A Standardized Shift Handover Protocol: Improving Nurses’ Safe Practice in Intensive Care Units

Introduction: For maintaining the continuity of care and improving the quality of care, effective inter-shift information communication is necessary. Any handover error can endanger patient safety. Despite the importance of shift handover, there is no standard handover protocol in our healthcare settings. Methods In this one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study conducted in spring and summer of 2011, we recruited a convenience sample of 56 ICU nurses. The Nurses’ Safe Practice Evaluation Checklist was used for data collection. The Content Validity Index and the inter-rater correlation coefficient of the checklist was 0.92 and 89, respectively. We employed the SPSS 11.5 software and the Mc Nemar and paired-samples t test for data analysis. Results: Study findings revealed that nurses’ mean score on the Safe Practice Evaluation Checklist increased significantly from 11.6 (2.7) to 17.0 (1.8) (P < 0.001). Conclusion: using a standard handover protocol for communicating patient’s needs and information improves nurses’ safe practice in the area of basic nursing care

The effect of vaginal cream of flaxseed and conjugated estrogen on sexual satisfaction in postmenopausal women: A single-blind randomized clinical trial

Introduction: Sexual satisfaction is a person's positive evaluation of the sexual relationship. Decrease in sexual satisfaction is one of the common complaints of the postmenopausal period. Flaxseed is a phytoestrogen and contains lignan. The present study was conducted with aim to investigate the effect of vaginal cream of flaxseed and conjugated estrogen on sexual satisfaction in postmenopausal women. Methods: This single-blind randomized clinical trial study was conducted in 2018-2019 on 60 married postmenopausal women aged 40 to 65 years referred to the clinics of Qaem and Imam Reza hospitals in Mashhad, Villa Shahr Health Center and the health center of Khalilabad city of Kashmar. The research units were randomly assigned in two groups of 30 people, vaginal cream of flaxseed and conjugated estrogen for 8 weeks. The intervention group received 4% vaginal gel in the form of one gram per day, and the flaxseed group received one gram per day for up to 8 weeks. Sexual satisfaction was calculated based on Larson's questionnaire before, 4 and 8 weeks after the study. Data analysis was done using SPSS statistical software (version 22) and Independent t-test, Friedman and Mann-Whitney tests. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The mean sexual satisfaction 4 weeks after the intervention was 24.2 ± 10.4 in the flaxseed group and 23.4 ± 12.1 in the conjugated estrogen group (P=0.576), and after 8 weeks, it was 37.7 ± 18.2 in the flaxseed group and 37.8 ± 18.3 in the conjugated estrogen group, which did not show a significant difference between the two groups (P=0.638). Conclusion: Vaginal cream of flaxseed without any side effects compared to the side effects of hormone therapy can be as effective as conjugated estrogen vaginal cream in increasing sexual satisfaction

Construct Validity and Reliablity of Evaluation Tools for Midwifery Students at the Final Examination in Mashhad School of Nursing and Midwifery

Introduction: Inappropriate performance of delivery care team is one of the most important causes of maternal mortality. Lack of objective tools, reduces the opportunity for a systematic valid evaluation in clinical examinations. Therefore, this study investigated the reliability and validity of assessment tools in comprehensive final examination of midwifery students at the end of their education (at the time of graduation). Methods: In this correlational study, founded on existing evaluation tools for final comprehensive exam in Mashhad School of Nursing and Midwifery, students’ skills in 4 areas of examination (delivery room, gynecological unit, pregnancy care, and maternal and child’s health) were assessed (July 2010). Thirty one students (22 students of 8th and 9 students of 6th semester of midwifery BSc program) were evaluated within 5 consecutive days by 2 examiners. Content validity was determined by field experts. Mean scores achieved in each area of examination were compared in order to appraise construct validity as well as total mean score of students of senior and junior semesters (8 and 6). Alpha Cronbach coefficient was used for reliability analysis. Results: A significant difference of 26 percent between total mean score of students studying at 8th semester with that of students studying at 6th semester in comprehensive final examination, proved the construct validity in evaluation forms of midwifery students based on Royal College of Gynecology and Midwifery Definition in this examination (p=0.01). There was an average to high Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient (0.83 - 0.51) in each area of examination which reveals an internal consistency within the evaluation tools. Content validity was also high (0.8). The lowest and highest reliability of evaluators determined to be 0.82% and 73.5% respectively, according to definitions characterized by Cincinnati University. Conclusion: The tools used for evaluating midwifery students at the final examination in Mashhad School of Nursing and Midwifery met reliability and construct validity criteria and are recommended to be used for evaluationg midwifery students for graduation

The Effect of Virtual Reality on Pain in Primiparity Women during Episiotomy Repair: A Randomize Clinical Trial

Background: Pain is one of the side effects of episiotomy. The virtual reality (VR) is a non-pharmacological method for pain relief. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of using video glasses on pain reduction in primiparity women during episiotomy repair. Methods: This clinical trial was conducted on 30 primiparous parturient women having labor at Omolbanin Hospital (Mashhad, Iran) during May-July 2012. Samples during episiotomy repair were randomly divided into two equal groups. The intervention group received the usual treatment with VR (video glasses and local infiltration 5 ml solution of lidocaine 2%) and the control group only received local infiltration (5 ml solution of lidocaine 2%). Pain was measured using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (0-100 scale) before, during and after the episiotomy repair. Data were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test, Chi-square, Mann-Whitney and repeated measures ANOVA tests by SPSS 11.5 software. Results: There were statistically significant differences between the pain score during episiotomy repair in both groups (P=0.038). Conclusion: Virtual reality is an effective complementary non-pharmacological method to reduce pain during episiotomy repair. Trial Registration Number: IRCT138811063185N1