Nurses experiences about self sacrifice and martyrdom during imposed war from 1980-1988: an oral history

Abstract Introduction: The imposed war was a war of self sacrifice and martyrdom. Holy defense and the imposed 8-year war were the proofs of Iranians resistance and patience which were recorded in the history. The aim was to study the nurses' experiences about self sacrifice and martyrdom during imposed war on Iran from 1980-1988. Methods: Historical research and oral history were the methods used which were conducted through active interviews. Twenty five nurses were interviewed about their experiences about sacrifice and martyrdom at war. Results: Descriptive themes of experience of nurses include "paramedics role in the war", "accepting responsibility in treatment units with sacrifice", "accompanying with the rest of the medical team in vital activities"," injury and death of nurses during activities", "different working conditions of nurses in the care of victims of chemical injuries and dedication in caring for them", and "creative activities to help the victims in battle field are describing the experiences of nurses involved with sacrifice and martyrdom. Conclusion: The results showed how the war may be the manifestation of the effects of certain conditions of self-sacrifice and martyrdom to the nurses and enhance learning and cause acquiring new experience. Thus, while learning from the experience gained, nurses used the lessons of the past to build the future effectively. Key words: Imposed war, nursing, self sacrifice, martyrdom, oral histor

Empowerment and Sense of Adequacy in Infertile Couples: A Fundamental Need in Treatment Process of Infertility - A Qualitative Study

Many Iranian couples are suffering from infertility, and their needs have remained unexplored thus far; therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the infertile couples’ needs and experiences during diagnosis and different stages of infertility treatment. Specific research question included: What are infertile couples’ viewpoints and perceptions about their needs in treatment process of infertility? Researchers used a qualitative design, based on a content analysis approach to analyze in-depth unstructured interviews conducted with seventeen infertile couples. The participants’ needs were categorized into five categories. All five categories had one theme in common which was identified as “empowerment and sense of adequacy” as a fundamental need during diagnosis and treatment processes of infertility. The study findings showed that the under-studied fertility care centers were not patient-centered; and patients’ needs were not recognised appropriately. Perhaps, addressing patients’ needs and expectations is the first step toward more paying attention to infertile couples and empowering them

Perceived Self-Efficacy of Care Process Management among Pediatric Nurses: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: Self-efficacy as the main predictor of nurses’ behavior plays an important role in caring and nurses’ professional behavior. However, various aspects of this concept have not been considered. This study tried to explore perceived self-efficacy of care process management in pediatric nurses. Method: This study was part of a larger study on the caring self-efficacy concept that was conducted through content analysis and from a qualitative approach during 2014-2015 in Iran. 27 pediatric nurses and clinical instructors participated in this research according to the purposive sampling employed in the study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The collected data were analyzed using conventional content analysis method. Results: The “Management of care process” theme was one of the main themes extracted from the interview analysis. The theme was of two main categories “Provide process-oriented care” including caring according to nursing process and caring decision making, and “Guidance and control of the caring process” including supervision and leadership of care and self-control. Conclusion: Nurses with self-efficacy perception can manage care to children. Perceived self-efficacy of care process management takes place through infrastructures such as caring according to nursing process, caring decision making, and supervision and leadership of care and self-control appear. These results can be used by nursing managers and instructors to help development of self-efficacy perception in nurses, especially in pediatric care. Keywords: Caring process management, Self-efficacy, Pediatric nursing and qualitative researc

Patient-centered Fertility Care: From Theory to Practice

Background & aim: Healthcare areas, especially fertility care (commonly accompanied with high emotions, as well as long-term and recurring treatment periods) could exclusively benefit from patient-centered care (PCC). Despite evident advantages of PCC, this approach has not been practiced as a routine procedure in current clinical environments yet, even in western developed countries. Therefore, this review aimed to evaluate the significance and different aspects of PCC, while emphasizing on patient-centered fertility care, its challenges, and applicable recommendations in this regard. Methods: This narrative review was conducted on 29 relevant medical and clinical papers (published during 1990-2015) collected using various national and international databases (e.g., SID, Magiran, Medlib, Google scholar, Proquest, Pubmed, Wiley, Science direct, and Scopus). Key words and phrases used in this review were “infertility”, “fertility care”, “childlessness”, “patient-centered care”, “patient-centered fertility care” “shared decision-making”, “infertile patient preferences”, and “patient involvement in fertility care”. Results: According to the literature, implementation challenges of patient-centered fertility care were reported as different individual and organizational factors. These factors include lack of professional motivation to change, underestimating the significance of patient-centeredness by healthcare professionals, difficulty in translation of feedback into concrete measures, lack of time and financial resources, insufficient experience of healthcare professionals with regard to identification of needs and preferences of patients, traditional organizational culture, and common misconceptions. Conclusion: Promotion of patient-centered fertility services requires the identification of infertile needs and priorities of individuals, designation of interventional and supportive programs based on sociocultural characteristics of the community to fulfill such preferences, and considering patients as the most significant stakeholders of each healthcare center. This review might provide important data for healthcare professionals and policymakers aiming to improve patient-centered fertility care

Thematic analysis of management behaviors of civilian nurses in Iran-Iraq War 1980–1988: A historical research

Background: One of the most important roles of nurses in the war was the application of management interventions, which led to provide better services for the wounded soldiers. The purpose of this study was to explore the Management behaviors of civilian nurses in the Iran-Iraq war. Materials and Methods: The historical research methodology and thematic analysis using in-depth interviews were applied to gather data. This study was conducted in 2010-2012 in five big cities of Iran, and involved 18 male nurses who were selected by purposeful sampling method. Results: The interviews of the nurses revealed a main category as the management behaviors of the nurses in the war. Six subcategories were obtained, namely call up for the war, establishing emergency teams, managing the therapeutic units, managerial innovation during war operations, teamwork and variety of roles of nurses in the war. Conclusions: This study demonstrated how the nurses adapted to the harsh a situation without any previous experience on management in crises such as wars and increased medical treatment facilities outcome using management principles

The relationship between nurses′ clinical competence and burnout in neonatal intensive care units

Background: Nurses′ clinical competency plays an important role in the care of preterm infants. On the other hand, burnout is one of the most important factors in reducing the nurses′ efficiency. With regard to the importance of the role of nurses, and the vulnerability of the infants, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between nurses′ burnout and clinical competency in NICUs. Materials and Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with the participation of 86 nurses working in the NICUs of hospitals in Isfahan, Iran. Census sampling method was used in the NICUs of educational hospitals in 2014. Data were collected by a questionnaire including demographic characteristics, Patricia clinical competency, and Maslach burnout scales. Data were analyzed by the statistical tests of independent t-test and Pearson correlations test with the significance level of α < 0.05. Results: Six dimensions of clinical competency and three dimensions of nurses′ burnout were assessed at three levels (weak, moderate, and strong levels). Statistical tests showed that clinical competency was at a moderate level in all fields. Of the dimensions of nurses′ burnout, emotional exhaustion was moderate, depersonalization was weak, and personal performance was strong. The results showed that nurses` burnout and clinical competency in the NICUs were at a moderate level and had a significant negative relationship (r = −0.322, P = 0.003). Conclusions: Results showed that burnout had a negative relationship with competency. Therefore, managers are suggested to improve nurses′ competency and diminish their job burnout through better and more applicable planning

The effects of massage and breastfeeding on response to venipuncture pain among hospitalized neonates

Background: Untreated procedural pain leads to long-term and short-term complications in neonates. Preventing pain in sick infants and neonates, whose conditions are getting worse, not only is a professional and legal duty but also a prevention measure to decrease future psychological and even neurological complications. Therefore, nurses should prevent newborns' pain. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of massage and breastfeeding on the pain of the neonates. Materials and Methods: This was a clinical trial conducted among 75 full-term and near-term infants who underwent venipuncture. The newborns were randomly allocated to the following groups (n = 25 for each): group 1, breastfeeding; group 2, massage; and group 3, control. In the first group, venipuncture was done 2 minutes after breastfeeding. In the second group, massage was done with effleurage technique for 3 minutes and venipuncture was done 2 minutes after massage. The Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS) was used for pain measurement in the first 30 seconds of venipuncture. Data were analyzed by t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: The lowest mean pain score recorded in the massage group (0.92) whereas it was 4.84 in the breastfeeding group and 6.16 in the control group. ANOVA test and post-hoc statistics revealed that both interventions resulted in a significant reduction of the pain scores. Conclusions: According to the findings of this study, the lowest pain score was in massage group, then in breastfeeding group and control group accordingly. Considering the fact that massage and breastfeeding are natural, useful, and cost free interventions and do not need any special facility, these methods are suggested in pain management and pain control during painful procedures administrated for infants

Focusing on psychiatric patients′ strengths: A new vision on mental health care in Iran

Background: Identifying and using the strengths of patients, in practice, is a new territory. Today, the need to educate nurses and psychiatric patients about positive psychology in practice and the importance of understanding and focusing on strengths is clear. However, little is known about the strengths the psychiatric patients use and experience. Thus, this study has been designed and conducted in order to understand how people with psychiatric disorders demonstrate their strengths. Materials and Methods: In the present study, 13 semi-structured, qualitative interviews with patients and 2 focus groups with nurses were carried out. In addition, a qualitative content analysis was used to identify significant strengths. Results: Based on the results, the four main strengths consisted of: Finding a meaning in daily living, work as enduring strength, entertaining activities, and positive relationship. Patients also reported that health care providers rarely focused on patients′ strengths, and experts confirmed these findings. Our findings indicate that patients′ own strengths are a pivotal factor in getting through their illness from their perspective. Conclusions: Despite the enduring legacy of pessimism regarding psychiatric patients, these people have a repertoire of strengths. Nurses should, therefore, have a greater focus on eliciting and nourishing psychiatric patients′ strengths in their care. It is suggested that the theoretical and practical aspects of patients′ strengths be incorporated in nursing school curricula