Mouth Care in Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilation: A Systematic Review

Context: Studies show that despite the role of mouth care in preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia, there is no high quality evidences for it. This study reviewed the literature related to mouth care in patients receiving mechanical ventilation. Evidence Acquisition: PubMed, Ovide, Elsevier, ProQuest, IranMedex, SID, and Magiran databases were searched using key terms such as oral care, mouth care, critical care, and intensive care. Fifty-seven full-text articles in total were retrieved and included in the study. Results: Totally, 15 review articles and 42 research articles were reviewed. Only 13 articles introduced or evaluated the validity of instruments or caring guidelines in the area of mouth care. Only one study discussed about designing and validating the psychometric properties of a mouth assessment scale. Most of the articles emphasized on brushing the teeth as the best method for mouth care, but there was no consensus on the frequency of washing and the best washing solution. Conclusions: Despite the importance of mouth care, few original studies are conducted in this area and there is no approved clinical guideline for this procedure

Quality of Working Life of Nurses and its Related Factors

Background: Nurses as the largest group of health care providers should enjoy a satisfactory quality of working life to be able to provide quality care to their patients. Therefore, attention should be paid to the nurses’ working life. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the quality of nurses' working life in Kashans' hospitals during 2012. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 nurses during 2012. The data-gathering instrument consisted of two parts. The first part consisted of questions on demographic information and the second part was the Walton’s quality of work life questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software. For statistical analysis T test and one way ANOVA were used. Results: The results of the study showed that 60% of nurses reported that they had moderate level of quality of working life while 37.1% and 2% had undesirable and good quality of working life, respectively. Nurses with associate degrees reported a better quality of working life than others. A significant relationship was found between variables such as education level, work experience, and type of hospital with quality of working life score (P 0.05). Conclusions: Nurses' quality of work life was at the moderate level. As quality of work life has an important impact on attracting and retaining employees, it is necessary to pay more attention to the nurses’ quality of work life and its affecting factors

Critical Thinking Skills in Nursing Students: a Comparison Between Freshmen and Senior Students

Background: Critical thinking is one of the most important concepts in the field of education. Despite studies published on nursing students’ critical thinking skills (CTS), some suggest that there is not enough evidence supporting the relationship between content of nursing education programs and nursing students’ CTS. Objectives: Given the existing discrepancies, this study aimed to compare the critical thinking skills of freshmen and senior nursing students. Patients and Methods: This comparative study was conducted on 150 undergraduate freshmen and senior nursing students in Kashan University of Medical Sciences, during 2012. The students in the first and the last semesters of their study in nursing were entered in the study using the census method. Data were collected using a questionnaire including questions on demographic data and the California Critical Thinking Skills Test, form B. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS v.13 software. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Moreover, independent sample t-test and Spearman and Pearson’s correlation coefficients were used in the data analysis. Results: Both the freshmen and senior nursing students had low CTS. The mean critical thinking scores were 11.79 ± 4.80 and 11.21 ± 3.17 for the freshmen and the senior students, respectively (P = 0.511). Moreover, no significant correlation was found between the students’ score in CTS and their age, gender, high school grade point average (GPA), rank in university entrance examination (RUEE) and interest in the nursing profession. Conclusions: The students were low skilled in critical thinking and their CTS did not significantly change during their nursing degree. Thus it may be concluded that the nursing education program did not affect the CTS of its students. Longitudinal studies are suggested for assessing nursing students’ critical thinking over time. Moreover, revising the curriculum and preparing nursing educators for implementing innovative and active teaching strategies are suggested

The Effects of Massage Therapy by the Patients Relative on Vital Signs of Males Admitted in Critical Care Unit

Background: Changes in vital signs may affect the myocardial oxygen demand. Massage therapy has been used in intensive care units to relive patients’ physical and psychological problems. In all of the studies massaging has been done by a nurse and the patients’ family did not have any role. Objectives: The present study aimed to examine the effects of massage therapy by patient’s relative on vital signs of patients with acute coronary syndrome and acute myocardial infarction. Patients and Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted on 60 male patients hospitalized in coronary care units. In the intervention group, massage therapy was done by one of the patient’s male relatives on the third day of admission. The control group only received the routine care. Vital signs were recorded before and after the massage therapy session. SPSS 11.5 software was employed to analyze data using qui-square, Fischer exact test, independent t-test, paired t-test and descriptive statistics. Results: The pre intervention mean of systolic blood pressure of the intervention group were 126.36 ± 16.80 and changed to 121.70 ± 13.31 after the massage therapy session (P = 0.021). The mean pulse rate of the intervention group was 79.46 ± 10.41 and reached 69.30 ± 9.47 after the intervention (P = 0.001). The mean respiration rate of the intervention group also decreased after massage (P = 0.001). No significant changes were observed in diastolic blood pressure and temperature of the intervention group. No significant changes were observed in vital signs of the control group either. Conclusions: Massage therapy by the patients’ relative, decreased systolic blood pressure, pulse and respiration rates of patients admitted in critical care Unite (CCU). Because of the useful effects of those changes, it can be recommended that massage therapy by a member of the patient’s family be used to balance vital signs of patients admitted in CCU. This study was registered at Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT). The registration number of the study is IRCT201112048296N

Correlation Between Nurses' Caring Behaviors and Patients' Satisfaction

Background: Nowadays, the patients’ satisfaction is used as a criterion to measure the hospitals’ service quality. However, there are controversial results about the aspect of caring behaviors which mostly affects the patients’ satisfaction. Objectives: The current study aimed to assess the relationship between caring behaviors and patients’ satisfaction. Patients and Methods: A descriptive correlation study was conducted on 250 randomly selected patients in Beheshti Hospital in Kashan, Iran. A questionnaire was used to gather the data. Degree of satisfaction was measured on a five-point scale using the patient satisfaction instrument, and caring behavior was measured on a six-point scale by caring behavior inventory. Results: A significant positive correlation was observed between caring behavior mean score and that of the patient satisfaction (P < 0.001, r = 0.565). The subscale of “knowledge and professional skills” of the caring behavior inventory obtained the highest and the subscale of “respectful deference to others” got the lowest mean scores. In the patient satisfaction instrument, the two subscales of “technical - professional care” and “patient education” gained the highest and the lowest mean scores respectively. Conclusions: The caring behaviors of nurses and patient education can increase the patient satisfaction

Nurs Midwifery Stud

Background: Nurses as the largest group of health care providers should enjoy a satisfactory quality of working life to be able to provide quality care to their patients. Therefore, attention should be paid to the nurses&apos; working life. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the quality of nurses&apos; working life in Kashans&apos; hospitals during 2012. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 nurses during 2012. The data-gathering instrument consisted of two parts. The first part consisted of questions on demographic information and the second part was the Walton&apos;s quality of work life questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software. For statistical analysis T test and one way ANOVA were used. Results: The results of the study showed that 60% of nurses reported that they had moderate level of quality of working life while 37.1% and 2% had undesirable and good quality of working life, respectively. Nurses with associate degrees reported a better quality of working life than others. A significant relationship was found between variables such as education level, work experience, and type of hospital with quality of working life score (P &lt; 0.05). No significant differences were observed between quality of working life score of nurses with employment status (P = 0.061), salary (P = 0.052), age, gender and marital status (P &gt; 0.05). Conclusions: Nurses&apos; quality of work life was at the moderate level. As quality of work life has an important impact on attracting and retaining employees, it is necessary to pay more attention to the nurses&apos; quality of work life and its affecting factors

Longitudinal Study of CardioPulmonary Resuscitation Knowledge and Skills among Nurse Interns of Kashan University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: In spite of the critical value of possessing a high level of knowledge and skills in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by health care team, knowledge and skills of nurse interns (final year nursing students) has not been studied. This study aimed to longitudinally investigate knowledge and skills of CPR in nurse interns of Kashan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted on 96 nurse interns of Kashan University of Medical Sciences (final year) in three consecutive semesters during 2010-2011 academic years. Data was collected using a demographic questionnaire, a knowledge questionnaire, and four checklists for assessing skills. Tests were conducted in three phases at four month intervals. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, independent t-test and ANOVA. Results: In total, students gained 59.05% of knowledge and 70.12% of skill scores. The mean of knowledge and skill scores showed fluctuations through the three phases as knowledge scores decreased from 24.91±4.08 in first phase to 22.80±4.88 in the second and finally showed an insignificant increase to 23.05±4.85 in third phase (p=0.057). Also the total mean score of resuscitation skill decreased from 41.20±3.90 in first phase to 30.37±5.58 in the second and finally showed an improvement to 37.15±4.62 in third (p=0.001). No significant relationship was detected between background variables like students’ grand point averages and their experience (observation and attending times) in resuscitation, with knowledge and skill scores. Conclusion: The research showed that trainees' knowledge and skills had a variable trend over time. Given the importance of resuscitation skills, it is recommended to retrain the students in this filed at the beginning and the end of the internship courses