissues is critical for the long-term success of training while performing episiotomy on laboring women. This study was performed to determine the effects of episiotomy repair simulation on the anxiety and self-efficacy levels of midwifery students. Methods: This one-group, quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design was conducted at the Midwifery Department of a State University in Turkey between March and April 2017. The participants included 73 junior students, who trained during March-April 2017 on the beef tongue model for episiotomy repair, following participation in a lecture in the classroom environment which included theoretical information about episiotomy. The data were collected using a student demographic questionnaire, the state anxiety inventory and the general self-efficacy scale. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS software (version 22.0) through McNemar’s and Wilcoxon test. Results: There was a significant difference before and after the simulation process regarding the state anxiety scores (39 vs 43, P<0.000). Moreover, a significant difference was observed before and after the simulation in terms of the general self-efficacy scores (76 vs 67, P<0.000). In other words, the students anxiety levels decreased followed by increasing levels of self-efficacy after simulation (P<0.05). Conclusion: A beef tongue episiotomy repair simulation training and application reduced the anxiety and increased the self-efficacy levels of the students. In light of these results, it is recommended to include the beef tongue episiotomy repair simulation into the pre-clinical practice in the midwifery curriculum.  

Anxiety, Beef Tongue model, Episiotomy, Self-efficacy, Simulation, Training