Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences
Volume:11 Issue: 4, Winter 2022

Male nurses face various challenges in caring for female patients, such as the patients’ refusal of nursing care and sexual accusations. Communication, as a prominent element in providing high-quality health care services, can lead to or inhibit patient satisfaction and health. Professional nurse-patient communication is so important that some nursing theorists have based their theories on this type of communication and consider it an art in the nursing profession. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate female patients’ experiences of barriers to effective communication with opposite-gender nurses.
The present qualitative study was conducted using conventional content analysis. Purposive sampling was used to select 15 female patients. These patients were hospitalized in different wards and received care from an opposite-gender nurse. Interviewing was the main method of data collection. Graneheim and Lundman’s method was used to perform content analysis. The general stages of data interpretation include initial encoding and the formation of subthemes and themes based on the similarities and differences.
The main theme extracted following data analysis was ignorance of the patient in communication. This theme comprised of three subthemes, including negligence in maintaining patient privacy, one-way communication, and biased behavior.
Based on the findings, the experience of female patients receiving care from male nurses was accompanied by feelings of annoyance. Male nurses are suggested to respect patient privacy, obtain permission before doing private procedures, and provide care for female patients without prejudice and abuse.

The quality of marital relationships can impact couples’ cardiovascular health directly and indirectly. Given that communication is essential for a happy marriage and plays an important role in health, this study aimed to explain the positive interactions of couples after myocardial infarction. The current study was conducted qualitatively with the participation of seven couples (patient and his or her spouse) in teaching hospitals affiliated with Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. Purposive sampling was used to select participants. Then, unstructured in-depth interviews were conducted after obtaining informed consent. The interviews were immediately transcribed and analyzed. MAXQDA 2020 was used to categorize the data, and the method proposed by Elo and Kingas was used for data analysis. The analysis of the data revealed that myocardial infarction could affect the way couples interact through two main themes including empathetic union (acceptance of each other’s true selves, mutual understanding, adjusting expectations, increase in cooperation and joint activities) and optimizing couples’ interactions (mutual care and attention, increase in intimacy, mutual reliance). This study indicated that positive couple interactions affected not only marital relationships but also health status, both directly and indirectly. Therefore, the findings of this study can be used to improve nursing student education and nursing care, and would help to develop educational and supportive interventions for patients and their spouses.

The rapid advancement of science and new technologies has brought wide-range changes in all professions, leading to the emergence of new concepts, including professionalism. This study aimed to explain the concept of professionalism from the perspective of surgical technologists.
The present study was a qualitative one with conventional content analysis. A total of 11 surgical technologists were selected using purposive sampling method based on data saturation. Data were then collected using in-depth interviews. Data analysis was performed using Graneheim and Lundman’s approach.
In data analysis, three main themes including professional attitude, professional mastery, and holistic professional care as well as seven subthemes were extracted from the data.
According to the findings, professionalism indicates the type of attitude of the operating room nurses towards the profession as well as the degree of their mastery in providing professional care to patients.

Continuing professional development is an essential component of educational organizations in health care systems around the world. Such development has received attention in recent years with a broader perspective in the field of midwifery. Accordingly, the internal evaluation approach used to identify educational strengths and weaknesses can pave the way for a more purposeful future. This study aims to explore the experiences of midwifery lecturers of the challenges of the undergraduate educational program.
This study employed a qualitative phenomenological approach using the data collected through individual interviews with midwifery lecturers at Kerman University of Medical Sciences, and analyzed from October to December 2020 for three months. To this end, eight semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted with eight midwifery lecturers who were selected using purposive sampling. The sampling was continued until the data were saturated. All interviews were analyzed after transcription using Colaizzi’s seven-step approach.
Analysis of the data revealed seven categories including inefficient policymaking, lack of motivation and confidence, lack of educational equipment and facilities (network of shortcomings), challenges of the curriculum and teaching methods, poor clinical conditions, disinterest in research activities, and inadequate academic output. Each category was divided into several subcategories.
Along with achieving the fifth Millennium Development Goals, it is necessary to improve the quality of midwifery education. The challenges pointed out by midwifery lecturers highlight the need to make changes in the clinical and educational environment of the midwifery department to improve clinical skills and achieve the goals of the educational program following international education standards and consequently train skilled and educated midwifery staff.

Accreditation is a team effort to improve service quality. Nurses, as key members of the care team, play an important role in implementing accreditation standards. This study aimed to explain the challenges and strengths of the implementation of fourth-generation accreditation from the perspective of nurses.
The present study was a qualitative one conducted using content analysis. The research population included nurses of Afzalipour hospital in Kerman, Iran. Using purposive and snowball sampling, 5 nurses, 5 head nurses, and 3 supervisors were selected for accreditation. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed, coded, categorized, and analyzed separately. Then, using content analysis, the data obtained from the interviews were reduced and given a structure and system. Data analysis was performed using MAXQDA software (version 10).
The most important challenges in this study were increasing nurses’ workload and working pressure and weakening nurses’ relationship with the patient. Moreover, there was no adequate infrastructure to implement accreditation. The strengths of implementing accreditation standards included increasing nurses’ awareness, improving reporting and documentation, increasing patient safety, and improving organizational processes.
The results of this study emphasized the need to implement accreditation standards to integrate working methods and improve the quality of services and patient safety. Solving the existing challenges is a way to ensure the quality and continuous improvement of nursing services. In general, the results of this study provide useful information to policy makers and senior managers of the health system to reform the structure of hospital accreditation.

An internship project can be considered as a useful step for nursing interns in the transition period and bridge the theory-practice gap in nursing. Since the acquisition of professional competence and skills by students is essential, the present study attempted to provide a deep understanding of nursing students’ experiences. This study was conducted using a qualitative content analysis approach in the School of Nursing of Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2020. The participants in the research sample were senior undergraduate nursing students who were selected using purposive sampling. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the participants and each interview lasted 60 to 90 minutes. A total of 27 interviews were conducted with 25 students. The collected data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis method (Graneheim & Lundman, 2004). MAXQDA 20 software was also used to analyze the qualitative data. The core category that emerged from the analysis of qualitative data was “implementing an internship program; a step to bridge the theory-practice gap”, which was divided into three main categories: “transferring knowledge and experiences”, “promoting the cooperation between the faculty members and the hospital staff”, and “improving the process of clinical care”. Internship programs that are considered a new training technique can increase cooperation between nursing schools and contribute to promoting nursing knowledge in nurses by supporting students and promoting their scientific skills.

Menopause is a natural change that almost all women experience in middle age. Just like puberty, menopause is considered a turning point in a woman’s life. Postmenopausal women experience a wide range of symptoms that may affect their health and well-being, but in most cases, they are unaware of the postmenopausal symptoms they are experiencing or will experience. This study aimed to investigate the perceived educational needs of postmenopausal women in southern Iran.
This study was conducted using a conventional qualitative content analysis approach in 2021 in Jiroft (southern Iran). The main research question was, ‘What educational needs do postmenopausal women experience?’ To answer this question, 15 participants were selected using purposive sampling (seven postmenopausal women, four gynecologists, three midwifery experts, and one nutritionist). The data were collected using semi-structured interviews, which continued until data saturation. The collected data were analyzed using the method proposed by Graneheim and Lundman. The MAXQDA 12 software was used to manage qualitative data analysis.
Data analysis revealed one main theme (perceived educational needs) with two categories and five subcategories: (a) Perceived information and medical needs (the need to know about the healthy transition to menopause, the need for support and advice in health-related decisions, and health-promoting educational needs) and (b) The need for self-control (the need for self-management of physical symptoms and the need for self-management of psychological symptoms).
This study showed that postmenopausal women face many physical and psychological challenges and need more education to better meet these challenges. Thus, officials and experts in charge of women’s health such as gynecologists, midwives, nurses, and care providers need to pay special attention to problems and issues of postmenopausal women and plan to promote their awareness and knowledge.

With the high prevalence of chronic diseases such as chronic kidney disease (CKD) and consequently, the increasing number of hemodialysis (HD) patients, providing high-quality care has become a health concern in many countries. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the concept of “qualified care” from HD patients’ and nurses’ points of view.
This qualitative study was conducted using a content analysis approach. A total of 48 patients and nurses in the HD wards were selected through purposive and snowball sampling methods. Sampling continued until data saturation. Finally, a total of 54 interviews were conducted with the participants. The interviews were recorded with the participants’ permission and analyzed using Graneheim and Lundman approach.
In this study, 16.7% of the nurses were male, and their mean age was 35.4 ± 7.47 years. Moreover, 50% of the HD patients were male, and their mean age was 53.1 ± 8.6 years. The results of the analysis of the interviews in response to the main question were classified into four main themes including (a) physical care, (b) psychological care, (c) ethical care, and (d) extensive skills and knowledge of the nurse.
From the patients’ and nurses’ perspective, empathy and companionship in sessions, fulfilling daily needs, social support, and high-quality dialysis are the components of the concept of care. Therefore, these concepts should be considered in the care programs for HD patients designed by the healthcare team.