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' 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). 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 > 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

The Concept of Evidence-Based Education in Nursing and Factors Affecting It: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: A number of studies have been conducted on evidence-based care and factors affecting it however, this concept has not been explored, in Iran. This study was conducted to investigate the perceptions and experiences of nurses and nurse educators about evidence-based education and factors affecting it. Methods: The study was conducted using grounded theory method during 2009-10. The research question was: “which perceptions do the nurses and nurse educators have about the concept of evidence-based education, and what factors do they perceive to affect it?”. The study population was the nurses and nurse educators in kashan university of medical sciences. Purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews were applied to gather the data. In total, four nurse educators and 16 nurses were interviewed. Data analysis was conducted using Strauss method in three levels of open, axial and selective coding. Results: The participants defined evidence-based education as “education based on community and students’ needs and on reliable scientific findings”. According to the participants, textbooks, researches, students’ needs, the science of teaching, the experiences and contextual information of nurse educators are the instances of evidence. They believed that variables of "discipline", "educational content", “teaching methods”, " educators’ knowledge and experiences”, "role models" and " clinical environment" have effects on evidence-based education. Conclusion: According to the participants’ experiences, evidence-based education is based on community and students’ needs and on reliable scientific findings. They believed that several variables affect evidence-based education, but the clinical environment, influences other variables. Improving clinical environment can facilitate evidence-based education in nursing

The outcomes of heart transplantation: A qualitative study

Background: Heart transplantation has heartened many patients who suffer from end-stage heart diseases. Nonetheless, it is associated with many different outcomes which vary according to the immediate context. Objectives: This study aimed to exploring the outcomes of heart transplantation in a sample of Iranian patients. Methods: This qualitative study was done in 2014-2016 by using Graneheim and Lundman's approach to qualitative content analysis. A purposeful sample of heart recipients was recruited with maximum variation from hospitals of Tehran, Iran. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews. Data collection was continued until the categories were saturated. In total, seventeen interviews were done with fifteen heart recipients. Results: The main theme of the study was "Living under the perfect storm of problems." The four main categories of this main theme were financial distress (with the subcategories of the shadow of financial strain on life, the inefficiency of financial support systems, struggle for managing the expenses), living with the consequences (with the subcategories of physical crisis, inability to perform roles, psychological problems), greater commitment to one's own health (with the subcategories of accepting responsibility for health, moving from ignorance to search for information), and tendency to spirituality (with the subcategories of reinforcement of religious beliefs and values, and gratefulness to the donors). Conclusion: During the posttransplantation period, heart recipients encounter difficult conditions, and so, they need to receive stronger support from healthcare organization and authorities. Besides, transplantation-associated financial problems make coping with transplantation more difficult, and hence, appropriate measures are needed to alleviate their financial problems

Comparing Four Methods for Preparing the Capillary Blood Sampling Site

Background: Capillary blood glucose measurement is one of the most important diagnostic procedures in managing and treating patients, especially those with diabetes. Since the preparation method of the capillary sampling site affects the blood glucose (BG) level, it is essential to identify the best preparation method with the least error estimation. This study compares the capillary BG level with the venous BG level after preparing the sampling site with four different preparation methods.  Methods: This quasi-experimental study has a single-group design. It was conducted on 85 nursing and midwifery students of Kashan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, in 2022. The subjects who met the inclusion criteria were selected using convenience sampling. Capillary BG was measured from each finger using a glucometer while each finger was prepared with alcohol, water, soap and water, or no washing. Then, the venous blood sample of the same person was sent to the laboratory. The data were analyzed by SPSS software, version 22. The Friedman and Dunn post hoc tests were used to compare venous and capillary BG levels obtained using different methods. The significance level was set at P<0.05. Results: There were significant differences between venous BG levels and capillary BG levels in blood sampling site preparation with alcohol (P<0.05). Preparation with alcohol had the highest (7.34±27.03), and the soap and water had the lowest (-0.67±14.82) estimation errors.  Conclusion: The use of alcohol to prepare the blood sampling site, which is a common practice in many healthcare facilities, may misrepresent BG levels and lead to misdiagnosis and treatment. Therefore, it is suggested that the soap and water cleaning method be used instead, which has the lowest error compared to venous BG

Perceived Stress and Anxiety of Healthcare Providers Before and After a Hospital Accreditation Program in Ahvaz City, Iran

Background: Evaluation and accreditation of hospitals have essential roles in improving the quality, safety, and effectiveness of healthcare services. Nevertheless, this process may cause stress and anxiety among hospital staff. This study aims to determine and compare employees’ anxiety levels and perceived stress before and after the accreditation program in private hospitals in Ahvaz City, Iran. Methods: This research was a quantitative, observational, and longitudinal study. A total of 456 employees of Ahvaz private hospitals were recruited by convenience sampling. The state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) and the perceived stress scale-14 (PSS-14) were used to measure the level of anxiety and stress among hospital employees one month before and one month after implementing the hospital accreditation program. The data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 22 using descriptive and inferential statistics, such as the paired t-test, Pearson, and Spearman correlation coefficients. The significance level was set at P<0.05. Results: The findings showed a significant difference between perceived stress and anxiety before and after implementing the accreditation program (P<0.05). There was a significant relationship between the employees’ perceived stress levels and their age, gender, and work experience. The subjects’ state-trait anxiety was also significantly associated with their sex, work experience, and organizational position (P<0.05). Conclusion: Although the accreditation program usually improves the quality of healthcare, the employees experienced more stress and anxiety before the implementation of this program than after its completion, which can negatively affect the quality of care. Therefore, policymakers and managers should pay great attention to prevent stress and anxiety among healthcare providers while implementing the accreditation program

Job characteristics and work adjustment among Iranian nurses: A correlational study

Background: Job characteristics (JCs) are an important factor in successful task performance and successful work adjustment (WA). Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between JCs and WA among Iranian nurses. Methods: This descriptive correlational study was carried out in 2018 on 190 nurses randomly recruited from Shahid Beheshti University Hospital, Kashan, Iran. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the JCs Questionnaire, and the WA Questionnaire. Data analysis was performed through the independent-samples t-test, the one-way analysis of variance, the Pearson correlation analysis, and the linear regression analysis. Results: The total mean scores of JCs and WA were, respectively, 70.43 ± 45.07 and 3.23 ± 0.43. JCs had significant but weak correlation with WA (r = 0.29; P = 0.001). JCs, age, and employment status were identified as predictors of WA (r2 = 0.076; P = 0.001). Conclusion: Nursing managers can promote nurses' WA by paying greater attention to their perception of their JCs and promoting their professional autonomy