Iran Journal of Nursing
Year:2009 | Volume:22 | Issue:58|Papers Count:9

Background and Aim: Osteoporosis is a serious and growing problem in the world. It is one of the most prevalent diseases among middle-aged and elders. Previous studies have considered high prevalence of osteoporosis especially in women, and also, its various prevalence in communities with different life styles and nutritional habits. The aim of the present study was to determine lifestyle factors related to osteoporosis among women.Material and Method: In this cross-sectional study, 500 women who were referred to Iran University of Medical Sciences bone densitometry centers during 2006 were selected. Data were gathered by questionnaire.Results: Finding revealed statistical significant relationship between osteoporosis and  drinking coffee, consumption of ice-cream, pattern of yoghourt drink, dried whey and cheese consumption, exposure to sunlight and it’s duration (P<0.05). The results of discriminant analysis showed that drinking coffee and exposure to sunlight were the most important related factors with osteoporosis.Conclusion: According to the finding and considering osteoporosis prevalence in Iran, women’s education regarding life style factors related to osteoporosis is suggested.

Background and Aim: Prenatal care is performed in order to diagnose high risk cases. Researchers have shown the significant relationship between high serum ferritin levels and preterm delivery. Uterine activity is one of the major risk factors of preterm labor. This study aims to examine relationship between serum ferritin level and uterine contractions.Material and Method: A descriptive and analytical research design was used to conduct the study. The sample consisted of 322 pregnant women who reffered to health centers in Isfahan. Data were collected by questionnaire (through interview), and also, hospital documents and the results of serum ferritin levels were used for analysis.Results: Serum ferritin levels according to 10, 25, 50, 75, 90 percentiles were 8.6, 12.3, 20.3, 30.7 and 42.5 ng/ml, respectively. A statistically significant relationship was found between serum ferritin levels (in 28-30 weeks of pregnancy) and uterine contractions (P<0.001).Conclusion: Our findings suggest that further researches about ferritin level and related factors and pregnancy outcomes are needed. More research in the field of ferritin level and related factors and pregnancy outcomes is suggested.

Background and Aim: Acute urinary retention is an acute emergency identified by inability to void and also lower abdominal pain. This problem generally occurs following surgery or cardiac catheterization and needs to be solved through urinary catheterization, a procedure that raises the risk of urinary tract infections. Therefore, alternative ways of relieving urinary retention, preferably noninvasive interventions, are of great importance. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of external use of onion as a traditional intervention to relieve acute urinary retention in male patients following cardiac catheterization.Material and Method: A randomized controlled trial design was used to conduct the study. The sample consisted of 62 male patients with acute urinary retention following cardiac catheterization. The subjects were allocated to either control or intervention group through balanced block randomization. For intervention group, a gas covered with onion was applied on symphysis pubis area and the same was applied for control group except that the gas was immersed in tepid water before application. The data was collected using information sheet. Elimination of acute urinary retention was compared between two groups.Results: The number of urinary catheterization in intervention and control group decreased by 58.1% and 71%, respectively, but, there was not statistically significant difference between two groups. Mean time of elimination of acute urinary retention in intervention and control group was 17.27 and 16.63 minutes, respectively.Conclusion: According to the findings, the researchers recommend nurses to use gas soaked in tepid water as a solution for acute urinary retention in male patients following cardiac catheterization.

Background and Aim: One of the most important objectives of millennium development goals of World Health Organization is promotion of mothers’ health. Pregnancy is one of the most critical and important periods in woman's life. The main objective of this study was to survey the effectiveness of health services for mothers in Iran health system in dimensions of change in health status of women during pregnancy period, performance of health care personnel in delivering of services, documentation of activities and health networks in logistic and management sections.Material and Method: This was a descriptive cross sectional study in which data related to 1500 mothers, who had documented evidence of prenatal care in health houses of Iran Health network during 2 pregnancies, were collected. Based on data gathered from their medical records, quality of prenatal care was compared between 2 pregnancies.Results: Results show improvements in quantity of services, performance of health personnel and health network in supportive functions. But documents in medical records are not complete, especially in controlling blood presser and laboratory testes, for example, regarding anemia.Conclusion: Monitoring and assessment of health services in health networks must be revised based on outcome in order to increase productivity. Health care services for mothers should be planned and conducted by members of health care team (doctors, midwives, Behvars and Mother).

Background and Aim: Education is of the basic rights of the patients, and also, a main recognized role of the nurses. Education is an accrediting criterion of the organizations which provide health services. However, the results of the studies indicate that no effective patient education in different societies has been delivered, and this has had negative individual, family, and social consequences. Due to its interactional and cultural nature, patient education sounds to be vital and necessary to be investigated in specific societies and cultures. This study aims at identifying obstac les which leads to the lack of effective patient education. Material and Method: The qualitative research approach (grounded theory) was used in this study and open-ended interviews and field observations were used to gather the data. Eighteen nurses, 4 cardiovascular specialists, 9 patients with cardiovascular disease and 4 family members were interviewed at two educational hospitals in Tehran. Interviews were taped, transcribed and analyzed using constant comparative analysis.Results: More than 800 first level code, 26 categories, and three main variables were extracted as barriers to the effective patient education which are listed as follow: ineffective management, inappropriate organizational culture, and cultural obstructs. Each of these categories includes specific sub categories with specific features, functions, and conditions. Organizational culture played an important and central role in patient education.Conclusion: Although intervening main factors such as those extracted in this study, namely management, organizational culture, and cultural factors are also considered as patient education barriers in different societies, their nature and functions of each of three factors are totally different in societies. Therefore, precise identification and definition of their situation in planning and improving patient education seems to be very necessary.

Background and Aim: This paper describes the views of clinical nurses regarding the utilization of nursing research in practice. Many studies have taken a quantitative approach and have focused on why nurses constrain to develop research for nursing and research participation. There is a need to understand the factors restricting clinical nurses in using research findings. The aim of this study was to discover practising nurses' view of factors they perceived as restricte to their research utilization.Material and Method: Data were collected within a 6 months period by means of face-to face interviews followed by one session of focus group. Analysis was undertaken using a qualitative content analysis aided by MAXQDA software.Results: In this study, the findings disclosed some key themes perceived by nurses as restrictive to them in using research findings: “level of support to be active in research”, “to be research minded”, “the extent of nurses knowledge and skills about research and research utilization”, “level of educational preparation relating to using research”, “theory –practice gap”, and “administration and executive challenges in clinical setting”.Conclusion: This study identifies constraints that require to be overcome for clinical nurses to get actively involved in research utilization. In this study, nurses were generally interested in using research findings. However, they felt restricted because of lack of time, lack of peer and manager support and limited knowledge and skills about research process. This study adds a qualitative perspective about the subject under study. Albeir the findings are not generalizable, they support quantitative study findings regarding this subject. This study also confirms that research utilization and the change to research nursing practice are complex issues which require both organizational and educational efforts.

Background and Aim: During recent 25 years, development in technology and investigation has been led to survive majority of newborns with low gestational age, even among very premature newborns. Hospitalization of premature newborns immediately after birth is inevitable in most situations. It seems that supports delivered by nurses for families of these newborns are very important. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the importance/amount of supports provided by nurses for mothers of premature newborns hospitalized in NICU.Material and Method: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used to conduct the study. The study population consisted of all mothers with hospitalized premature newborn in NICU (n=300) during the first 6 months, year 2007, in three teaching hospitals in Tabriz (Taleghani, Alzahra, Kodakan). Sampling method was census and data were collected by NPST questionnaire. Validity of the scale was confirmed in terms of content and translation validity. Reliability of the scale was determined with Cronbach alpha (a=0.9).Results: The findings showed that the most important received by mothers were informational-communicational and quality of care. Also, the difference between perceived importance and received support were statistically significant for four dimensions.Conclusion: Results showed that the mothers wanted more supports than they received from nurses. For this case, planning for promotion of nursing professional supports for parents, especially mothers with hospitalized premature newborn in NICU is necessary.

Background and Aim: The treatment of renal failure through dialysis imposes considerable stress on patient. The need for long-term medical treatment of renal failure may place substantial demands and limitations on patient’s daily function and lifestyles. Perceived social support may facilitate coping with illness and its complications. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to determine perceived social support in hemodialysis patients.Material and Method: This was a descriptive-correlational and cross-sectional study in which 202 hemodialysis patients under treatment in teaching center of Iran University of Medical Sciences was recruited. The subjects were selected by census sampling method. The data were collected using "Personal Resource Questionnaire (PRQ 85-PART 2) and were analyzed by SPSS, version 14.Results: Findings confirm that overall patients had a high degree of perceived social support. Statisticall significant relationship was found between perceived social support and gender, material status, physical function, economic status, and educational level, but, there was no statistical significant correlation between perceived social support and other variable.Conclusion: Association between perceived social support and some demographic variables indicates the need for nurses to consider support resources of these patients. The study results demonstrated relationship between some demographic variable and perceived social support and a large amount of variances remained unexpected, so further research are needed about the subject.