JOURNAL OF HOLISTIC NURSING AND MIDWIFERY
Year:2019 | Volume:29 | Issue:3|Papers Count:8

Introduction: Gastrointestinal diseases are one of the most common and chronic noncommunicable diseases that impose high stress and cost on society and the health system. Objective: The present study aimed at comparing Cognitive Flexibility and its dimensions between gastrointestinal patients and healthy subjects. Materials and Methods: This is a comparative analytical study. The study population consisted of all patients with gastrointestinal problems referred to the gastroenterology clinics (privately owned) and their healthy companions in Bandar-e Anzali City, Iran, in 2018. Of these people, 184 were selected as study samples using convenience sampling technique. They were divided into two groups of test and control. The study tool was Dennis and Vander’ s Cognitive Flexibility inventory. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics of multivariate analyses of variance and the Independent t-test. The significance level was set at 0. 05. Results: The age of the participants ranged from 30 to 50 years, and 52% of the patients and 51% of the controls were female. Test results indicated a significant difference between two groups in terms of Cognitive Flexibility and perception of controllability (a dimension of Cognitive Flexibility) (P<0. 05). No significant difference was found between two groups regarding other dimensions of Cognitive Flexibility (perception of alternatives and human behavior). Conclusion: According to the results, attention to the psychological aspects associated with gastrointestinal diseases is essential.

Introduction: Obesity is currently one of the health problems in the world, and the recent report of the World Health Organization has highlighted Health Literacy (HL) as one of the most important determinants of health. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the HL level and its relationship with Body Mass Index (BMI) in students of Guilan University of Medical Sciences (GUMS). Materials and Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study of the correlational type conducted on 583 students of Guilan University of Medical Sciences who were selected using a stratified random sampling technique. The study data were collected using a demographic form and the HL for Iranian Adults (HLIA) questionnaire. Then the collected data were analyzed using statistical tests of Friedman, ANOVA, and the Independent t-test. Results: The Mean± SD BMI of the students was 22. 66± 3. 01 kg/m2. The HL in the areas of access, reading, understanding, appraisal and decision making, and using information were respectively favorable in 63. 5%, 58. 5%, 74. 4%, 62. 6%, and 32. 9% of all cases. Moreover, 52. 5% of students had a moderate level of HL. There was no significant difference between normal, overweight and obese students regarding their HL (P=0. 508). Conclusion: Although the HL level of most students was moderate, it was not correlated with their BMI. Regarding the importance of HL and its relevance to health implications, the planning for improving HL is required.

Introduction: Peripheral Intravenous catheterization is the most commonly used invasive treatment method in patients admitted to the hospitals, but it has some complications. The indwell time of catheter is one of the factors associated with the occurrence of complications, especially phlebitis. In spite of the instructions for replacing the catheters after 72 hours, sometimes the complications occur sooner. Thus early catheter replacement becomes necessary, and sometimes the catheter is replaced after 72 hours without any complication. Objective: This study aimed to determine the incidence of complications and related factors using Peripheral Intravenous (PI) catheters during 72 hours after insertion. Materials and Methods: This is an analytical cross-sectional study conducted on 154 patients of cardiac surgical wards selected using convenience sampling technique. The study instruments were phlebitis assessment and infiltration rate scale developed by the Infusion Nurses Society (INS). All Intravenous pathways were evaluated for data collection using these tools. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and statistical tests (Fisher’ s exact-test and the Chi-squared test). Results: About 48. 7% of the study patients did not have any complications during 72 hours of catheter placement, and the reason for the replacement of catheters after 72 hours was the hospital’ s instructions. Complications that lead to catheter replacement before 72 h were phlebitis (24. 7%), obstruction (14. 3%), drug leakage outside of the catheter (2. 6%), and drug leakage into the patient’ s tissue (2. 6%). Complications were significantly higher in women (P=0. 013), and on the second day of catheterization compared to other days (P=0. 0001). Conclusion: Since nearly half of the patients with catheters in this study had no complications after 72 hours, it seems that further studies should be done to reassess replacing uncomplicated catheters after 72 hours. In addition, complications of catheter insertion are more common in women than in men. This finding calls for more attention and care in this area.

Introduction: Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) is a set of undesirable physical and psychological conditions whose symptoms appear when entering the building and disappear after leaving it. The most well-known symptoms of SBS include problems of nervous and respiratory systems and skin. Since nurses spend many hours in the hospital and enclosed spaces, they are exposed to many factors related to the SBS, which can affect their health and the quality of patient care. Objective: This study aimed to investigate SBS and its related factors in nurses working in special care units of hospitals. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in 2016 on 144 working nurses of special care units at educational and treatment centers in Rasht City, Iran. They were randomly selected proportional to the number of nurses working in each special care unit. For evaluating SBS symptoms and indoor air quality, the “ Miljö medicin 040 Questionnaire” (English version A) was used. The collected data from the questionnaire were analyzed using the Chi-squared and Independent t-tests. Results: About 47. 2% of nurses complained of SBS. The most common symptoms of this syndrome were headache, fatigue, heavy-headed feeling, concentration difficulty, and nausea/dizziness. According to the Chi-squared test results, there was a significant correlation between SBS and variables of air movement, fluctuating room temperature, stuffy bad air, dry air, too much light, light reflection, dust and dirt in the workplace, and contact with static electricity (P<0. 05). Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of SBS among (nearly half of) the study nurses and it has a relationship with factors such as air movement, fluctuating room temperature, stuffy bad air, dry air, too much light, light reflection, dust and dirt in the workplace, and contact with static electricity. It is recommended that workplace cleanliness, the ventilation system quality, and standard lighting level in special care units be improved. Also, it is very important the nurses working in special care units know the factors associated with SBS.

Introduction: Infertility is one of the bitter experiences in life and causes many psychological problems, such as low control over emotions in infertile couples. However, Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) is one of the interventions that has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent years. Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of EFCT in promoting emotional control of couples with infertility living in Isfahan City, Iran. Materials and Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test design and a control group. The statistical population consists of all infertile couples referred to infertility centers of Isfahan in 2016. Of these couples, 40 people were selected using convenience sampling method and randomly divided into the case or EFCT group (n=20) and control group (n=20). Both groups completed the Affective Control Scale of Williams et al. before the intervention, and then the case group received an 8-session EFCT intervention (two 90-min sessions per week for four weeks). After the intervention, the couples did the questionnaires again. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Univariate ANCOVA). Results: The results of univariate ANCOVA showed that EFCT was effective in improving the infertile couples’ control over their emotions (P=0. 001). Conclusion: It seems that EFCT can improve the control of infertile couples over their emotions.

Introduction: Today, hemodialysis is the most common treatment method for patients with chronic kidney diseases. Patients under hemodialysis, because of their complex treatment regimen, experience fundamental changes in their lifestyle and sleep quality. Objective: This study aimed to investigate lifestyle, sleep quality, and related factors in hemodialysis patients. Materials and Methods: This is an analytical study with cross-sectional design conducted on 126 hemodialysis patients referred to one of the hospitals in Rasht City, Iran, in 2016. The study samples were selected randomly. A three-part questionnaire was used to collect data which included a demographic form, the Persian versions of Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP2), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). After collecting data, they were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and percentage) and inferential statistics (The Pearson correlation, ANOVA, and regression analysis). Results: About 50. 8% of the patients had a favorable lifestyle, and 55. 4% had good sleep quality. There was a significant relationship between lifestyle and sleep quality (P=0. 02). Also, lifestyle and sleep quality of the patients had a significant relationship with their age and education level, while their sleep quality was significantly correlated to smoking and alcohol consumption (P<0. 05). Moreover, based on regression analysis results, lifestyle has a significant relationship with educational level (β =8. 32; 95%CI: 7. 60-26. 32; P<0. 0001), and sleep quality has a significant association with alcohol consumption (β =2. 28; 95%CI: 1. 66-13. 78; P<0. 01). Conclusion: Hemodialysis patients have good lifestyle except in the areas of stress management and physical activity, and those with higher education have poorer sleep quality. Considering that the limitations resulted from chronic kidney disease can cause problems in lifestyle and sleep quality in these patients, measures should be taken to increase stress management and physical activity and reduce tension in patients with higher education levels to modify their lifestyle and maintain balanced sleep quality in them.

Introduction: In recent years, the rate of delivery by Cesarean Section (CS) has increased in many countries. Many factors are responsible for this trend which are beyond the clinical practice of gynecologists. Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate factors related to the preference for delivery type in pregnant women referred to a hospital in Tehran City, Iran. Materials and Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 pregnant women referred to one of the hospitals in Tehran, in 2016. A questionnaire for determining the women’ s perspective about the factors associated with the choice of delivery mode was used for data collection. It had two parts; the first part surveyed demographic and obstetric characteristics, and the second part evaluated the preference of pregnant women for delivery type. For analyzing data, the Pearson correlation, the Chi-squared test, and t-test were carried out. Results: The Mean± SD age of the participants was 30. 43± 4. 93 years; 65. 8% of them were housewives, and 55. 2% had a university education. About 63. 5% had not participated in any childbirth education classes. The preferred delivery in 59. 28% of the participants was a normal delivery. The correlation test results reported a negative correlation between the scores obtained by pregnant women and their preferred delivery mode (P=0. 001, r=-0. 6). Furthermore, the t-test results showed a significant difference between the two groups (group in favor of normal delivery and the group in favor of Cesarean Section); those with lower scores (negative views towards normal delivery) preferred CS (P<0. 001). The Chi-squared test results reported that women’ s preference for delivery mode had a significant correlation with their occupation (P=0. 042), education (P=0. 033), number of children (P=0. 001), their first delivery method (P=0. 001), and participation in childbirth education classes (P=0. 001). In other words, the employed and university student women, those with higher educational level, women with a history of normal delivery and participation in childbirth education classes had a greater tendency toward the normal delivery. Conclusion: The pregnant women’ s views on the mode of delivery are related to the choice of delivery mode. Education, training, recommendations of phycision and midwife, Spouse, friends, relatives, and maternity preparation classes are directly related to their choice of delivery mode.

Introduction: Breastfeeding has an essential role in providing maternal and infant health and as a result the society health. Breastfeeding self-efficacy is a powerful predictor of the duration of exclusive breastfeeding. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of cognitive-behavioral counseling during pregnancy on breastfeeding self-efficacy of pregnant women referring to comprehensive health centers in Qazvin City, Iran. Materials and Methods: This study is a randomized controlled clinical trial conducted on 120 pregnant women referred to health centers in Qazvin City. The samples were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention group received 8 sessions of cognitive-behavioral group counseling during the third trimester of pregnancy. The breastfeeding self‐ efficacy Scale questionnaire was used for surveying samples before and after the intervention. For analyzing data, t-test and Chi-squared test were used. Results: The two groups were not significantly different before the intervention in terms of demographic variables. Also, the Mean± SD breastfeeding self‐ efficacy scores in the control (47. 55± 5. 92) and the intervention group (47. 70± 7. 83) were not significantly different before counseling. After the intervention, the Mean± SD breastfeeding self‐ efficacy score of the intervention group (57. 49± 5. 62) was significantly higher than that of the control group (48. 8± 5. 94) (P=0. 001). Conclusion: Cognitive-behavioral counseling will increase breastfeeding self‐ efficacy of pregnant women. It is recommended that the results of the study be used to promote the empowerment of women in breastfeeding.