Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences
Volume:3 Issue: 2, 2014

Critical care information systems are designed to replace paper charts, interact with other clinical wards of hospital, and to better care for patients. This qualitative study was performed to obtain the perception of intensive care unit nurses about the efficiency of information systems. In this qualitative study, data were collected through semi-structured and in-depth interviews and analyzed by content analysis and constant comparison method. Participants were 30 nurses from intensive care units of affiliated hospitals of Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Purposeful sampling method was used and continued until data saturation. The several themes that emerged from the interviews were divided into inhibiting factors and facilitating factors. Facilitators included the acceleration of nursing operations, reduction of costs, and the increasing of nurse’s role in patient care. The inhibiting factors were repetition of tasks and low computer literacy of the staff. Nurses were faced with challenges in the use of information systems indicating the lack of quality of the information system. It seems that strengthening facilitators and resolving hardware and software problems can increase intensive care staff’s acceptance of this information system and reduce their cultural resistance toward it.

Patient education is the most fundamental role of nurses and an important factor in raising awareness and changing health behaviors toward various diseases, particularly coronary artery diseases. This study aims to define nurse's perception of patient education in the CCU ward of Valiasr Hospital, Birjand, Iran. This was a qualitative study performed in 2011. In the present study, 11 nurses of CCU wards were recruited by purposeful sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and were analyzed using content analysis. Three themes have emerged including culture, knowledge of the patient's background, and education process suited to patients’ culture and society. Each theme has some subcategories. According to the results, it is necessary to design the patient education process based on culture and conditions of the patients’ community in order for that process to be effective.

Regarding recent social and economic changes and developments and the increasing presence of working women in society, paying more attention to the importance of maternal role among working women who face multiple roles is necessary. Therefore, this study describes the experiences of working women related to their maternal role.

This was a qualitative research, in which the phenomenological approach was used. The participants were selected from women working in one of the units of Islamic Azad University, Iran. Purposive sampling was used to select 9 participants. In-depth interviews were the main data collection method. In addition, data were analyzed through Colaizzi’s method. Reliability and validity of the present study was rooted in the four axes of real value, applicability, continuity, and being based on reality.

Data analysis led to the extraction of 414 primary codes, 25 subthemes, and 7 main themes including different pregnancy, supportive umbrella, role alteration, role overlap, role strain, gradual adaptation, and erosion.

The acceptance of numerous roles, such as maternal and marital roles, by working women results in various role expectations of them from their children, spouses, family, and the society. This, in turn, forces them to meet both familial and occupational needs and expectations. However, since maternal role is considered as one of the most important roles of women, this obviously, intentionally or unintentionally, can affect the maternal role and cause role conflicts for working mothers. Based on the findings of the current study, this important role of working mothers is accompanied by much hardship and difficulty and it is a completely different process than that experienced by non-working mothers. Since this may affect their physical and mental health, it necessitates more attention.

Nurses are an ideal source to report on the quality of care and the uses of their perspective is a valid index in assessment of the quality of nursing care. The aim of this study was to explore the quality of nursing care from the perspective of nurses in critical cardiac units. This was a qualitative study in which purposive sampling was used with maximum variation and 23 participants were interviewed with open-ended questions in Semnan during 2012-2013. The main method of data collection was semi-structured interviews. The interviews were digitally recorded, immediately transcribed word by word, and analyzed using content analysis method. By data analysis of extracted contexts, the main theme abstracted was "the need for effective nursing management". Subthemes include "adequate and efficient human resources", "human relationships", "organized nursing performance", and "appropriate environment and suitable tools, equipment, and facilities". The results of this study explored employed nurse's experiences on quality of nursing care in critical cardiac care units. Having effective nursing management for providing resources and human relationships are essential to maintaining and improving the quality of nursing care in critical cardiac units.

Given the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) and its impact on couples, and lack of treatment seeking, this study has been conducted to investigate men's treatment interventions for ED from their spouses’ view point. This is a qualitative study. Purposeful sampling was performed among women in health centers affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, and a family health center and continued until data saturation. In addition, 16 in-depth unstructured interviews were performed. Conventional qualitative content analysis and constant comparison were performed simultaneous to collecting data. The inclusion criterion of the study was at least 6 months experience of erectile dysfunction of the husband. Disregard for treatment was one of the main themes and was formed from the integration of the categories of decrease in sexual relationship attractiveness, masculine attitude, and disability in having sex. Confusion in treatment was the other theme which was formed from integration of the categories of the wife’s view of erectile dysfunctions, couple intervention treatment, and treatment expectation. Dominance of men, and women’s passive reaction or incorrect behavior is an effective factor in lack of treatment seeking. Counseling with the partner, on the interaction method with spouse, improves the treatment seeking process for men.

Consistent with health care changes, nursing schools also require revising of clinical education programs, especially, the nursing student’s first clinical experience. The first clinical experience is considered the cornerstone in professional nursing education. The present study was conducted with the aim to identify challenges of clinical training of the fundamentals of nursing to undergraduate students and develop them with a collaborative approach in the School of Nursing and Midwifery in Ahwaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Iran.

The presents study reports the two operating cycles of an action research with a collaborative approach and focus group discussion, and with the participation of 84 stakeholders. Content analysis approach was used to analyze the data obtained in focus discussion interviews. In addition, reflective evaluation was performed during the operation and final evaluation at the end of each cycle with the participation of all members, including students.

The findings of this qualitative study detected a lack of consistency in planning and implementation of curriculum, inadequate intra- and extra-organizational communication management, inadequate student understanding of situation, and improper control of restrictors and improper use of facilitators in teaching and practice. After classification of problems, educational decision-making authorities of the School developed an operational program within the national curriculum framework through participation in clinical skills and principles training program. Overall, the evaluation results in the two operating cycles confirm that the general success of the action plan is based on professional collaboration of faculty trainers and administrators, and clinical nurses involved in the process.

Planning fundamentals of nursing training in partnership with all those involved in practice and education, together with students can be effective in reducing educational failures, gap between theory and practice, and result in the satisfaction of all stakeholders.

The concept of stress adaptation is a process that causes the use of resources in order to resolve the stressful situation. Therefore, the use of appropriate coping skills, in order to decrease stress, anxiety, and depression in caregivers, causes quality improvement of treatment and care of children. Due to the importance of this issue, this study aimed to explain the concept of stress adjustment in caregivers (parents and close relatives) of cancer-afflicted children.

Concept analysis was carried out with hybrid method in three stages. In review of literature, 30 related articles available on the databases from 1990 until May 2013 were analyzed. In the fieldwork stage, interviews were conducted with 5 parents of the children, and then, data was analysis with qualitative content analysis. In the final stage, an overall analysis has been performed.

Based on the review of the literature, the best definition of stress adjustment, frameworks of the stress adjustment process of caregivers, was selected. Based on the interview analysis of the fieldwork stage, themes and sub-themes of stress adjustment strategies and actions were derived from parents of children with cancer. During the final stage of merging the two stages, definition, frameworks, actions, strategies, and consequences of stress adjustment were gained and the hybrid model was presented.

According to the result of this study, implementation of nursing interventions in order to reduce caregivers’ stress, educational plans, use of appropriate and effective adaptive skills by caregivers (parents and close relatives) of cancer-afflicted children are essential and achievable.

Learning outcomes, as a new concept in higher education, are defined as the abilities that students are expected to have gained at the end of the training course. The purpose of this study is to determine and define the learning outcomes for graduates of clinical laboratory sciences from the perspective of employers. This study was a qualitative study. The participants were 15 employers selected from 10 private laboratories and hospitals using purposive sampling. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, and were recorded or handwritten. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis method. Analysis of data revealed 4 overall themes and 11 classifications. Learning outcomes of graduates of clinical laboratory sciences included: skills (pre-analytical, analytical, and post- analytical process); attitude (professional ethics, accountability, interest, and motivation); communications (communication with patients, communication with colleagues, and communication with different departments of the hospital); education and continuous learning (teaching and motivating subordinates, and trying to learn new things). It recommended that university staff pay more attention to learning outcomes expected from graduates by employers. These learning outcomes result in success in the labor market and specialized laboratory environment. More communication between universities and workplaces, including laboratories and hospitals, are recommended.