Spiritual Experiences of Patients in the Cancer Trajectory: A Content Analysis

BACKGROUND: Introduction: Patients with cancer as a life-threatening illness have needs in various dimensions. One of the most crucial dimension is spiritually. The present study was conducted to elucidate the spiritual needs of  patients with cancer. METHODS: A qualitative approach involving face to face semi-structured interviews conducted in Arak city, Iran. In total, 24 participants were recruited through purposive sampling. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data were analyzed using content analysis. RESULTS: Patients' experiences of spirituality were classified into four themes, including spiritual needs (need to be in nature, need to communicate with others, need to perform religious practices, need for solitude and reflections, need to trust and security), strategies to address spiritual needs (physical activity, achieving inner peace, communication with the nurse or physician, doing dhikr (Zikr) and pray, reading the religious book and texts, making vows, paying attention to and loving others), reasons for not using spiritual resources (lack of belief in the healing powers of praying, believing in a better life after death), and impacts of spiritual beliefs (hope of Life, belief in divine destiny, trusting in God’s support, accepting the divine test). CONCLUSION: Exploring the experiences, perceptions, and spiritual needs of cancer patients is of great importance in providing spiritual care as one of the critical aspects of holistic care. Nurses should be educated for assessing spiritual needs of patients to provide spiritual care

The Efficacy of Novel Pre-activity Tasks on Macroskills: The Case of Group Discussion on Reading Comprehension

The main concern of most researchers in the field of second and foreign language teaching is lessening the problems and eliminating the hinders on the way of learning a language. The importance of reading skill in the process of teaching and learning different languages is undeniable for everyone. The main aim of this study was to examine the effects of group discussion strategy as a pre- activity task on reading ability. To this aim, 27 Iranian EFL learners, who were at the same level –intermediate- studying at Shokuh and Safir Institutes, Birjand, Iran were chosen. Two groups- one control and one experimental group- were studied. In control group the conventional method was used in teaching reading, while in experimental group, group discussion pre-activity task was administered. Both groups met the same level -Intermediate. At the end, the obtained data of the tests was analyzed by SPSS software. According to the obtained data, it can be strongly concluded that group discussion has no significant effect on reading comprehension. This study can help teachers and syllabus designers in choosing and applying an effective pre-activity task which really help the learners in reading classes

Conscience Understanding Among Nurses Working at Education Hospital of Arak

Methodology: In the current descriptive study, 193nurses working in hospitals affiliated to Arak Universityof Medical Sciences in 2017 were included in the studyusing random sampling. Data were collected through ademographic questionnaire and a conscience perceptionquestionnaire. Data were analyzed in SPSS 16 softwareusing descriptive and inferential statistics (chi-square test).Results: The mean total score of nursing conscience perceptionwas 68.19 ± 15.12. In addition, the mean dimensionsof moral conscience, guardian conscience, directorconscience, caring conscience, conscience reflection wasobtained 29.7 ± 4.3, 20.5 ± 3.3, 16.8 ± 2.4, 12.6 ± 2.06,and 21.9 ± 2.6, respectively. Moreover, a positive and significantrelationship was found between nursing conscienceand some demographic variables (age and type of hospital).Conclusion: Nurses are considered as the basic componentin the process of improving the quality of services.Therefore, their ethical practice is very helpful in advancingorganizational goals. Nurses with a high ethical consciencecan have many benefits in the work environment.Thus, it is recommended that the educations needed toenhance the knowledge of nurses on identifying the factorsinhibiting or enhancing conscience to be provided fornurses by senior managers

On the Effect of Flipped Classroom on Learners’ Achievement, Autonomy, Motivation and WTC: Investigating Learning and Learner Variables

Pitfalls inherent in traditional approaches, movement into post-method frameworks and necessity of reaping benefits of technological advancements gave birth to flipped instruction as a newly emerged practice of teaching. A robust literature has submitted proofs on the merits of this practice in language learning. Adopting an innovatory perspective, the current research was an attempt to investigate the effect of this practice on a number of learning and learner related variables among Iranian intermediate language learners. To this aim 39 learners were selected through convenience sampling, and after removing outliers, 29 learners were randomly assigned to control (N=14) and experimental (N=15) groups. For each variable, a valid instrument was selected or adopted from the literature and modified for the purpose of the study. Then, employing a post-test-only control-group design, their performance on the post-test was measured and analyzed through one-way analysis of variance. The outputs reveled a statistically significant difference between groups in achievement (F (1, 27) = 9.627, p = .004) and autonomy (F (1, 27) = 8.308, p = .008) while indicating no significant effect on motivation and willingness to communicate. Some of these findings are in line with major currents of research in the literature but others stand in sharp contrast. Further investigation is required to examine into the nature of these findings through qualitative perspectives, interviews and open-ended questionnaires. These findings have implication for educational researchers, language teachers, language learners and applied linguists

The spiritual experiences of students of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2020

Background: Psychologists consider the acceptance of spirituality as a cultural reality and by acknowledging the positive effects of spirituality on mental health, the World Health Organization also considers the spiritual dimension as the physical, social and emotional dimensions of human existence. Spirituality is a genuine and inner experience that It lies in the nature of every human being. The purpose of this study was to investigate the spiritual experiences of students of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2020. Methods: The present study was descriptive-analytical. The sample size of 500 students of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2020 was estimated. For sampling, a list of students was prepared from the faculty education and the sample was selected by regular random sampling method through random number generation software. The data collection tool was a questionnaire with demographic questions and spiritual experiences. The collected data were analyzed after completion with SPSS 20 software. A significance level of 0.05 was considered. Results: The mean score of the meaning-finding component in life was obtained at 57.98. There was a significant relationship between spiritual experiences and gender, age and educational level of students, while no significant relationship was found between spiritual experiences and marital status and residence. Conclusion: In order to ensure the spiritual health of students, it is necessary to plan properly to create a meaningful atmosphere in universities for different age and gender groups

Investigating the Iranian EAP Stakeholders' Ideas Apropos of Applying the Internet in EAP Curriculum

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) has become one of the most important fields in English Language Teaching (ELT) in Iran. Thus, researchers, syllabus designers, and EAP instructors are always in search of new materials and tools to enhance learning. The Internet is regarded as one of the most useful and practical tools which can be used in EAP pedagogical settings. As a result, becoming aware of the EAP stakeholders’ attitudes toward using the Internet is so necessary. To this aim, university students (Chabahar Maritime University) and EAP lecturers were given questionnaires. The analyzed data revealed that most EAP instructors and students have a positive attitude toward using the Internet as one of the main sources of EAP courses. However, there were few cases that a relatively significant number of participants had a negative attitude toward internet resources. These cases are discussed in detail and some solutions are suggested

Investigating the Iranian EAP Stakeholders' Ideas Apropos of Applying the Internet in EAP Curriculum

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) has become one of the most important fields in English Language Teaching (ELT) in Iran. Thus, researchers, syllabus designers, and EAP instructors are always in search of new materials and tools to enhance learning. The Internet is regarded as one of the most useful and practical tools which can be used in EAP pedagogical settings. As a result, becoming aware of the EAP stakeholders’ attitudes toward using the Internet is so necessary. To this aim, university students (Chabahar Maritime University) and EAP lecturers were given questionnaires. The analyzed data revealed that most EAP instructors and students have a positive attitude toward using the Internet as one of the main sources of EAP courses. However, there were few cases that a relatively significant number of participants had a negative attitude toward internet resources. These cases are discussed in detail and some solutions are suggested

A CALL-based Lesson Plan for Teaching Reading Comprehension to Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners

The main purpose of this descriptive research is to provide a CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning)-based lesson plan for teaching reading comprehension to Iranian intermediate EFL learners. CALL is a new way of learning and teaching language. It is proved that CALL mainly has positive effects on educational contexts. Although teachers believe that CALL will have positive effect in the process of learning a language, they prefer the traditional methods. The reason is that they do not have a guide to work based on it. As a result, this study tries to design a CALL-based lesson plan to suggest not only the teachers, but also the students to examine the benefits of the method

Evaluation of the effect of the provided training in delivery preparation classes on awareness and attitude of pregnant mothers toward delivery type in Razi Hospital of Saravan

Background and Aim: One of the important prioritiesof the World Health Organization is training of mothersabout care during pregnancy and preparation training fornatural delivery. Effective education could increase theawareness and attitude of mothers during pregnancy andsubsequently promote self-confidence and preparednessof pregnant mothers to accept safe natural delivery withoutintervention. This study aimed to evaluate the effectof preparation classes on the awareness and attitude ofpregnant mothers toward the type of delivery in Razi Hospitalof Saravan.Materials and Methods: An interventional study wasdesigned with the sample size of 50 volunteer mothersparticipated in the preparation classes for delivery in 5groups of 10 people. The classes were conducted for 2weeks in Razi Hospital in Saravan. In these classes, theknowledge and skills needed for mothers about pregnancyand its care, special exercises during pregnancy, theeffect of exercise and other methods on reducing deliverypain, planning for choosing the type of delivery and otherrelated subjects were taught.Teaching methods were included pamphlets, films andlectures. The collected data were analyzed by Chi-squaretest and Tukey’s post hoc test using SPSS version 18.Results: The results of the study showed that there was asignificant difference between before and after the intervention(P <0.0001). The minimum score obtained for theawareness among mothers was 0 and the maximum was 20.For the attitude, the minimum and maximum scores were 0and 80, respectively. Positive attitude score was increasedfrom 46.40 before the training to 55.17 after the training.The mean awareness score of mothers before the trainingwas 7.33 which reached to 18.50 after the training, whichshowed a significant difference and it was confirmed thatthe provided training had a positive effect on the awarenessand attitude of mothers participating in the course.Conclusion: Delivery preparation classes for delivery couldbe effective in increasing the awareness and attitude ofmothers toward the correct choice of delivery for activeparticipation in safe and non-interventional delivery andconsequently reduce maternal and neonatal mortality

Evaluation of the effect of the provided training in delivery preparation classes on awareness and attitude of pregnant mothers toward delivery type in Razi Hospital of Saravan

Background and Aim: One of the important prioritiesof the World Health Organization is training of mothersabout care during pregnancy and preparation training fornatural delivery. Effective education could increase theawareness and attitude of mothers during pregnancy andsubsequently promote self-confidence and preparednessof pregnant mothers to accept safe natural delivery withoutintervention. This study aimed to evaluate the effectof preparation classes on the awareness and attitude ofpregnant mothers toward the type of delivery in Razi Hospitalof Saravan.Materials and Methods: An interventional study wasdesigned with the sample size of 50 volunteer mothersparticipated in the preparation classes for delivery in 5groups of 10 people. The classes were conducted for 2weeks in Razi Hospital in Saravan. In these classes, theknowledge and skills needed for mothers about pregnancyand its care, special exercises during pregnancy, theeffect of exercise and other methods on reducing deliverypain, planning for choosing the type of delivery and otherrelated subjects were taught.Teaching methods were included pamphlets, films andlectures. The collected data were analyzed by Chi-squaretest and Tukey’s post hoc test using SPSS version 18.Results: The results of the study showed that there was asignificant difference between before and after the intervention(P <0.0001). The minimum score obtained for theawareness among mothers was 0 and the maximum was 20.For the attitude, the minimum and maximum scores were 0and 80, respectively. Positive attitude score was increasedfrom 46.40 before the training to 55.17 after the training.The mean awareness score of mothers before the trainingwas 7.33 which reached to 18.50 after the training, whichshowed a significant difference and it was confirmed thatthe provided training had a positive effect on the awarenessand attitude of mothers participating in the course.Conclusion: Delivery preparation classes for delivery couldbe effective in increasing the awareness and attitude ofmothers toward the correct choice of delivery for activeparticipation in safe and non-interventional delivery andconsequently reduce maternal and neonatal mortality