HAYAT
Year:2009 | Volume:15 | Issue:3|Papers Count:10

Background & Aim: The present research attempted to investigate the effect of time management training on work-life conflict among two hospitals' nurses.Methods & Materials: In this randomized trial, we recruited all nurses of two public hospitals (n=106) in Hamadan and Tehran according to the inclusion criteria. We used balanced (permuted) block randomization for assigning the study sample into control (n=53) and intervention (n=47) groups. Six individuals did not participate in the study. Data were collected using two instruments: 1) work-family conflict scale; and 2) time management behaviors scale. For content validity, ten experts in the field of the study commented on the items. The reliability coefficients (Cronbach's alpha) for these scales were 0.86 and 0.75, respectively. All participants completed the questionnaires at baseline. The time management skills were taught in the intervention group for eight hours. One month later, all participants in two groups completed the questionnaires again.Results: Considering the baseline characteristics, the groups were homogenous. Independent sample t-test indicated no significant differences between the two groups in all dimensions before the intervention (P>0.05). There was significant difference between two groups in the work-family conflict after the intervention (P<0.001). Also, the paired t-test showed significant difference in work-family conflict before and after the intervention in the intervention group (P<0.001).Conclusion: According to our findings in the present research, time management training intervention had positive effect on work-family conflict among hospital nurses.

Background & Aim: Labor refers to a chain of physiologic events that allows a fetus to undertake its journey from the uterus to the outside. Friedman (1954) described a sigmoid pattern for labor. This study was carried out to compare the pattern of labor progression in nullipara women of Fasa with the Friedman's labor curve.Methods & Materials: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 619 nulliparous women aged 18-35 who had term delivery and had no serious disease. In order to data analysis, we used one way ANOVA for comparing the means, and fixed effect of regression models in reverse method for curves drawings.Results: In all of the subgroups, effacement rate increased by increasing the cervical dilatation. Mean of dilatation rate was significantly higher in induced group than the other groups. Duration of the active phase was longer in the group that had sedation than the other two groups. Means of the duration of active phase and second stage were significantly lower in our study than the durations in the Freidman's study (P<0.001) (3.87 hours vs. 4.9 hours; and 52 minutes vs. 57 minutes, respectively). We did not observe the deceleration phase in our study.Conclusion: The pattern of labor progression differed from the Freidman's curve and had not sigmoid shape. The most important factor in latent phase was the time of admission to the labor ward.

Background & Objective: Research utilization is an important way to extent the knowledge in nursing practice. It empowers the nursing profession. Research utilization is a new paradigm in Iran's nursing care. This study aimed to assess the extent of research utilization in nursing clinical practice in Tehran, Iran.Methods & Materials: This is a cross-sectional study. The clinical nurses with at least one year of work experience were selected through a multistage stratified sampling method. They completed a five-sectioned self-report questionnaire. The scores were categorized into high, intermediate, and low. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-Square test in SPSS.Results: Findings revealed that the research utilization in 66.9% of the nurses was low. There was a significant relationship between the extent of research utilization and the level of education, professional condition, clinical setting, research activities, work shift, job satisfaction, and English language skills.Conclusion: The majority of nurses' practice is not according to the research findings. We need to find appropriate strategies to enable us to utilize the research findings.

Background & Aim: Breastfeeding is the most cost-effective, health-promoting, and disease-preventing activity that new mothers can perform. Many researches have focused on identifying factors that influence breastfeeding initiation and duration. An important and modifiable factor is the perceived self-efficacy of mothers for breast feedings. It refers to a mother's perceived ability to breastfeed her newborn; and is a dominant variable in the duration of breastfeeding. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between self-efficacy and breastfeeding.Methods & Materials: A descriptive, longitudinal, analytic approach was used in this study. The three-part questionnaire was administered to the eligible pregnant women (437 pregnant women) who were at least in 37 weeks of gestation and intended to breastfeed. They were then contacted again at one and four months postpartum to determine their infants' feeding level and method. The questionnaire was re-administered to the participants at that time.Results: The results showed that 80.4 percent of participants had exclusive breastfeeding during one month. There was no significant relationship between antenatal breastfeeding self-efficacy and the breastfeeding. The self-efficacy was significantly related to breastfeeding outcomes at one month. Mothers with high self-efficacy were significantly more likely to breastfed their babies exclusively at one and four months postpartum than the mothers with low self-efficacy.Conclusion: Maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy is significantly related to breastfeeding duration and level. Measuring breastfeeding self-efficacy not only identifies high risk mothers, but also provides important information to health care providers in providing support to new mothers.

Background & Aim: Self-care activity is a key factor in managing Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) in order to reduce disability caused by the disease. Predisposing factors including knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy are introduced as determinants of self-care behaviors in the forth phase of PRECEDE model, i.e., ecological and educational assessment. This study aimed to assess the relationship between the predisposing factors and self-care behaviors in patients with RA in Yazd, Iran.Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional study, a convenience sampling was used to recruit 181 outpatients with RA referred to a rheumatology clinic in Yazd, Iran. Data were collected by conducting interviews with the participants using a survey questionnaire included knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy, as predisposing factors; and self-care behaviors items. Reliability and validity of the instruments were examined and approved. The statistical tests included bivariate correlations, Mann-Whitney U test, and linear regression.Results: Knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy scores were 71.7%, 66.9%, and 47.5%, respectively. The total predisposing factors score was 62.3%. There was a significant positive correlation between the self-care behaviors with attitude and self-efficacy. However, there was no significant correlation between the patients' knowledge and self-care behaviors. Totally, the measures explained 39.3% of total self-care behaviors variance within which the self-efficacy was the strongest predictor (b=0.41).Conclusion: Regarding the high power of predisposing factors, especially self-efficacy, in predicting self-care behaviors; and the low scores of self-efficacy, health promotion planners should pay more attention to predisposing factors of self-care behaviors especially the self-efficacy in designing health promotion programs.

Background & Aim: Hospital infections are still one of the main causes of death. These infections may be transferred from one patient to another or through medical devices. The prevalence of hospital-acquired infection is 6%-12%. This rate increases to about 65% in some underdeveloped countries. The goal of this study was to compare the efficacy of Isopropyl alcohol and Ethanol in disinfection in pediatrics ward and neonatal intensive care unit.Methods & Materials: In this trial, 116 specimens were collected from medical devices before and after disinfecting with Isopropyl alcohol and Ethanol. In order to assess the exact effect of these two disinfectants, some of the medical devices were exposed directly to microorganism colonies and then were disinfected using Isopropyl alcohol or Ethanol. Samples were cultured on Petri dishes.Results: The results of cultured specimens before disinfection showed that some microorganisms such as Staphylococcus, Escherichia-Coli (E. coli), Pseudomonas, and Enterobacter were grown on medical devices. After disinfection, only two microorganisms grew (staphylococcus and Escherichia-Coli) on devices that were disinfected with Ethanol; and there were no growth on the devices that were disinfected with Isopropyl alcohol.Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the Isopropyl Alcohol is more effective in disinfecting than the Ethanol. Since the Ethanol needs more time and specific procedures to act, it should be better to use disinfectants like Isopropyl Alcohol that acts faster and simpler.

Background & Aim: Osteoporosis is a silent and preventable disease that mostly affects women. Osteoporosis prevention requires enhancing knowledge and awareness of students. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of education on prevention of osteoporosis among high school female students in the sixth distinct of Tehran.Methods & Materials: In this randomized controlled trial, 600 students were selected using cluster sampling method. Data were gathered using a three-part questionnaire including demographic, knowledge, and practice items. After the baseline measurement, the students were randomly allocated into intervention and control groups. Two educational sessions were held for the intervention group. At the end of the sessions, educational booklets were distributed among the students. The educational strategies included giving lectures, and practicing physical exercises. After two weeks, the participants completed the questionnaires again. The educational classes were held for the control group after the last measurements.Results: Data analysis showed that the mean of knowledge score and the participants' practice were significantly different between two groups after the intervention (P<0.001).Conclusion: Regarding the effect of education on enhancing students' awareness and practice about osteoporosis prevention, designing educational programs could be beneficial.

Background & Aim: Cardiac rehabilitation is one of the most effective ways of secondary prevention in patients with myocardial infarction manifestations. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of cardiac rehabilitation on clinical manifestations of myocardial infarction in post-MI patients.Methods & Materials: In this interventional study, 66 patients (58 males and eight females) with myocardial infarction who were hospitalized in public hospitals of Ahwaz were selected using purposeful sampling. The participants were randomly allocated into intervention and control groups. Data was collected using a self-structured valid and reliable instrument. The intervention group participated in an 8-week cardiac rehabilitation program. Data on the clinical manifestations were collected eight weeks later. Data were analyzed in SPSS.Results: The results showed that there was significant differences between two groups in hypertension crisis (P=0.03), chest pain, dyspnea, fatigue and palpitation after the cardiac rehabilitation (P<0.001).Conclusion: Cardiac rehabilitation program decreased the clinical manifestations of myocardial infarction in post-MI patients. It is recommended to perform this procedure in the post-MI patients.