Journal of Caring Sciences
Volume:8 Issue: 4, Dec 2019

Nursing is a caring profession. Developing nursing student’s perception of the care remains one of the most important goals of the education process.

A descriptive-correlational study was carried out in order to identify the caring behaviors, perceptions and associated factors of the nursing students. The target group of the study consisted of 530 nursing students. The data were collected by using the "demographic characteristics form" and "Caring Assessment Questionnaire" (Care-Q). T-test and ANOVA were used in the statistical analysis of the data. Multiple Regression Analysis - Hierarchical Model was used for the analysis of determination.

Mean (SD) of total Care-Q points of the students was 5.0 (0.9), the highest average score of the sub-groups was 5.5 (1.1) in the trusting relationship sub-group; and the lowest average points was 4.5 (1.2) points in the Anticipates sub-group. It was concluded that the perceptions of the students about the caring behaviors is at a good level, and the perceptions of the students about the caring behaviors was affected by the attitudes, plans and experiences of the students about the profession.

Developing the confidence of the students during the nursing education, ensuring the opportunities for empathy and developing the course contents on the bases of the concept of care are the applicable results of this study.

Providing for patients’ comfort and reducing their pain is one of the important tasks of health care professionals in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The current study was conducted to determine the effect of a protocol using a Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS) on some clinical outcomes of patients under mechanical ventilation (MV) in 2017.

This single-blind clinical trial was conducted on 79 traumatic patients in the ICU who were randomly allocated into the intervention (N=40) and the control groups (N=39). The sedation was achieved, using a sedation protocol in the intervention group and the routine care in the control group. The clinical outcomes of the patients (duration of MV, length of staying in ICU, final outcome) were measured. As the participants had different lengths of MV and staying in ICU, the data were restructured, and were analyzed, using proper statistical methods.

The patients’ level of sedation in the intervention group was significantly closer to the ideal score of RASS (-1 to +1). The duration of MV was significantly reduced in the intervention group, and the length of stay in the ICU was also significantly shorter. There was no difference in terms of final outcome. The ICU cost in the control group was twice as high as the cost in of the intervention group.

The applied sedation protocol in this study would provide better sedation and could consequently lead to significantly better clinical outcomes, and the cost of caring as a result.

Patients with mechanical heart valve need anticoagulant therapy to prevent thrombotic events. The treatment interacts with some foods and drugs. The aim was to evaluate the effect of self- management program on self-efficacy and medication adherence in patients with mechanical heart valve.

This was a randomized controlled trial. eighty eligible patients, with the ability to read and speak in Farsi, aged between 15 to 60, were included in the study from the cardiac surgery clinic in Imam Khomeini hospital affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences (Tehran, Iran) and randomly allocated to intervention and control groups. The participants had no history of psychiatric disorders, had undergone valve replacement surgery at least one year before the study, and were being treated with Warfarin. The intervention was a combination of 2 one- hour self-management education via small groups with 3 to 5 members, self-management educational booklets, and weekly call follow- ups for 8 weeks about 10- 15 minutes. The control group received no intervention. Self- efficacy was the primary outcome and medication adherence, Prothrombin Time (PT), and International Normalized Ratio (INR) were secondary outcomes. Data were analyzed using spss13.

Although the mean of self-efficacy and medication adherence, PT, and INR values were not different between the two groups at baseline, they improved significantly following the program.

Self-management program had a positive effect on self-efficacy and medication adherence of patients with mechanical heart valve

Low quality of life is one of the most common symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) which can reduce satisfaction with life, as well as increase death ratio and neuro-mental problems. The present study aimed to determine the effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) therapy on the quality of life in women with Multiple sclerosis in the city of Ahvaz.

Forty eight patients who had referred to neurologists were selected by convenient sampling and were assigned into two groups (MBSR and control) randomly. The participants of the two groups answered the 36-item quality of life questionnaire. The experimental group was under treatment for 8 sessions while the control group did not receive any psychological treatment. Data were analyzed, using SPSSver.13 software by repeated measures analysis of variance.

In the MBSR group, the mean subscales of QOL had more significant reduction compare to control group. Also the improvement of all subscales of mental and physical QOL continued after two months later in follow up stage.

The findings suggest that MBSR is useful for improving the quality of life in patients with MS.

Disordered sleep occurs frequently in patients who have undergone coronary bypass graft surgery, and it contributes to increased morbidity, mortality, and resource utilization. The present study aimed to determine the effects of deep-breathing exercises on postoperative sleep duration and quality in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft.

This study was a clinical trial. The study sample included 64 patients who were coronary artery bypass graft hospitalized from January 2015 to April 2015 in Qazvin Booali-Sina hospital. The patients were selected by convenient sampling and then the participants were randomly allocated to the intervention and control groups. The baseline and postoperative (day 7) sleep duration and quality metrics were measured. The St Mary's Hospital Sleep Questionnaire was used to evaluate sleep quality in two groups.

Baseline night sleep duration was 5.72 (1.63) hours in the control group and 5.58 (1.07) hours in the intervention group. The initial findings showed that the mean of sleep quality score of patients in the intervention and control groups were 19.72 (2.68) and 18.22 (3.81) respectively. These measurements did not decline postoperatively in the intervention group while night sleep duration and quality declined in the control group. Deep breathing exercise program had a significant effect on sleep quality score in the intervention group compared to the control group.

The results indicated that deep breathing exercises prevent decline in sleep quality postoperatively. It seems to be a safe method with no side effects for these patients. Furthermore, it is a simple method to implement and does not impose a high cost.

One of the important factors in determining success in life is emotional intelligence. It could be considered as a protective factor against health threatening behaviors, including smoking. Considering the effect of emotional intelligence on the health of people and the amount of smoking in smokers, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and general health in the male smokers.

In this descriptive-correlational study, 350 male smokers who were working in Uremia University of Medical Sciences were recruited, using convenience sampling. The instruments used in this study were demographic information questionnaires, Cyberia Shrink standard questionnaire, and 28-Question General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28).

The mean score (SD) of emotional intelligence and the mean score (SD) of general health were 110.26 (16.24) and 23. 60 (13.27), respectively. There was a significant negative relationship between emotional intelligence and general health scores.

Individuals with higher emotional intelligence scores had a better physical and mental health status. Therefore, teaching emotional intelligence can increase physical and mental health of the individuals through reducing risky behaviors.

In providing pregnancy services, particular attention is given to the mother and her infant and comparatively less consideration is paid to men’s role. This study aimed to explore how Iranian men are confronted with pregnancy from pregnant women’s point of view.

This study was conducted, using an ethno-phenomenological approach. 25 Pregnant women were recruited via purposeful sampling from health centers, hospitals, and private obstetric clinics in Mashhad, Iran. In-depth semi-structured interviews (n=25), vignettes, (n=13) as well as observation were used for data collection. The data were organized with MAXQDA software version 10 and analyzed, using van Manen descriptive- interpretive phenomenological approach.

The main theme which emerged was: "adaptation, skillfulness and self-actualization of man in confrontation with pregnancy". This was derived from two themes: 1) "spouse's emotional engagement" subthemes spouse’s emotional confrontation with pregnancy occurrence, man's sentimentality following being an expectant father, husband`s confrontation with wife's motherhood, man's emotional excitement, seeing the symptoms of fetal survival, husband's gender orientation and 2)"Concentration, vigilance and active efforts of spouse during pregnancy" subthemes managing wife towards successful pregnancy, efforts to acquire paternal skills and pregnancy as an issue to expand spouse's mental horizons.

Besides an overwhelming sense of emotion, men tend to be supportive in managing successful pregnancy. As an opportunity window pregnancy seems to develop thinking, vision and horizons of life among men and increases their responsibility. By promoting male participation in pregnancy, important steps could be taken to improve maternal and infant health using spouses` support approach

Women health volunteers are the link between people and healthcare workers. They play an important role in health education activities, following up families under coverage, and updating the demographic data to health centers. This study was performed to uncover women health volunteers’ activities, reasons for joining and leaving from the program.

A qualitative study design was used to conduct the study. Through purposive sampling technique, twenty -four in-depth semi-structured individual interviews and two focused group discussions with women health volunteers and their supervisors were conducted in Tabriz, Iran. Data analysis implemented thematic analysis, using MAXQDA10.

The findings were generally categorized into three major themes, participation in promoting health, perceived benefit, and perceptual- environmental inhibitors. Participation in promoting health consisted of the sub-themes participation in educational programs, participation in health care. The sub-themes of perceived benefit included benefits from health care services and interest in having an active role in the community. The theme perceptual- environmental inhibitors involved the subthemes participation barriers and lack of innovation and inconsistency with social changes.

Culture-building about the role of health volunteers, the valuing on their activities in the community, and informing program supervisors about the health volunteer’s duties would help to retain health volunteers and also sustain their activities at the community level.

Given the high cost of AIDS, research on high-risk behaviors associated with AIDS is an essential requirement today. Therefore, the present study aimed to construct and standardize tests associated with AIDS-related risky behaviors.

To assess the validity of the questionnaires, the experts’ viewpoints from different domains were qualitatively and quantitatively included. Additionally, to assess the reliability of the questionnaires, a sample of 31 subjects was selected and then examined on two separate occasions in a fortnight's time. Then, the validity and reliability of the instruments were assessed in a sample of 475 subjects.

The results of exploratory factor analysis showed that for AIDS health literacy and AIDS risk perception questionnaires two factors are extractable; while for the questionnaires of self-efficacy in controlling risk behavior and controlling risk behavior associated with AIDS one factor is extractable. Finally, 14 items were approved for each of the AIDS health literacy and self-efficacy in controlling risk behavior questionnaires; while 13 items were approved for each of the controlling risk behavior associated with AIDS and AIDS risk perception questionnaires. Each of the four questionnaires had a good internal consistency (Cronbach's Alpha > 0.70). Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) amounts related to the test-retest reliability were greater than 0.80, which indicates the reliability of the instruments.

According to the results of the present study, it was concluded that all four AIDS-related questionnaires enjoyed acceptable validity and reliability

Prolonged labor is a common birth complication that is associated with some negative maternal and fetal effects. The aims of this study were 1) to evaluate the effect of effleurage abdominal massage and 2) to assess the effects size of breathing techniques with massage on the length of labor.

This study was a randomized trial with concealed allocation, assessor blinding for some outcomes and intent-to-treat analysis. Primiparous women (n=117) age 18-35 years who were randomly assigned to three groups; abdominal massage (n=37), abdominal massage with breathing technique (n=38) and control (n=42). Although it was randomized block design with the allocation ratio 1:1:1 but soon after the sample was withdrawn in labor, another was replaced. Experimental groups’ participants received a 30-min effleurage abdominal massage during the active and transitional phases of labor. Particular breathing techniques in each stage of labor were done. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver.13.

Duration of the active phase was 244.89(83.30) min in the massage, 254(68.55) min in massage with breathing and 312.07(67.17) min in control group, which was significantly different between the massage and control groups (P<0.001, Min Diff; -67.18), as well as massage with breathing and control groups (P=0.003, Min Diff; -9.63). The Scheffe test showed no significant difference between the two experimental groups.

Effleurage abdominal massages decrease length of active phase on labor, but the learning of breathing techniques in labor couldn’t enhance this effect of massage, so it is likely that breathing exercises may be considered during pregnancy.