Preventive Care in Nursing & Midwifery Journal
Volume:13 Issue: 2, Summer 2023

Epilepsy is the second, most common and most dangerous neurological complication that can occur in a pregnant woman. Women with epilepsy (WWE) are at higher risk for miscarriage, prematurity, congenital anomalies and low birth weight (LBW).

The aim of this study was to investigate the outcome of pregnancy in women with epilepsy.

This descriptive study was conducted on 131 pregnant women with epilepsy who referred to Ardabil Alavi Hospital from September 2019 to September 2021. Necessary information such as BMI, type of seizure, congenital malformation, treatment drug and name of used drugs collected through patients file by a checklist and then analyzed by using statistical methods in SPSS version 25.

The frequency of neonate term birth was 83.21% and preterm birth was 16.79%. The frequency of babies with LBW was 22.85%. Most of women with 65.96% had cesarean delivery. More than 83% of seizures were generalized and 67.93% used mono-therapy. Only one fetus had malformation (0.76%). The most frequency among the patients receiving mono-therapy was related to the carbamazepine with 26.71% and among the women treated with multitherapy was related to Levetiracetam plus carbamazepine with 12.97%.

Pregnancies with epilepsy, even in cases with multidisciplinary care and no other risk factors, are still significantly associated with higher adverse outcomes.

Adolescence is considered one of the most important periods in the life of any human being. In most cases, adolescents suffer from fear, anxiety, and stress during this period, and how to pass through this period considerably affects their mental and physical health.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of life skills-based group counseling on stress in female adolescents in the city of Zanjan.

The present study is a randomized controlled trial with parallel groups. Sixty four female adolescents under the coverage of health centers in the city of Zanjan in 2019 were initially divided into two intervention (n=32) and control groups (n=32) by blocked random sampling method. In the intervention group, eight sessions of life skills-based group counseling were conducted once a week for 90 minutes. Data were collected using Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U and repeated measurements tests in SPSS 18 software.

The results indicated no significant difference between the two intervention (35.06 ± 9.56) and control (29.94±9.16) groups before the intervention (p=0.253). The mean stress score two months after the intervention was significantly lower in the intervention group (29.94 ± 7.59) than in the control group (37.17±9.16) (p<0.043).

Based on the study results, life skills-based group counseling can reduce stress in female adolescents. Therefore, it is recommended to use this method as a part of health system care for female adolescents in schools and comprehensive health centers.

Identifying and meeting the psycho-social needs of family members of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) is an undeniable necessity and priority for nurses.

The present study was conducted to determine the effect of a need-based educational program on anxiety and depression of families of patients admitted to the ICU.

In this quasi-experimental study, a telephone-supported need-based educational program was conducted on 88 family members of patients admitted to the ICU wards of educational hospitals in the city of Zanjan. A demographic information questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Critical Care Family Needs Inventory (CCFNI) were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26 software and the Wilcoxon statistical test.

The findings indicated that the majority of the investigated patients were male (51.1%) and married (89.8%), with the mean age of 50.3±15 years. Most of the investigated family members were the patients’ spouses, with the mean age of 46.2±10.7 years, and had a diploma and university education (71.6%). The needs of family members included the need for assurance (3.24±0.5), the need for proximity (3.22±0.55), the need for information (3.11±0.49), the need for comfort (2.52±0.67), and the need for support (2.16±0.68), respectively. The levels of anxiety and depression significantly reduced after the intervention (P<0.0001).

Based on the study results, it is recommended to use a need-based educational program to reduce anxiety and depression of family members of patients admitted to the ICU.

Due to the nature of their carrier, nurses need to effectively communicate with patients, their families, physicians, and hospital managers at different levels. Therefore, they should acquire effective social communication skills to enhance teamwork and promote patients’ health.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of promoting social competence based on the Flenner model on nursing students’ self-efficacy.

This semi-experimental study was conducted on 60 final-year nursing students of Urmia Azad University in 2019. The samples were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The data collection tool was a two-part questionnaire including demographic information and a functional self-efficacy questionnaire. In the intervention group, the educational program was conducted during six sessions of virtual education consisting of lectures and three sessions of group discussion. In the control group, no educational intervention was performed. Data were analyzed in SPSS16 software using paired t-tests and independent t-tests.

The findings showed that the average scores of clinical self-efficacy and its domains in the intervention group, before and after the implementation of the social competence promotion training program, were significantly different (p<0.05). Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups in the overall clinical performance self-efficacy scores after the intervention (t=5.21, p=0.006).

The results demonstrated that the teaching social competence promotion program based on the Flanner model could effectively promote nursing students' self-efficacy and clinical competence. This program can potentially teach communication and adaptability skills for better teamwork performance, interdisciplinary activities, and model-oriented nursing.

Breast cancer is still a major health concern, causing stress not only for the patients but also for their caregivers.

The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of virtual training on the care burden of caregivers to patients with breast cancer.

This clinical trial was conducted on 80 caregivers of patients with breast cancer referred to the Mehraneh Clinic of Zanjan, Iran, in 2022. The participants were chosen by convenience sampling and randomly divided into the experimental and control groups using the block randomization method. A demographic information questionnaire along with the Zarit care burden questionnaire were used to collect data. The care burden of caregivers was determined before, immediately after, and one month after the intervention. The data were analyzed in SPSS 26 software using descriptive and inferential statistics (the independent t-test, Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney test, Fisher’s exact test, and a marginal model for longitudinal data).

According to the results, the mean (SD) age of the caregivers was 42.20 (11.54) years, of whom 60% were male. Based on the longitudinal marginal model, no significant difference in care burden was observed between the two groups immediately after the intervention (P=0.077); however, this difference was statistically significant one month after the intervention (P<0.001).

According to the findings, the virtual training intervention reduced the care burden of caregivers of patients with breast cancer in the long term. Therefore, providing training related to care burden reduction through cyberspace and social media can be suggested as a suitable and available method.

One of the main steps for designing a comprehensive palliative care program in patients with cancer is to achieve knowledge about pain acceptance.

This study aims to determine the level of pain acceptance and its related social determinants of health in patients with cancer.

This cross-sectional study conducted on 152 patients with cancer hospitalized in the oncology wards of Valiasr and Ayatollah Mousavi hospitals in Zanjan. Participants were included in the study by convenience sampling from June to September 2021. To collect the data, a threepart questionnaire including demographic factors, social determinants and chronic pain acceptance was utilized. Statistical analysis was performed by t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SPSS software version 25.

Most of the participants were male (52%), illiterate (56.6%) and in the age group of 61-75 years (40.1%). The mean (SD) of the total pain acceptance score was 53.37 (19.36), which represents a lower than mean pain acceptance among the participants. The mean of pain acceptance according to the two variables of transportation system (P< 0.001) and occupation (P= 0.003) showed a statistically significant difference.

The findings of the study indicate that pain acceptance in the participants is not desirable. It is essential to plan and put into effects programs in order to improve pain acceptance methods. Moreover, considering the relationship between social determinants of health and pain acceptance, it requires to pay more attention to social determinants of health during the development of interventions to improve patients‟ pain acceptance.

Occupational stress in nurses leads to job burnout and an increase in missed nursing care, and the incidence of work errors. Investigating the factors associated with occupational stress can assist nursing managers in supporting nurses, reducing and handling errors, and adopting appropriate policies.

This study aimed to determine the relationship between work errors and stress sources, and perceived organizational support among nurses.

This was a correlational descriptive study conducted on 160 nurses working at the hospitals of Miandoab City, Western Azerbaijan province of Iran. The nurses were enrolled by the census from April to July 2019. The data collection tool was a 4-part questionnaire for recording demographic information, nurses’ sources of stress, perceived organizational support, and nursing work errors. The data were analyzed by SPSS21 software.

Most of the nurses were female (61.8%), had a work experience of fewer than three years (43.75%), and had a bachelor’s degree (73.1%). The sources of stress were directly and significantly correlated with nursing errors in the dimensions of drug therapy (r=0.241, p=0.002), nursing care (r=0.685, p=0.014), and report writing (r=0.101, p=0.030). Also, perceived organizational support was significantly and inversely associated with nursing errors in the dimensions of nursing care (r = -0.190, p=0.016) and drug therapy (r = -0.182, p=0.042). Sources of stress, along with perceived organizational support, years of service, and the level of education, explained 8% of variations in nursing work errors.

The results of the study showed that an increase in the sources of stress and a decrease in perceived organizational support was related to a rise in work errors among nurses. These two factors, along with years of service and level of education, were among the predictors of nursing work errors. Therefore, it is suggested to pay attention to organizational support and manage stress sources in the work environment to reduce nurses’ work errors.