Aims: Hospitalization in coronary care unit is stressful for patients. Family members and visitors’ lack of knowledge related to their manner of behaving with their patients increases patients’ stress and dissatisfies them with visitation. This study was conducted to examine the effects of training hospital visitors on satisfaction of patients hospitalized in coronary care units.Methods: This Quasi-experimental study was conducted on 124 patients hospitalized in Rafsanjan coronary care unit, Rafsanjan, Iran. In the experimental group, visitors were trained in areas such as emotion and feeling management, patients’ underlying problems, equipments and devices used in coronary care units, effective visitor-patient communication, and patients’ rights during visitation. A researcher-made scale was used for assessing patients’ satisfaction with visitation both before and after the study. Study data were analyzed by using the SPSS18.Results: After the study, the level of patients’ overall satisfaction with visitation in the experimental group increased significantly (p<0.0001). Moreover, compared with the control group, the levels of patients’ satisfaction with nursing care, visitation, and visitors’ comments and emotional reactions were significantly higher in the experimental group (p<0.05).Conclusions: Study findings highlighted the importance of paying careful attention to visitation and visitors. Providing planned trainings to visitors can enhance patients’ satisfaction and facilitate their recovery.

Background: Empathy is an important component of effective communication of a patient-practitioner relationship. Medical students are expected to know this ability as part of their education. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the effect of a short-training course on the empathy levels of medical students. Methods: This is a Quasi-experimental study conducted on eighty second-year medical students in Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (AJUMS), Iran, 2019. The intervention comprised of a lecture-based short training course, which was taught by a psychiatrist and was held in two sessions (Two hours each) for two consecutive weeks. Empathy was assessed using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Student version (JSE) before and after the intervention. Students with empathy scores higher than average were considered high empathy group, and those with scores lower than average as low empathy group. Data were analyzed using paired T-tests through SPSS software, version 16. Results: The mean JSE score was 99. 66±, 13. 4 and 101. 62 ±,16. 37, before and after the-intervention, respectively. However, despite the score increased, the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0. 054). Nevertheless, the empathy scores of high-empathy students significantly increased after the-intervention (110. 49 Vs 114. 15, p=0. 002). The empathy level also showed a significant enhancement in female students after training (p=0. 006). Conclusion: This study shows that a short training course is somewhat effective in developing medical student empathy. The findings suggest a need for revision of content and implementation of this course training into the existing medical curriculum.

Objective (s): Marital satisfaction is one of the essential components of family stability. The present study aimed to determine the effect of couple therapy with a self-regulation approach on marital satisfaction. Methods: This was a Quasi-experimental study. Participants were sixty clients referred to psychological and counseling centers in Karaj, Iran with marital problems; selected by convenience sampling method. They were randomly assigned into two groups of fifteen pairs: experimental and control groups. The marital satisfaction questions from Spanier Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), were used for data collection. Couples in the experimental group received self-regulation therapy for eight sessions. Marital satisfaction was assessed at three points in time: baseline, immediately after the couple therapy, and two-months follow-up. Independent t-tests, one-way ANOVA with repeated measures, and LSD post hoc test was used. The significance level was considered less than 0. 05. Results: The mean age of the experimental and control group was 32. 46 and 33. 43 years, respectively. Marital satisfaction score in three times assessments in the experimental group was 29. 23, 40. 50, and 39. 1 (P<0. 05), and in the control group it was 29. 03, 29. 20, and 25. 3 respectively (P>0. 05). The difference in the marital satisfaction score in the post-test and follow-up assessments between the two groups also showed a significant difference (P<0. 05). Conclusion: Couple therapy with a self-regulation approach improves marital satisfaction.