Explaining Positive Couple Interactions after Myocardial Infarction: A Qualitative Study

Background: The quality of marital relationships can impact couples’ cardiovascular health directly and indirectly. Given that communication is essential for a happy marriage and plays an important role in health, this study aimed to explain the positive interactions of couples after myocardial infarction.Methods: The current study was conducted qualitatively with the participation of seven couples (patient and his or her spouse) in teaching hospitals affiliated with Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. Purposive sampling was used to select participants. Then, unstructured in-depth interviews were conducted after obtaining informed consent. The interviews were immediately transcribed and analyzed. MAXQDA 2020 was used to categorize the data, and the method proposed by Elo and Kingas was used for data analysis.Results: The analysis of the data revealed that myocardial infarction could affect the way couples interact through two main themes including empathetic union (acceptance of each other’s true selves, mutual understanding, adjusting expectations, increase in cooperation and joint activities) and optimizing couples’ interactions (mutual care and attention, increase in intimacy, mutual reliance).Conclusion: This study indicated that positive couple interactions affected not only marital relationships but also health status, both directly and indirectly. Therefore, the findings of this study can be used to improve nursing student education and nursing care, and would help to develop educational and supportive interventions for patients and their spouses

Ethical Challenges Associated with Caring for Sick Children Based on the Experiences of Nursing Students in Pediatric Wards: A Qualitative Content Analysis

Background: Nurses working in pediatric wards face many challenges when caring for sick children of different ages due to their physical and mental needs, especially if they have not been trained professionally. Nursing students and nurses are faced with ethical challenges in pediatric wards, hence their experiences can help identify the ethical problems in the healthcare setting. Since the explanation of ethical challenges depends on the context and factors such as values, beliefs, and hospital culture, this study aimed to explain the ethical challenges associated with caring for sick children based on the experiences of nursing students.Methods: This qualitative study used conventional content analysis to investigate the experiences of undergraduate and postgraduate nursing students and nurses working in pediatric wards selected by purposive sampling. Data collection tools were interviews and field notes. Data were categorized via MAXQDA10 and analyzed using conventional content analysis.Results: The participants included 3 pediatric nurses and 17 nursing students. The mean age of the participants was 24.9 ± 1.2. The findings of the study revealed the main theme i.e., ethical challenges associated with caring for sick children, was classified into two main categories including care challenges and organizational constraints. Care challenges were classified into the following subcategories: feeling worried when caring for sick children, compassionate care, emotional needs of children, inattention to family-centered care, and insufficient capability of the healthcare team. Organizational constraints were classified into facility constraints and hospital managers’ inattention to the environmental design of pediatric wards.Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the ethical challenges associated with caring for sick children were related to the healthcare team and organizational management. With the provision of appropriate training for nurses, as well as proper planning and implementation of policies to standardize the pediatric wards, nurses can provide nursing care to this age group with the least amount of moral distress

Implementing the Internship Educational Method, a Step to Reduce the Gap between Theory and Practice, Experience of Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Qualitative Content Analysis Study

Background: An internship project can be considered as a useful step for nursing interns in the transition period and bridge the theory-practice gap in nursing. Since the acquisition of professional competence and skills by students is essential, the present study attempted to provide a deep understanding of nursing students’ experiences.Methods: This study was conducted using a qualitative content analysis approach in the School of Nursing of Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2020. The participants in the research sample were senior undergraduate nursing students who were selected using purposive sampling. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the participants and each interview lasted 60 to 90 minutes. A total of 27 interviews were conducted with 25 students. The collected data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis method (Graneheim & Lundman, 2004). MAXQDA 20 software was also used to analyze the qualitative data.Results: The core category that emerged from the analysis of qualitative data was “implementing an internship program; a step to bridge the theory-practice gap”, which was divided into three main categories: “transferring knowledge and experiences”, “promoting the cooperation between the faculty members and the hospital staff”, and “improving the process of clinical care”.Conclusion: Internship programs that are considered a new training technique can increase cooperation between nursing schools and contribute to promoting nursing knowledge in nurses by supporting students and promoting their scientific skills

How Do Mothers Take Care of Their Infants with Colic Pain? A Mixed-Method Study

BACKGROUND፡ Colic pain is one of the main reasons for stress and anxiety in infants' parents, especially mothers, and there is still no specific treatment. Thus, mothers always try their best to relieve their infants' pain. The researchers attempted to investigate how mothers take care of their infants with colic.METHODS: This study was conducted with a mixed-method approach and a sequential explanatory design. In the quantitative phase, a cross-sectional study was conducted to assess how to control pain. One hundred fifty mothers of infants with colic living in Kerman, Iran, were chosen by convenience sampling. In the qualitative phase, the researchers interviewed 18 mothers using semi-structured in-depth, and face-to-face approaches. These participants were selected by purposive sampling method. The interviews were analyzed by the conventional content analysis method.RESULTS: In the quantitative phase, the mothers' most common methods to relieve colic pain were herbal medicines (3.55±0.51) and the change of position (3.35±0.67). The least methods used were probiotics (1.4±0.2) and acupuncture (0). In the qualitative phase, the main theme was "mothers support needs for care," which includes the following subcategories: "lack of trust in doctor"; "full-time care "; "feeling of inadequacy," "persistent anxiety, "care without help," and "looking for ways to control pain."CONCLUSION: Mothers need support to relieve their infants' colic. The provision of educational and psychological supportive packages can be helpful for the mothers. In addition, nurses can help mothers improve their quality of care.&nbsp

How Parents Cope with the Care of a Child with Epilepsy: Based upon Grounded Theory

BACKGROUND፡ Parents of children with seizure face the complicated health issues of their children. Adaptation strategies of parents as major care providers impact not only their handling of stresses on themselves but also children's quality of life. This study investigated the adaptation processes of parents of children with seizure at two educational hospitals affiliated with Kerman University of Medical Sciences in Iran.METHODS: Twenty parents (15 mothers and 5 fathers), and three nurses were selected using purposive sampling method. Data was collected using qualitative semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the method suggested by Corbin and Strauss version 2008. The interviews were conducted until thematic saturation was achieved.RESULTS: The adaptation process had five phases: “Disbelief, Patience on what happened, change to preserve, acceptance of the current situation, and self- empowerment." In summary, the parents of children with seizure had a 5-phase adaptation strategy. The core category achieved was "continued efforts of parents to restore calm."CONCLUSION: Properly assessing the stresses’ resources on parents of children with seizure is necessary. Informing their adaptation strategies may help medical staff and social services to provide more targeted support and promote the balance of the family function

Facilitators and Threats to the Patient Dignity in Hospitalized Patients with Heart Diseases: A Qualitative Study

Background: Patient’s dignity is an important issue which is highlighted in nursing It is an issue that is highly dependent on context and culture. Heart disease is the most common disease in Iran and the world. Identification of facilitator and threatening patient dignity in heart patients is vital. This study aimed to explore facilitator and threatening patient dignity in hospitalized patients with heart disease. Methods: This qualitative content analysis study was performed in 2014 in Kerman, Iran. 20 patients admitted to coronary care units and 5 personnel were selected using purposeful sampling in semi-structured and in depth interviews. Researchers also used documentation and field notes until data saturation. Qualitative data analysis was done constantly and simultaneously with data collection Results: Three central themes emerged: a) Care context which includes human environment and physical environment, b) Holistic safe care including meeting the needs of patients both in the hospital and after discharge, c) Creating a sense of security and an effective relationship between patient and nurse, including a respectful relationship and account the family in health team. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that care context is important for patient dignity as well as physical environment and safe holistic care

The effect of family-centered empowerment model on burden of care in parents and blood glucose level of children with type I diabetes family empowerment on burden of care and HbA1C

Abstract Background Parents play a critical role in caring for their children with diabetes and bear a significant burden of care. Health education has increasingly focused on empowering parents through new strategic methods. The present study aims to investigate the impact of a family-centered empowerment model on the burden of care in parents and blood glucose levels of children with type I diabetes. Methods An interventional study was conducted in Kerman, Iran, where 100 children with type I diabetes and their parents were randomly selected as participants. The study aimed to implement a family-centered empowerment model in the intervention group, which consisted of four stages (educational phase, increasing self-efficacy, improving self-confidence, and evaluation) over a period of one month. The control group received routine training. The Zarit Caregiver Burden questionnaire and HbA1c log sheet were utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Questionnaires were administered before, after, and two months post-intervention, and data were analyzed using SPSS 15. Non-parametric tests were employed, and statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results Before the study, no significant differences in demographic variables, level of burden of care, or HbA1C levels were observed between the two groups (p < 0.05). After the intervention, the burden of care score in the intervention group was significantly lower than that in the control group, both immediately post-intervention and two months later (P < 0.0001). Additionally, the median HbA1C levels in the intervention group were significantly lower than those in the control group after two months (6.5 in the intervention group and 9 in the control group) (P < 0.0001). Conclusion The findings of this study suggest that the implementation of a family-centered empowerment model is an effective strategy for reducing the burden of care on parents of children with type 1 diabetes and for controlling the HbA1C levels of these children. Based on these results, it is recommended that healthcare professionals consider incorporating this approach into their educational interventions