mahboobeh shali

 It is crucial to pay attention to the lessons learned and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic to inform future planning. Evaluating the effectiveness of implemented plans can help healthcare teams prepare for similar future situations and identify areas of strength and weakness.

 This study aimed to explain the experiences and lessons learned by clinical nurse managers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran.

 This qualitative study was conducted in Tehran, Iran, in 2021, using the conventional content analysis method on a sample of 22 senior nurse managers who were selected through purposive sampling until data saturation was achieved. The main objective of the present study was to explore the experiences and lessons learned by clinical nurse managers from the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected by semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the Graneheim and Lundman conventional content analysis method. Lincoln and Guba's reliability criteria were used to achieve the accuracy and reliability of the data.

 After analyzing the data, 316 primary codes were extracted and categorized into 6 main categories and 16 subcategories. The main categories were (1) talent dynamics: Strategies for effective workforce management; (2) ensuring safety: Effective practices for personal protective equipment (PPE) management; (3) patient-centered excellence: Optimizing care delivery strategies; (4) empowering family engagement: Enhancing support in health care, (5) building resilient communities: Effective, risk communication management in the society, and (6) unveiling the digital realm: Exploring virtual experiences.

 A practical solution for preparing for unknown conditions, such as the emergence of a pandemic, is to use previously recorded experiences and lessons learned. The insights gained from the experiences of clinical nurse managers, as extracted in this study, can serve as a foundation for decision-makers and nursing policymakers in planning, preparing, and empowering nurses for similar incidents and disasters in the future.

The nursing education course faces challenges that can be solved with simple and low-cost measures if properly identified. Otherwise, the challenges will turn into a crisis and their solution will be difficult and costly. However, there is no tool available to examine the challenges of nursing education in Iran.

This research is a combined study that was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the terms of the questionnaire were compiled using the qualitative interview of the study, as well as the review of authentic texts related to the topic of the research. In the next step, during a methodological study, the psychometric characteristics of the questionnaire were determined using face validity, content (CVR & CVI) and exploratory factor analysis, as well as reliability with internal consistency and stability methods.

The pool of items including 30 expressions was extracted. After determining face validity, qualitative and quantitative content validity, the number of questionnaire statements was reduced to 28 items. The result of the exploratory factor analysis of this questionnaire, three factors including "defective educational cycle", "educational structure challenge" and "overall neglect as a member of the education family", these three factors explained a total of 72.01% of the variance of the entire test. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.865 and the stability through retest with intraclass correlation test was 0.8.

Considering the desired validity and reliability of the 27-item questionnaire of nursing education challenges, its use by researchers is recommended.

 

Intensive Care Units (ICUs) are considered one of the most complex hospital units due to their high sensitivity. Therefore, nurses face challenges such as uncertainty that can affect nursing performance. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between resilience and uncertainty and intolerance of uncertainty among nurses working in ICUs.

The present study was a cross-sectional study. By using the stratified random sampling method, 237 nurses working in adult ICUs in hospitals affiliated to the Tehran University of Medical Sciences were selected in 2022. Data were collected through demographic information questionnaires, uncertainty questionnaire and uncertainty intolerance questionnaire. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics at a significance level of less than 0.05.

The mean resilience score of nurses participating in the study was 20.4 with a standard deviation of 2.6. Furthermore, 75% of nurses achieved the average level of resilience. There was a significant positive correlation between resilience scores and intolerance of uncertainty in nurses (p<0.001, r=0.213) and a significant but weak positive correlation between resilience and uncertainty scores in nurses (p=0.004, r=0.188). So that with the increase of nurses' resilience scores, their uncertainty score generally increased.

The findings revealed that uncertainty and its intolerance have an inverse relationship with resilience, and this shows that uncertainty and its intolerance are complex concepts and components that can be affected by several factors that require further study in this area. On the other hand, resilience cannot be the solution to all the problems of nurses in clinical environments. As the findings in this study showed, increasing resilience has not been able to reduce uncertainty and intolerance, and this finding can be the beginning of other studies to identify predictors of uncertainty and intolerance.

Aging is considered as a natural process and part of the stages of human life. In this regard, well-being can be achieved through learning certain skills and provision of appropriate care. Death of a spouse in this period is rather inevitable. Hence, old people consider this period as a loneliness period. Despite many advantages that elderly remarriage brings and consequently influences their life quality, marriage in this period is a taboo among people of the society, especially in Iran.

This study aimed to explore the experiences of the elderly regarding remarriage.

This conventional content analysis study was conducted in Iran during 2018. Semi-structured interviews with 20 elderlies living in Tehran were conducted to collect data. For data analysis, Graneheim and Lundman’s approach was adopted. The interviews were continued until reaching data saturation.

After data analysis, four main categories and 14 subcategories appeared. The main categories included “there is no fool like an old fool”, “spring in autumn”, “gift of old age”, and “realistic choice.”

Remarriage prevents many future problems for elderlies, such as the feeling of rejection, loneliness, isolation, depression, and low self-esteem. Therefore, serious efforts and planning are required to promote the knowledge level of the society regarding this issue.

People's perception of heart disease risk is effective in their response to disease, potential risks, decision making, and reduction of heart disease and is an important predictor of adopting healthy lifestyle behaviors. However, no tool is available to assess the risk of heart disease in Iran.

This study aimed to develop an instrument for healthcare providers’ perception of heart disease to be used in Iran.

This mixed-method study was conducted in three stages. In the first stage, the concept of healthcare providers’ perception of the risk of heart disease was explained using the hybrid concept analysis method. In the second stage, the items of the instrument were developed using the results of the qualitative part, including eight interviews with healthcare providers and a review of the literature on the research problem. In the third stage, using a methodological study, the psychometric properties of the instrument were assessed using face validity, content validity (content validity ratio and content validity index), and exploratory factor analysis. Its reliability was also determined using Cronbach's alpha and test-retest methods. All data analyses were performed using the SPSS 21 software.

After defining heart disease risk perception, a pool containing 30 items was extracted. After assessing the face validity and quantitative and qualitative content validity, the number of items was reduced to 28. The instrument was then distributed among 300 medical staff and the results of exploratory factor analysis showed that the instrument consisted of 27 items divided into four factors, namely “warning to avoid the risk, “risk of unhealthy lifestyle”, “perceiving the risk of heart disease”, and “perceiving the power to control the risk factors”. These four factors explained 70.028% of the total variance of the instrument. The reliability of the instrument was confirmed using internal consistency (α = 0.931) and its stability was approved by the test-retest method (ICC = 0.8).

Given the acceptable validity and reliability of the 27-item Healthcare Providers Perception of Heart Disease (HPPHD) instrument, it is recommended to be used.

Providing information based on truth is very important in patients' treatment-related decisions and reduces emotional and physical sufferings as well as patient costs. The aim of this study was to design a model that is based on the culture and health-care context of Iran in order to establish a truth-based communication and provide accurate information to patient.

This qualitative study was conducted in 2019. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 18 nurses who had been selected by purposeful sampling method. Data analysis was performed in two steps. In the first step, the participants' experiences were determined using the grounded theory approach. In the next step, using Walker and Evant's (2011) method, the concepts and statements were combined and presented in a central concept.

The central concept in this study was “an attempt to establish a truth-based communication with patient,” and then, a truth-based communication model was presented. The components of the model were presented in three parts: improving patient communication skills, managing the situation in which the truth is presented, and the patient's participation in decision-making.

To present the truth of the treatment, which can sometimes be unpleasant and bitter, it is very important to improve communication skills and choose an effective communication strategy. To establish a truth-based communication, it is necessary to create a suitable ground for communication, which should be provided in clinical setting and community.

Being in a position to use white lies is the most experimental challenge for the treatment team. The definitions of expediency in using white lies vary from person to person. Understanding these definitions is an effective step in providing patients with the right treatment. The aim of this study was to review the research conducted on the use of white lies to examine patient care.

In this narrative review, by  using the keywords of  White lies, Care and Truth Telling for search in international and Persian database like MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, PsychINFO, SID, Magiran, Google scholar, PubMed, ProQuest and Scopus was designed by “Tittle search method” without time limiting. The articles which were not consistent with the purpose of study and were case report or letter to editor articles were excluded. Out of 3114 searched articles, 12 were selected. To extract data, all the final articles, included in the process of study, were extracted from a pre-made checklist.

In the present study, 12 qualitative and descriptive articles were examined. The findings of these articles were presented in two parts: patient expediency and the expediency of the treatment team. The focus of the use of lies to maintain the patientchr('39')s interest in preventing injury to the patient and in the interest of the treatment team was determined by the lack of adequate communication skills.

According to the findings, the use of white lies was to achieve the right position to present the truth. In this regard, providing appropriate guidelines according to the culture of the care platform, therapeutic goal and according to the level of understanding of patients can be used to improve the individual skills of caregivers to provide information. In the field of research, the findings of this study can pave the way for other quantitative and qualitative research on the use of white lies and their consequences.

Today, it is important to use different indices to measure the performance of hospitals. This study aimed to investigate and evaluate the performance indicators of military hospitals and measurement of performance by using the Pabon Lasso model.

This was an applied and descriptive‑analytical study that was conducted among five military hospitals affiliated to the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran by using data from 2017 to 2018. Raw data related to performance indicators such as bed occupancy ratio (BOR), average length of stay (ALoS), and bed turnover rate (BTR) were collected by referring to the hospital medical record unit. After comparing performance indicators with the standards of the Ministry of Health, the Pabon Lasso model was used to measure hospitals’ performance.

In general, the average BOR and bed turnover interval rate are higher than that of the national standard in all hospitals and are in favorable status. However, the average length of stay in all hospitals was in unfavorable status. Furthermore, one and two hospitals were located in zone 3 in Pabon Lasso graph in the years 2017 and 2018, respectively. Overall, there was no change in the performance of the hospitals in the study time periods.

In general, except for the average length of stay indicator, hospitals had a favorable performance level. Therefore, planning to improve performance indicators should be at the top of the programs.

Communication and sharing information with ill children are challenging. To protect a child from the bitter reality, sometimes use of well-intended untruths, or white lies is necessary. This research aimed at studying the experiences of nurses about the use of white lies in in pediatric clinical setting. In this qualitative, content-analysis study, 24 on-duty pediatric nurses were interviewed in 2019. Data were collected through purposeful sampling using semi-structured interviews, and the collected data were analyzed according to Granheim and Landman’s method using MAXQDA-10 software. Eighteen female and six male nurses with the mean age of 42 ± 3/7 years and mean work experience of 16 ± 4/1 years were selected to participate in this study. Data analysis showed that use of white lies depends on both situation and several other factors classified into five general categories: nature of data, childhood characteristics, family norms, treatment team’s capabilities and organization policies. Treatment team members need to improve their communication skills to convey therapeutic information to the ill child’s family appropriately. To do so, special guidelines should be prepared for healthcare staff in pediatric clinical setting

In the development perspective of each country, it is important to pay attention to the health sector and improve health indicators; therefore, planning in training and distribution of human resources in the health sector is an important factor to achieve the health system goals. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of changes in health sector human resources on infant mortality rate (IMR), maternal mortality rate (MMR), and under‑five mortality rate (U5MR) in Iran.

This was an econometric study (data panel) that conducted retrospectively and used data from the period 2006 to 2017 among Iranian provinces. Three regression models were used to determine the effect of health sector human resources (physicians, nurses, and paramedical staff) on the IMR, MMR, and U5MR. The random‑effects model was selected over the fixed‑effects model to assess the effect of health sector human resources on health outcomes.

Results showed that the number of physicians in different models has a stronger impact on these mortality rates than those of nurses and paramedics, so that a 1% increase in the number of physicians leads to 2.1%, 3.8%, and 2.2% decrease in IMR, MMR, and U5MR, respectively. Furthermore, per capita income has a bigger impact on these mortality rates than human health resources.

Increasing the number of human resources in the health sector, especially the number of physicians, by investing in these resources by providing educational facilities, plays an important role in improving the mothers’ and infants’ health indicators.

Informed consent is the cornerstone of medical ethics and is related to four out of ten articles of the patient's legal charter, aimed at supporting the patient and clarifies ethical principles in the physician-patient relationship.

The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of receiving patients’ informed consent in the surgical wards in Zanjan University of Medical Sciences.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, all patients, admitted to surgical wards of public hospitals in Zanjan, were selected through stratified random sampling method. Data were collected after admission and before surgery, using a questionnaire designed according to library studies and considering Sheikh Taheri et al.’s study in two sections: general and specific. Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to analyze the results. The content validity method was used to determine the validity, and the reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated by internal reliability using Cronbach's alpha coefficient.

The number of patients was 400 (211 males and 189 females) and their mean age was 33.78. The results showed that 24% of the samples rated as “appropriate” the process of signing the consent form, and 19% of them considered the status of information submission appropriate. Three percent of the respondents regarded the comprehensibility of the questionnaire, and 12% considered the voluntary nature of obtaining the informed consent, as well as 19% found the relationship between the physician and the patient as appropriate. Other findings revealed that there was no significant relationship between sex and marital status with the sum of the questionnaire dimensions, but there was a significant relationship between the type of hospitalization and how to submit information consent and the process of signing the consent form, and also between the number of hospitalizations. Moreover, the type of job was found to be statistically significant with the form signature process variable.

This study found that there were some shortcomings in the process of obtaining a surgical informed consent. Therefore, considering the role of the patient in the process of obtaining informed consent, providing sufficient information on physician’s treatment, training physicians and providing the patient with the opportunity to choose the treatment method can be effective in improving the quality of obtaining an informed consent.

The nurse's placement in the context of conveying facts or concealing it is inevitable, and sometimes the nurse is in a place where he uses the white lies to protect the patient's interests. Understanding the situations of using white lies and finding solutions to provide truthful treatment to patients to make truth-based therapeutic decisions is a top priority in providing ethical care. The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of white lie in ethical care process among a group of Nurses.

This study was conducted based on the qualitative approach, using an interpretive phenomenological method. Using purposeful sampling method, 18 participants were selected and shared their experiences regarding White lie in patient ethical care through individual in-depth and semistructured interviews in 2018. The transcribed interviews were analyzed based on the Colaizzi approach.

The lived experiences of nurses regarding white lie in ethical care process emerged as the ethical care path ups, the ethical care path downs and ethical care Dilemma. This themes including nine sub themes. Ethical Considerations: All subjects were informed on the content of the study and if they agreed to participate, a written informed consent was obtained.

Honest communication and maintaining patients' confidence are Important characteristics of moral care. Using the sense of patient support, teamwork and helping to nurture the values of the nursing profession is facilitated to achieve the goal of protecting patients 'privacy and protecting patients' secrets... To achieve this goal, it is recommended to improve nurses' communication skills and to hold contemplation sessions and to express group experiences in providing care in order to maintain and develop the values of the nursing profession

White lie is one of the inevitable challenges that creates an ethical dilemma during the patient care process. White lie remains an abstract concept in caring process. The aim of this study was to analyze the concept of white lie in the caring process using a hybrid model.

A hybrid model of concept analysis including three phases was used in this study. In the theoretical phase, different databases including PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Science Direct, Google scholar, SID and Magiran were searched for finding relevant articles published in 1980-2018. The keywords were truth, white lie, care and deception (in Persian and English). In the fieldwork phase, semi-structured in depth interviews were conducted with nurses. In next step, by combining the two previous stages, the final analysis was performed.

In the theoretical phase, the attributes of the concept were determined, including “harmlessness”, “without personal motivation” and “use in compulsion situations”. In the fieldwork phase, three main categories such as “the sweetness of the bitter truth”, “harmless sentences to prevent harm” and “temporary relief to balance the situation” were identified from the data analysis. By merging the concepts extracted from the theoretical and fieldwork phases, “white lie in the patient care process” was defined as “an ethical decision without personal motivation, which is chosen in unstable situations to prevent predictable harms to the patient in facing the bitter truth”.

Although a definition of white lie was developed based on the above three phases, the further development of this concept requires a deeper look at the Iranian-Islamic culture. Therefore, further research is recommended in other medical centers in the country.

Problem solving skills are at the highest level of human cognition and are considered to be the most valuable educational goals. Due to the nature of the discipline, medical students need to upgrade their problem-solving skills. This article aimed to investigate the findings of studies on the use of problem-based Learning in medical education.

In this systematic review, using the databases SID and Irandoc, Magiran and Iran Medex from and searching the Scopus, Pubmed, Web of Science databases from 1970 to 2018, Barley and extracted. Then, all articles that had inclusion criteria were studied. To increase the reliability of the study, two researchers evaluated the quality of the articles separately.

Of the 4500 original articles, 16 articles were reviewed in the final review. 15 items were quantitative and one of them was a qualitative article. The findings of the articles point to the fact that using the problem-based method in self-directed learning is effective. In this way, students analyze information and achieve the result and avoid repetition and memorization.

Use of modern teaching methods to motivate students to actively participate is necessity. Improving students' ability to access and use resources independently to improve their ability to solve problems in medical science education is one of the important issues that should be given special attention, therefore, it is recommended to use this method both in theory education and in clinical education of students.

Cardiac patients’ beliefs about illness and treatment can disturb their treatment process, treatment regimen adherence, and daily activities. Exploring these beliefs by the use of appropriate, valid, and accurate scales can be helpful in false beliefs reforming by nurses and finally, result in life quality promotion. Therefore, this study is conducted to design and psychometry a questionnaire probing about cardiac patients’ beliefs about illness and treatment.

The sequential combination exploratory mixed methods design was used to develop the questionnaire format, which involved two sections: the quantitative and qualitative step. The qualitative step included probing the role of cultural beliefs about illness and treatment in two steps, including the literature and related tools review and fieldwork (semi-structured interviews with cardiac patients). Seventeen studies were checked in the literature review. Twenty-two cardiac patients were selected and interviewed by purposive sampling. The interviews continued up to the data saturation. The data analysis was conducted in both steps using conventional content analysis and textual content analysis. The quantitative step was a methodology study accomplished in two parts. The questionnaire items were formed using the data and items pool in the first part while the psychometric properties of the questionnaire were checked using face, content and construct validity and the reliability was probed using internal consistency and stability in the second part. The data were transferred into SPSS software program, version 18.0 for Windows (α<0.05) 

319 codes were extracted from the analyzing phase which formed 6 categories including prognosis, prevention, contexts, treatment efficiency, mentality and lifestyle as well as 9  sub-categories including understanding the danger, attitude toward disease, attitude toward treatment, society’s culture, feeling hopeless, treatment regimen ignorance, self-curing, trying to survive and physical outcomes.
The items pool was formed using literature reviews and interviews. A 30-itemed questionnaire was formed after the psychometric process. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) index and the Bartlett’s test of sphericity showed good results. Six components from the exploratory content analysis including prognosis, prevention, contexts, treatment efficiency, mentality, and lifestyle gained 51.7% variance totally. The interclass correlation coefficient was 0.83 in responding to the items for two times.

This study developed a questionnaire about cardiac patients’ beliefs regarding their illness and treatment. It can be used for the educational, research, and treatment purposes as a questionnaire with short, easy, and grammatically simple items that have appropriate validity and reliability. Using this scale can be helpful in evaluating clients’ beliefs and recognize their educational needs.

  Indecivility is a widespread problem in today's health care. Indecisiveness and violent behavior are complicated problems in the nursing profession, which causes significant problems for nurses, patients and health organizations. The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of incivility among a group of Nurses. This study was conducted based on the qualitative approach, using an interpretive phenomenological method. Using purposeful sampling method, 14 participants were selected and shared their experiences regarding incivility at the workplace through individual, in-depth and semi-structured interviews. The transcribed interviews were analyzed based on the Colaizzi approach. . The lived experiences of nurses regarding incivility in workplace emerged as “Indurance in the way of destruction and humiliation”as the main theme. The extracted themes were “Obvious and latent difficulties of being a nurse” including four subthemes (insulting encounter of the patient and accompanies; non-professional interactions; organizational and professional challenges; social challenges regarding profession). The second theme was extracted as “multi-dimentional breakdown” including three subthemes (psychosocial and personal instability; negative physical responses, forthcoming professional threats and damages). Incivility behaviors among nurses can affect the quality of services provided by them. Therefore, considering factors that lead to incivility in nursing workplace is necessary.

Management of emerging diseases requires an ethical approach to the control and care of these diseases. An ethical approach has been emphasized. The present study aimed to determine the ethical challenges in the care of emerging diseases.
In this systematic review, using the three-step method, articles that published in English were retrieved using main keywords in the Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science databases from 1970 to 2017. Then, the articles with inclusion criteria were studied and analyzed. Out of the 5833 retrieved articles, 20 articles were reviewed. Analyzing the articles and extracting the data was done by two expired researchers simultaneously, as well as, evaluating the quality of the articles in order to increase the validity and reliability of the study. In terms of study type, 16 articles were descriptive (80%) and 4 cases (20%) were qualitative studies.
Findings: The main ethical challenges identified included: patient rights, respect for patient autonomy, patient privacy, obligation of the patient care, reciprocity principle, accountability and responsibility of the states, and prevention of the patient stigmatization and discrimination.
The findings highlights the need to consider ethical considerations in planning and taking care for emerging diseases. The inclusion of professional ethics training in the management of emerging diseases and ethical decision-making in epidemics in the curriculum of health care providers is recommended for better management of these diseases.

Delay in patient care is the most common error that threatens patient safety and increases mortality, and hospital costs. This study investigated the relationship between delay in patient care and nurses professional commitment.
This is a descriptive correlational study. Through a stratified sampling method, 300 nurses were selected from Tehran University of Medical Sciences teaching hospitals. Data were collected by a three-part questionnaire consisting of demographic data, the nurse's professional commitment scale, and delay in care questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16 using descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlation coefficient.
The participants were between 22-50 years old and the majority of them were women (86.7%) and married (64%). The mean score for delay in patient care was 21.54 for each nurse in the past 3 months (high) and it was 86 for professional commitment and there was a significant weak and reverse relationship between delay in patient care, and nurses professional commitment (p Patient care delay is a common error in health system regardless of individual factors such as professional commitment; other factors must also be identified and addressed. Strategies to report the errors and get help from other members of the care team contribute to reducing the complications of such errors.

Patient falling is one of the most important indicator of patient safety. Nurses have an important role in the prevention of patient falls and the improvement of patient safety standards. The current study aimed to determine the relationship between the incidence of patient falls and nurses’ professional commitment.
Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional study,300 nurses employed in hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences, were selected through a proportional stratified sampling method. Data were collected by a three-part questionnaire consisted of the demographic data, the Nurses’ Professional Commitment Scale and the reports on the number of patient falls in the past three months. Data were analyzed on SPSS software using statistical tests including Pearson's correlation coefficient, Kruskal-wallis and independent-t test.
The mean score of patient falls in the past 3 months was 6±1.61(moderate) for each nurse and the mean score of nurse's professional commitment was 86±8.61 (committed).A significant and reverse relationship was observed between the incidence of patient falls and nurses’ professional commitment (R= -0.51; p Despite the lower incidence of falls in the patient under the supervision of the committed nurses, its prevention entails taking into account all factors that influence this phenomenon besides improving professional commitment.

The correct patient identification is a key step in performing Safe therapeutic procedures for patients and Nurses’ professional commitment has an important impact on improving patient care. This study examines the Relationship between Nurses professional commitment and patient Misidentification. This is a cross-sectional, correlational study. Through a stratified sampling method, 300 nurses were selected. Data were collected by a three-part questionnaire consisted of demographic data, Misidentification and Nurses Professional Commitment questionnaire. Data were analyzed on SPSS software version 16 using descriptive and statistics and Pearson's correlation coefficient. The participants were between 22-50 years old and the majority of them was women (86.7%) and married (64%). The mean score for Patient Misidentification was 9 (Low) for each nurses in past 3 months and it was 86 (Committed) for Nurses Professional Commitment and there was significant relationship between Patient Misidentification and Nurses Professional Commitment (p<0/049). The incidence of patient Misidentification by Committed Nurses indicates on Inevitability of the error. Therefore,making strategies to reporting errors and get help from other members of the care team can help in preventing and reducing errors.

This study aimed to discover the lived experiences of patients transferred from the intensive care unit (ICU) to a general ward, to reach a deeper understanding of this phenomenon.Methods & Materials: This is a qualitative study with an interpretative phenomenological approach, which is conducted at hospitals affiliated to universities, and private hospitals of Tehran in 2013. Eighteen participants were purposefully selected for face-to-face and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that the ICU patients experienced various feelings during the process of transition to a general ward. In this regard, three main themes were identified: “happiness of return” (consisted of three subthemes: “return to living,” “return to family,” and “return to a general ward”); “separation anxiety” (consisted of two subthemes: “anxiety of separation from the equipment” and “anxiety of separation from ICU staff”); and “spiritual development” (consisted of two subthemes: “being thankful to God” and “well-wishing toward others”). The findings of the present study showed that recognizing and focusing on each patient’s individual needs, emotions, and expectations is essential to provide more holistic and patient- centered care during the process of transition from ICU to a general ward. Accordingly, there is a potential need to develop structured and formal discharge planning in the clinical settings like Iran where this topic has not been touched yet.