Meaning of Self-Care: Lived Experiences of Iranian Diabetic Patients

BACKGROUND: Diabetes continuously disrupts a patient's well-being and quality of life. Successful self-care could potentially decrease overall costs and rates of mortality and morbidity. Patients' experiences could be used to elucidate what they believe about illness and its management. The overall aim of this study was to illuminate the meaning of self-care among diabetic patients in Southeast of Iran. METHODS: Sixteen diabetic patients with a mean age of 34 and 10 years' experience in self-care for their disease were interviewed. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed with a Ricoeur's phenomenological hermeneutic method. RESULTS: The meaning of self- care was comprehensively understood as being empowered. This can be divided into four themes: seeking information, being independent, being optimistic or pessimistic and trust in God. CONCLUSION: The results in this study suggest that cultural and religious components could affect diabetic patients' self-care. Nurses might use patients' religious beliefs to relieve their stress, help them to retain a sense of control, maintain hope and sense of meaning and purpose in their life

Health-promoting behaviors in nursing students: Is it related to self-efficacy for health practices and academic achievement?

Nursing students play a role in promotion of public health as health promoters and professional care providers. Therefore, health-promoting behaviors in nursing students and their self-efficacy for health practices are important in providing better services to patients and clients. With regard to the importance of these factors in the academic progress of students, this study was conducted to examine the level of health-promoting behaviors among nursing students and its relationship with self-efficacy for health practices and academic achievement. This descriptive and correlational study was conducted on 217 nursing students of a large university of medical sciences in the south of Iran in 2016. Data were collected using the Persian version of the health promotion lifestyle profile (HPLP II), self-rated abilities for health practices scale (SRAHPS) and the grade point average of the students (levels A, B, C). The mean health-promoting behaviors (2.48 ± 0.35) and self-efficacy for health practices of the students (2.55 ± 0.62) were moderate. The mean score of the students' academic achievement was at level B (16.02 ± 1.85). The health-promoting behaviors were significantly correlated with self-efficacy for health practices (r = 0.623, p < 0.0001) and academic achievement (r = 0.285, p < 0.0001). Moreover, self-efficacy for health practices was significantly correlated with academic achievement (r = 0.282, p < 0.0001). The correlation between the health-promoting behaviors and health self-efficacy with academic achievement can be a good basis in devising health and educational programs for students. In planning for promoting academic achievement and health-promoting behaviors of students, it is essential to pay special attention to enhancement of self-efficacy for health practices. © 2018 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Effects of lavender and Citrus aurantium on pain of conscious intensive care unit patients: A parallel randomized placebo-controlled trial

Background: Conscious patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) suffer from pain for various reasons, which can affect their recovery process. Objective: The present study compared the effects of aromatherapy with Citrus aurantium and lavender essential oils against placebo for reducing pain in conscious intensive care patients. Design, setting, participants and interventions: This study was a parallel randomized placebo-controlled trial. The ICUs of two educational hospitals in Kerman in Southeastern Iran were the study setting. One hundred and fifty conscious intensive care patients were randomly divided into three groups using a stratified block randomization method. Two groups received aromatherapy with essential oils: one with lavender and the other with C. aurantium; these patients received a 30-minute therapy session using their assigned essential oil on the second day of their intensive care stay. The placebo group used 5 drops of normal saline instead of essential oil during their session. Main outcome measures: Patient's pain was assessed using a visual analog scale before the aromatherapy intervention, as well as immediately after and one and three hours after intervention. Results: The mean pain score of the lavender group was 40.01 before the aromatherapy intervention and fell to 39.40, 30.60 and 23.68 immediately after the intervention, and at hour one and three post-intervention, respectively. The mean pain score of the C. aurantium group was 45.48 before the intervention and was reduced to 32.34 at three hours after the intervention. The mean pain of the placebo group decreased from 42.80 before the intervention to 35.20 at three hours after the intervention. Pain scores of all groups decreased during the study (P < 0.001). The mean pain of the lavender group was significantly lower than that of the placebo group at three hours after the intervention. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that aromatherapy with lavender essential oil reduced pain in conscious ICU patients. Our data could not justify the use of C. aurantium for reducing pain in this population. Trial registration: No. IRCT20170116031972N9 (https://en.irct.ir/trial/40827). © 2021 Shanghai Changhai Hospita