Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics
Year:2024 | Volume:11 | Issue:2|Papers Count:6

Background and Objectives: Empathizing, defined as understanding and accepting the feelings, needs, and sufferings of others, is one of the most important components of therapy. The treatment team is responsible for understanding the feelings and worries of the patient. Based on the evaluation of different patients in different conditions, it has been proven that empathy enhances the quality of the mutual relationship between physicians and patients. Methods: The assessment of the relationship between empathy and its related variables has been the subject of various studies over the last decades. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the degree of empathy among medical students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. For this purpose, we used the medical student version of the Jefferson scale of empathy (JSE). Results: The empathy among medical students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences was higher than the mean score on JSE. Medical students’ empathy had no significant relationship with their educational level and gender. Conclusion: There was no significant difference in the level of empathy among the students participating in the research based on gender. There was also no significant difference in the level of empathy toward patients among medical students in basic sciences, clerkship, and internship.

Background and Objectives: Understanding the factors affecting the quality of marital life seems to be necessary. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the role of mindfulness and spiritual experiences in predicting the quality of marital life among individuals visiting cultural and community centers in District 5 of Tehran City, Iran, in 2022. Methods: The current research was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population included all married men and women visiting cultural and community centers in District 5 of Tehran City during the second half of 2022. A total of 100 people were selected by convenience sampling method among the eligible people who volunteered to participate in the research. They responded to the spiritual experiences questionnaire by Underwood and Tersey (2002), the mindfulness questionnaire by Chadwick et al. (2008) and the quality of married life questionnaire developed by Busby et al. (1995). Data analysis was conducted using Mean±SD, Pearson correlation and multiple regression with SPSS software, version 22. Results: The results showed a direct and significant relationship between mindfulness (r=0.48) and spiritual experiences (r=0.57) with the quality of marital life (P<0.01). The components of mindfulness explained 23% of the variance in the quality of marital life, while spiritual experiences accounted for 35% of the variance. Conclusion: Based on the findings, it is recommended that initiatives aimed at strengthening spiritual experiences and mindfulness, such as educational workshops at the community level, be implemented to improve the quality of marital relationships among couples.

Background and Objectives: COVID-19 is an emerging disease, which has confronted nurses with new moral distress. This study aimed to determine the moral distress and its related factors among nurses working in the COVID-19 wards of Ardabil City, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study evaluated 159 nurses working in the COVID-19 wards of Imam Khomeini Hospital, the only hospitalization center for patients with COVID-19 in Ardabil, in 2021. The instruments included a personal-occupational information form and Corley’s moral distress scale (MDS). Data analysis was performed by descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS software, version 22. Results: The mean frequency and intensity of the nurses’ moral distress were estimated at 52.28±5.24 and 51.54±5.86, respectively, which indicated a moderate level of moral distress in both dimensions. The results indicated a significant relationship between the intensity and frequency of moral distress and the type of nurses’ employment (P<0.05). Moreover, a significant relationship was observed between the nurses’ position and the frequency (P=0.04), as well as between the nurses’ work experience and the intensity of moral distress (P=0.02). Conclusion: It seems that providing the necessary training on how to deal with moral distress in new waves of the disease and using the experiences of experienced nurses in this field is essential, given the moderate level of moral distress observed among nurses working in COVID-19 wards.

Background and Objectives: Studies have shown that spirituality and positive psychology constructs are effective factors in the psychological health of students. Accordingly, the current research was conducted to predict the psychological health of students based on the role of spiritual well-being and academic resilience. Methods: The present descriptive-correlational study was conducted on 353 students who were selected using a stratified sampling method. The data collection tools included the spiritual well-being questionnaire by Dehshiri et al., Goldberg’s psychological health questionnaire, and the academic resilience questionnaire by Samuels. SPSS software, version 26 was used for data analysis, employing the Pearson correlation test and multiple regressions. Results: The correlation between spiritual experiences and self-care behaviors with health anxiety was negative and significant (P<0.01). The components of spiritual well-being explained 37.1% and academic resilience 50.1% of the variance of psychological health. Conclusion: Spiritual well-being and academic resilience could predict students’ psychological health. Therefore, paying attention to the components of spiritual well-being and resilience should be considered by university administrators.

Background and Objectives: Mental retardation is associated with a lack of growth in various physical, mental, developmental, social, and educational dimensions. Many variables, such as emotional adjustment, psychological well-being, and spiritual beliefs are related to the hope of mothers with mentally retarded children. This research aimed to predict hope based on emotional adjustment, psychological well-being, and spiritual beliefs in mothers with mentally retarded children. Methods: The current research was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population of the research included 375 mothers with mentally retarded children who were selected from seven special education schools, occupational therapy centers, and an autism center in Qom City, Iran, in the 2022-2023 academic year. Convenience sampling was used, and Morgan’s table determined the sample size. Data collection tools were the Schneider et al.’s hope questionnaire, Bell’s emotional adjustment questionnaire, Riff’s psychological well-being questionnaire, and George’s spiritual beliefs questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 26, employing Pearson’s correlation test and multiple regression analysis. Results: The results of the regression analysis showed that all three variables of social adjustment, psychological well-being, and spiritual beliefs were significant predictors of hope (P<0.05). Specifically, emotional adjustment contributed 13.4%, psychological well-being contributed 12%, and spiritual beliefs contributed 13.8% to the variance in hope, with 95% confidence. Conclusion: The results of the study showed a significant relationship between hope, emotional adjustment, psychological well-being, and spiritual beliefs. Educational workshops are recommended to increase public understanding of intellectual disabilities. Authorities, specialists, and community workers should develop a structured and comprehensive program to raise awareness about the emotional adjustment, psychological well-being, and spiritual beliefs of these mothers within the community.

Background and Objectives: Spiritual care is a part of holistic nursing care for end-of-life patients. One of the dimensions of this care is the religious dimension, which seems to be influenced by religious attitudes. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine nurses’ knowledge and attitude toward spiritual care for end-of-life patients and to investigate their relationship with religious attitudes in Pastor Hospital of Bam, southeast Iran. Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted from November 2019 to May 2020. A total of 218 nurses were selected using the convenience sampling method. Data were collected using a reasearcher-made questionnaires containing four sections. Data analysis, which included descriptive and inferential statistics, was performed using SPSS software, version 24. Results: The mean scores of knowledge and attitude toward spiritual care were 13.62±3.36 and 73.94±8.52, respectively, reflecting a moderate level. The mean score of religious attitude was 133.86±19.37, reflecting a high level. Additionally, a significant relationship was observed between the scores of knowledge and attitude toward spiritual care, religious attitude, and some demographic variables (P<0.05). Conclusion: The current level of knowledge and attitude toward spiritual care is inadequate to provide holistic care for end-of-life patients. Considering the relationship between religious attitude and the main study variables can attract appropriate human resources.