HAYAT
Year:2012 | Volume:18 | Issue:1|Papers Count:9

Background & Aim: It is crucial to assess communication skills among health workers using valid culture-based instruments. This study aimed to develop and assess psychometric properties of the Interpersonal Communication Skills Scale among Zanjan Health Volunteers.Methods & Materials: In this study, a total of 191 health volunteers participated in a self-rating assessment of the Communication Skills Scale (CSS). Moreover, 14 experts were asked to rate each item based on the relevance, clarity, and simplicity. Through a literature review, we developed an instrument with 43 items. The validity of the instrument was determined using the impact item method, content validity ratio (CVR), content validity index (CVI), face validity and exploratory factor analysis. Reliability of the instrument was reported by Alpha Cronbach coefficient. The CSS finally contained 35 items, divided into two categories: general and specific communication skills.Results: Of 43 items, those with impact item index over 1.5, CVR over 0.51, and CVI over 0.79 were considered as valid; while the rest were discarded resulting in a 35-item scale. Factor analysis was carried out to determine the relationship among the items of the CSS. Exploratory factor analysis reduced the list of items to 30, which were divided into seven groups with a minimum eigenvalue of 1 for each factor, capable of predicting 68.8% of the variance. Internal reliability of the scale was determined by alpha Cronbach coefficient (0.91).Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the CSS is a valid and reliable instrument for assessment of the communication skills among health volunteers in Zanjan. These findings could be used for developing similar instruments in other health worker groups.

Background & Aim: Rapid changes experienced after child birth expose mothers to unpleasant experiences such as disturbances in sleep pattern. These experiences threaten health of mothers and infants. Some studies have shown that exercise can be an effective and nonpharmacologic method in improving sleep quality. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of exercise on sleep quality among postpartum mothers.Methods & Materials: This was a randomized clinical trial. Eighty primiparous women aged 18-35 years were recruited from health centers in Rafsanjan in 2009. The inclusion criteria were singleton pregnancy, lack of any acute and chronic physical and mental illnesses, having healthy and term babies, and having vaginal deliveries. Participants were randomly allocated to the intervention (n=40) and control (n=40) groups. Women in the intervention group received five 30-minutes sessions of Pilates weekly for eight weeks. The PSQI instrument was used to measure the related variables at baseline, forth and eighth weeks after the deliveries. Data were analyzed using the repeated measures ANOVA.Results: Significant improvement was seen in the intervention group within eight weeks follow-up; the interaction within time and group was significant (P=0.02). Comparison of mean sleep quality between the two groups has shown that the intervention was effective (P<0.001).Conclusion: The Pilates exercise was effective in improving quality of sleep in postpartum period.

Background & Objective: Due to physical and mental complications, stroke causes disability in self-care and adherence to rehabilitation in patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the adherence to rehabilitation regimen in family caregivers of patients with stroke.Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional study, 180 family caregivers of patients with stroke were recruited to the study using convenience sampling method. The participants were asked to complete demographic sheet and the Adherence-of-Therapeutic-Regime Questionnaires during two months of stroke. Data were statistically analyzed using descriptive and inferential tests in the SPSS-16.Results: Findings indicated that only about 10% of caregivers were in good levels of adherence to the rehabilitation regimen; and about 25% of them were weak. The weaknesses of the adherence were related to rehabilitation of motion, cognitive and emotional deficiencies, and also prevention of respiratory and skin disorders.Conclusion: According to the study, a small number of family caregivers were in appropriate level for adherence to the rehabilitation regimen. The nurses should be able to empower the family caregivers to decrease physical and psychological disorders related to stroke in patients.

Background & Aim: Moral distress, a major issue in nursing, affects nurses in all healthcare sections. The existence of such distress and its consequent job dissatisfaction may pose a threat to nurses’ physical and mental health, as well as their quality of life; and hinder their accomplishment of individual and social goals. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the moral distress and job satisfaction in nurses.Methods & Materials: This cross-sectional correlational study was conducted on 210 nurses employed in the selected healthcare centers of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2009. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting demographic characteristics, the Corley’s moral distress scale, and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent t-test, analysis of variance, Wilcoxon test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient in the SPSS v.14.Results: According to the findings of the study, the mean of the moral distress was 1.77 out of four; and the mean of the job satisfaction score was 3.17 out of 5; indicating a moderate job satisfaction among the nurses. A significant relationship was observed between the moral distress and nurses’ job satisfaction in the present study, indicating that by decreasing moral distress, job satisfaction increases.Conclusion: Although numerous factors govern nurses’ job satisfaction, the observed relationship between moral distress and job satisfaction indicates that identifying and limiting factors influencing these distresses can lead to improved job satisfaction for nurses.

Background & Aim: Motivated faculty promotes nursing students’ educational level which leads to community health promotion. Attempts should be made to recognize and analyze motivating factors including expectations. This qualitative study attempted to clarify expectations of faculty of Tehran nursing schools on management system.Methods & Materials: This was a qualitative study. The participants were 14 nursing faculty members of Tehran, Shahid Beheshti, Artesh, Shahed, and Baghiatallah Universities located in Tehran. Purposive sampling was used to recruit the participants. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with the participants. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data.Results: Expectations of nursing faculty were explained in eight categories: empowerment of the faculty, organizational support, fairness, appropriate performance evaluation, providing appropriate working conditions, applying appropriate management strategies, attention to welfare and financial problems and promoting quality of education and research.Conclusion: Understanding the expectations of the nursing faculty and trying to meet them can improve performance of the faculty. Meeting these expectations can enhance motivation and job satisfaction among the faculty.

Background & Aim: Delirium is a common problem among patients with open heart surgery admitted to intensive care units. This study aimed to assess effectiveness of a multifactor intervention on delirium prevention and length of stay in patients with open heart surgery.Methods & Materials: In this semi-experimental study, we first recruited 195 patients. Among them, 15 patients were excluded during the study due to different reasons. The participants were divided into to study groups. The implemented intervention included staff education, environment changes, and installation of guideline reminding on ward. Patients were assessed for delirium twice a day using the CAM-ICU scale. Demographic characteristics as well as disease and sleep items were completed by the researchers a day before surgery. Moreover, length of stay was recorded by the researchers. Data were analyzed using Pearson Chi-Square, Independent Samples, and the Fisher's Exact Test.Results: A significant decrease was found in the incidence of delirium in the intervention group: 11.1% Vs. 35.6% (P<0.05). Average length of stay in the control and intervention groups was 6.23 Vs. 6.30 days, respectively. Length of stay among patients with delirium and patients without delirium was 7.5 Vs. 5.8 days, respectively. Patients with delirium were aged 55 and more in both groups.Conclusion: Multifactor intervention was effective in decreasing the prevalence of delirium. Educational interventions are recommended to improve staffs’ knowledge and environment changes.

Background & Aim: The objective of this study was to investigate perspectives of managers regarding change management in nursing and midwifery schools.Methods & Materials: In this qualitative study, we used a descriptive exploratory approach with triangulation. We used snow ball sampling to recruit faculty members of nursing and midwifery schools in Tehran. The participants were included in the study if they had at least 1-year experience as a faculty member. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews in which a guide and field notes were used. Data were saturated after observing repetition of the codes. Latent content analysis was used for data analysis. The trustworthiness was achieved using a prolonged field experience, member check, peer check and sharing the content with two qualitative research experts.Results: Ten participants (seven females and three males) aged 38-54 were interviewed. Three participants were employed in highly recognized management levels. Immediately after interviews, conceptual codes were extracted. Suggested themes were classified as concentration in management, managers’ characteristics, and attitude toward change.Conclusion: Accordingly, the concept of change management was postulated as the purpose of this study. Furthermore, its influencing factors were identified. The results of this study can be used by faculties of the nursing and midwifery schools to use them according to their organizational culture.

Background & Aim: Pain can detrimentally affect physical functioning, psychological well-being and social interaction. Various attitudinal factors may be associated with inadequate pain control. Hence, studies should be undertaken to gain a better understanding of association between pain control attitudes and use of analgesics and cancer pain intensity. This study aimed to determine relationship between pain control attitudes and use of analgesics and pain intensity in cancer patients with pain.Methods & Materials: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 200 cancer patients who underwent chemotherapy or radiotherapy and experienced pain in previous 24 hours. The pain control attitudes, use of analgesics, worrisome about using analgesics and physical and psychological impacts of pain were measured using questionnaires. The cancer pain intensity was measured using the visual analogue scale. Validity and reliability of the instruments were evaluated. Data were analyzed using independent t-test and ANOVA.Results: About 58% of patients agreed that they would wait before asking for help. Besides, the findings indicated that willing to tolerate pain and perceived control over pain were associated with the time and frequency of taking analgesic and pain intensity in previous 24 hours and last week. Also concerns about addiction to pain-relieving medications were related to the analgesic type and pain intensity within last week (P=0.03), and fear of injection was related to analgesic use and pain intensity within last week (P<0.001).Conclusion: Many cancer patients had attitudes which could interfere with pain relieving. Suggestions are made for developing patient education programs, accessing effective cancer pain controls and decision making for cancer pain relief.