Nursing and Midwifery Studies
Volume:3 Issue: 2, Apr-Jun 2014

Studies show that lack of exercise and physical activity during childhood and teenage years is directly related to different diseases in adulthood.. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an eight-week aerobic exercise on the quality of life as well as physiological indicators of cardiovascular endurance of inactive high school male students in Kashan.. The study was a field trial using pretest and post-test. Three hundred high school male students in Kashan, Iran, were recruited and interviewed by the researchers, using a questionnaire. Of the inactive ones, 30 who reached the highest criteria standards, were selected as samples and randomly divided to two equal groups. The maximum consumed oxygen (VO2max) and resting heart rate were measured by Quinn aerobic test, and the quality of life was measured by the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-26-Breef) questionnaire. The exercise program included an eight-week aerobic exercise, three times per week, with 60%-75% of the maximum heart beat. During the exercise, the subjects had no other sport activity. To check the normal distribution of the data, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used. To evaluate the pretest and post-test results, paired t-test was used and for comparing the groups, independent t-test was applied. All the analyses were performed by SPSS software version 16.. The mean ages of intervention and control groups were 17.46 ± 1.30 and 17.53 ± 1.18, respectively. The mean weight of the intervention group was 56.73 ± 9.91 kg and its mean body mass index (BMI) was 19.88 ± 3.42. In the control group, the mean weigh and BMI were 60.06 ± 11.96 kg and 20.79 ± 3.51, respectively. The quality of life and its components improved significantly in the intervention group (physical (P = 0.0001), mental (P = 0.0001), social (P = 0.0001), and environmental (P = 0.0001) aspects). VO2max (P = 0.001) and the resting heart beat (P = 0.0001) significantly improved in the intervention group. No significant difference was observed in the control group (P ≥ 0.05).. Aerobic exercise program improved the quality of life as well as the physiological indicators. Physical activities can be used as both appropriate model and nonpharmaceutical approach to prevent and cure some diseases..

One of the measures to keep the airway open is suctioning of endotracheal tube in patients under ventilation. This procedure can be accompanied with some complications. Selection of appropriate method of suctioning can prevent incidence of acute complications.. This study aimed to compare the effects of the open and closed system suctioning methods on blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, heart rate, percentage of arterial oxygen saturation, time, and costs in patients under mechanical ventilation..Patients and This clinical trial study was conducted on 40 patients in ICU. Patients’ blood pressure, heart rate, arterial oxygen saturation, related costs, and length of suctioning procedure were measured and recorded immediately before and one, five, ten, and fifteen minutes after suctioning. Data were analyzed using paired t test and repeated measure analysis of variance.. No significant differences were observed between the two suctioning methods in terms of mean systolic blood pressure (P = 0.075), diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.405), and mean arterial pressure (P = 0.257) in the five consecutive measurements. However, significant changes were observed in heart rate (P = 0.025) and percentage of arterial oxygen saturation (P < 0.001). The mean lengths of time in open and closed suctioning methods were 5.59 ± 0.211 and 4.34 ± 0.039 seconds, respectively (P < 0.001). The cost of the closed system was lower than the open method for the patients who were admitted to ICU for longer than two days.. Closed suction caused fewer disturbances in patients’ hemodynamic condition, took shorter time, and is more economical. Therefore, this method can replace open suction method in caring of severely critically ill patients..

Diaper rash is one of the most common skin disorders of infancy and childhood. Some studies have shown that Shampoo-clay was effective to treat chronic dermatitis. Then, it is supposed that it may be effective in diaper rash; however, no published studies were found in this regard.. This study aimed to compare the effects of Shampoo-clay (S.C) and Calendula officinalis (C.O) to improve infantile diaper rash..Patients and A randomized, double blind, parallel controlled, non-inferiority trial was conducted on 60 outpatient infants referred to health care centers or pediatric clinics in Khomein city and diagnosed with diaper rash. Patients were randomly assigned into two treatment groups including S.C group (n = 30) and C.O group (n = 30) by using one to one allocation ratio. The rate of complete recovery in three days was the primary outcome. Data was collected using a checklist and analyzed using t-test, Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests and risk ratio.. Totally, 93.3% of lesions in the S.C group healed in the first 6 hours, while this rate was 40% in C.O group (P < 0.001). The healing ratio for improvement in the first 6 hours was 7 times more in the S.C group. In addition, 90% of infants in the SC group and 36.7% in the C.O group were improved completely in the first 3 days (P < 0.001).. S.C was effective to heal diaper rash, and also had faster effects compared to C.O..

Nurses as the largest group of health care providers should enjoy a satisfactory quality of working life to be able to provide quality care to their patients. Therefore, attention should be paid to the nurses’ working life.. This study aimed to investigate the quality of nurses'' working life in Kashans'' hospitals during 2012.. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 nurses during 2012. The data-gathering instrument consisted of two parts. The first part consisted of questions on demographic information and the second part was the Walton’s quality of work life questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software. For statistical analysis T test and one way ANOVA were used.. The results of the study showed that 60% of nurses reported that they had moderate level of quality of working life while 37.1% and 2% had undesirable and good quality of working life, respectively. Nurses with associate degrees reported a better quality of working life than others. A significant relationship was found between variables such as education level, work experience, and type of hospital with quality of working life score (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed between quality of working life score of nurses with employment status (P = 0.061), salary (P = 0.052), age, gender and marital status (P > 0.05).. Nurses'' quality of work life was at the moderate level. As quality of work life has an important impact on attracting and retaining employees, it is necessary to pay more attention to the nurses’ quality of work life and its affecting factors..

Clients with communication impairment are at risk for health disparity. Hence, healthcare workers should be knowledgeable and skillful in communication. However, no studies are available on Iranian nursing and midwifery students’ communication skills with patients with severe communication problems.. The present study was conducted to investigate Iranian nursing and midwifery students'' competencies in communication with patients with severe communication problems.. This study was performed on all senior nursing and midwifery students of Kashan University of Medical Sciences in spring 2013. Data were collected through a knowledge questionnaire and two checklists for evaluation of skills needed for communication with patients with severe communication problems. Data analysis was performed through independent samples t test and Fisher’s exact test.. In total, 68.8% of the participants were female, 37.6% had a history of part-time job as a nurse or midwife. The mean score of knowledge were 4.41 ± 1.42 and 4.77 ± 1.77 for nursing and midwifery students, respectively and the difference was not significant (P = 0.312). In addition, the mean score of communication skills with deaf patients was 13.23 ± 4.68 and 11.86 ± 5.55 for nursing and midwifery students, respectively and the difference was not significant (P = 0.258). Also, the mean score of communication skills with stutter patients was 23.91 ± 4.17 and 21.25 ± 3.91 for nursing and midwifery students, respectively but the difference was not significant (P = 0.269).. Nursing and midwifery students did not significantly differ in terms of communication with patients with severe communication problems. Most of the students had low or very low knowledge and skills in communication with patients with hearing impairment. However, they had better skills in communication with patient with speech problem. Special workshops or training programs are recommended to empower nursing and midwifery students in communication with patients with communication problems..

The vital issue of protecting the airway and maintaining ventilation in preterm infants makes tracheal suctioning an important procedure. The decision to use closed or open endotracheal suction method depends on the clinical status of infants and the nurses’ skills and preferences.. The current study aimed to compare the two methods based on the perceptions of the nurses working in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU)..Patients and A comparative-descriptive study carried out on 35 NICU nurses in Taleghani and Al-Zahra teaching hospitals in Tabriz, Iran, in 2013. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaire (13 Items). Data analysis, including t-test was performed using SPSS Ver. 13. A P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically sig­nificant.. According to the nurses’ point of view, there are differences between characteristics of open and closed endotracheal suctioning methods (P < 0.001). By using closed endotracheal suction, the risk of traumatizing airway, developing pneumonia, increasing intracranial pressure, prolonging emergency suctioning, developing intra-ventricular hemorrhage, blood stream infection, physiological instability and lowering positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) are reduced. Meanwhile, lower cost, lower risk of extubation, comfort and easy washing procedure were reported as advantages of open suction.. Closed endotracheal suctioning was evaluated to be better than the open method in the preterm neonates. More studies, especially experimental and efficient cost analysis, are recommended..