Advances in Nursing and Midwifery
Year:2006 | Volume:16 | Issue:52|Papers Count:9

Background: Motivation is an internal feeling provoking, strengthening and, finally, leading behaviors. In order to do different activities such as learning, various incentives including social drives exist.Purpose: This descriptive study was conducted to identify social drives of students in choosing midwifery as their career at Medical Universities of Tehran in 2005.Methods: All 260 midwifery students at different years of their study except the first year were selected. A questionnaire in two parts (demographic data and social incentives) was used for data collection. Content and test-retest methods were applied for validity and reliability (r=0.90) of the questionnaire respectively. Results: Finding showed that most students (65%) were between 18 and 21, single (84.25%), resident of cities (44.5%), and selected midwifery as their first choice of study. Human relationships (63.73%) and encouragement as well as guidance of parents (50.49%) were considered as the most important social drives in choosing midwifery while mass media played the least significant role in this regard. Conclusion: It can be concluded that midwifery students consider human relationships in the discipline as the most significant social motivation. Thus, maintaining the prestige of midwifery in society by the best effort of its authorities is suggested

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is caused by narrowing or complete blockage in coronary arteries. Hyperlipidemia is an underlying factor in the development of atherosclerosis and CAD.Purpose: This descriptive research was conducted to evaluate the observance of diet in patients with CAD at hospitals of Tabriz city in 2004.Methods: 165 patients with CAD and history of hospitalization at least one time because of their condition were selected by convenience sampling at medical and surgical cardiology wards. The study settings were medical and surgical heart wards of hospitals. A questionnaire with 30 questions about demographic data and observance of diet was used for data collection. Different statistical tests such as Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman coefficient were used for data analysis.Results: Findings showed that most patients (60%) observed their dietary regimen moderately. A significant relation was found between some demographic characteristics of patients and their observance.Conclusion: Since a few patients (7.27%) observed their dietary regimen appropriately, it seems that clients have an urgent need for education in this regard. Nurses, therefore, are responsible to identify educational needs of CAD patients regarding diet and instruct proper self-care techniques in this connection.

Background: In today's world, stress seems to be increasing all the time. Pregnant women are vulnerable to stress and its effects on health. Therefore, they should learn how to manage it efficiently.Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess stress and its management strategies in primigravidas referring to educational hospitals of Shaheed Beheshti Medical University in 2002.Methods: 150 primigravidas between 18 and 35 were selected. They were at least at 20th week of a normal pregnancy with no complication. Different tools were used for data collection including a demographic questionnaire, general stressor scale by Holmes & Rahe, specific stressor scales in pregnancy designed by researchers, and coping strategies inventory for stress management by Billing and Moss.Results: Findings showed that mean scores of general, specific and mean stressors were 36.32 (SD=20.39), 59.60 (SD=18.59) and 51.79 (SD=15.75) respectively. The most common coping strategies were positive cognitive appraisal and emotional control, focused social support, problem solving method and somaticizing. There was a positive correlation between the total stress score and all coping strategies (P<0.05).A positive correlation was also found between the total score and emotional control, focused social support as well as somaticizing (P<0.05). There was no correlation between general stress and cognitive appraisal method, and also between specific stress score and problem solving method.Conclusion: With respect to higher scores of specific stressors than general stressors, they can have great influences on primigravidas. These can be effectively managed by applying appropriate techniques.

Background: Stomatitis is a common side effect of chemotherapy, which is manifested by increased sensitivity and redness. It is seen in up applies to 40% of patients undergoing chemotherapy. The rate may be increased by two to three folds in patients treated with bone marrow transplants or due to & blood cancer.Purpose: The clinical trial was conducted to assess the effects of honey on stomatitis in patients undergoing chemotherapy at hospitals affiliated to the Shaheed Beheshti Medical University in 2005.Methods: 70 patients with acute myeloid leukemia and lymphoid leukemia were selected by sequential sampling method.The chemotherapy patients affected by stomatitis (degrees I & II) were randomly divided into two case and control groups. The control group gargled routine solution administered at the ward (diphenhydramine syrup, Al.mg.s syrup, nystatin drop and lidocain solution) four times for a period of three weeks. In the case group, 20cc honey was additienatly administered three times a day. They hold it in their mouth for 30-60 seconds and then gulped it down. Data collection instruments were 2-part questionnaire (the first part included demographic information and the second part contained outputs of medical interventions) and a checklist to assess stomatitis severity, which was validated by content validity and made reliable by interrater reliability (r=0.81).Results: Findings showed that the recovery rate in the control group was lower (20%) than the case group (30%), (p<0.05).Conclusion: According to the results, honey caused virtually better recovery of stomatitis among patients compared with routing solution administered at the ward.

Background: Patient satisfaction has an important role in healthcare process and certainly reflects the quality of care. Evaluation of patients' satisfaction helps discover problems and perform necessary measures to improve this quality.Purpose: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted to determine satisfaction of patients referring to emergency wards of a teaching hospital in Mashhad city in 2005.Methods: 732 clients in the emergency wards (cardiac, medical, surgical, neurological) were selected by stratified random sampling method. Data collection tool was a questionnaire in two parts: demographic information and satisfaction questions. Validitx of the tool was determined by content validity and reliability was assessed by alpha Cranach coefficient. Clients completed the questionnaire on discharge.Results: Finding showed that the highest percentage of satisfaction (84.2%) was related to nursing care particularly therapeutic nursing skills. Satisfaction with medical management and physical environment were 68.8% and 34.1% respectively. 66.6% of the subjects were satisfied with equipment and 77.8% with clothing and laundry. Only 55% was satisfied with expenses and 46.4% with security. In general, satisfaction rate was 61.7%.Conclusion: According to the results, it seems that patients' satisfaction in emergency wards is lower than the standard level, which warrants better planning for these wards.

Background: Pain is a devastating experience for anybody particularly newborns. Diagnostic and medical procedures are one of the most common sources of pain at health settings.Purpose: This correlational-descriptive study was conducted to determine the relation between heart rate and blood sampling pain in hospitalized newborns at Fatemieh Hospital in Hamedan, 2005.Methods: 40 newborns were chosen by convenience sampling method. Data collection tools included a demographic questionnaire, a checklist for assessing pulse rate, a pulse rate sensor fastened on the ankle of the newborns and a monitor to observe measurements. Content validity and interrater reliability methods were used to validate the tools and make them reliable. Data were analyzed by different statistical methods.Findings: Findings showed that the heart rate increased in most newborn (47.5%) during blood sampling by 10-20%.Conclusion: As increased heart rate resulted from pain is one of the signs of distress which threatens the condition of newborns, nurses should be alert in alleviating and controlling this pain.

Introduction: Nurses comprise the largest group of health professionals in the health delivery and in assisting patients to achieve desired health outcomes. Thus, the quality assurance of nursing care is considered as an increasing concern for stakeholders. Although many efforts have been made to determine quality indicators of nursing care, there are challenges for achieving a consensus.Methods: This article reviews literature to discuss about these challenges and suggests some solutions for them.Results: Findings showed that different definitions and categorizations exist in quality indicators of nursing care.Conclusion: As there are many differences in defining and categorizing nursing quality indicators, the authors believe that it is necessary for nurse researchers and scholars to find sensitive nursing indicators according to the healthcare system of their own country.

Background: Research is the basis of decision-making in nursing care. Research in nursing as other sciences is conducted with different designs and instruments. Each research tool has its specific characteristics.Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess psychometric properties of questionnaires in published nursing articles.Methods: In this study, the articles published in Journal of Advanced Nursing in 2001 were analyzed.Results: Findings showed that in only 12 of 339 articles, questionnaires were designed according to instrument development process and psychometric properties. Authors of most articles did not provide any guidance or comment regarding the process. Conclusion: Testing validity and reliability of questionnaires requires experience. Nurses should involve experts to include the process of psychometric properties in devising their questionnaires. In addition, more space is needed to publish newly developed instruments.