Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences
Volume:13 Issue: 1, Spring 2024

Understanding the experiences of patients’ family members witnessing resuscitation helps develop care plans. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore the experiences of witnessing resuscitation among the patients’ family members. A total of 15 patients’ family members were interviewed over a 4-month period (from April to July 2019). The participants were recruited through purposive sampling, and they were enlisted from three educational hospitals in Tabriz. Data were analyzed using Smith’s interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) via the MAXQDA12 software. Data analysis led to the identification of four main themes and nine subthemes. The main themes included “the insistence on being present”, “achieving calmness”, “partnership and collaboration” and “hindrance”. Although family members reported feelings of agitation towards the health professionals, there was also strong evidence of the benefits of witnessing resuscitation such as open communication, psychological support, and facilitating acceptance of the patient’s prognosis. The study highlighted the importance of developing formal policies based on a family-centered care (FCC) approach to observe family presence during resuscitation while maintaining the patient’s and family’s rights.

Hepatitis B is one of the most important diseases in the world that imposes substantial financial burdens upon patients and health systems. Women with hepatitis B, like any other woman, have the right to access reproductive and sexual health services tailored to their needs as well as those of their sexual partners and children. However, the reproductive health needs of this group of patients have been subject to negligence. This qualitative study was conducted using in-depth semi-structured interviews in randomly selected hospitals and health centers of Tehran, Iran in 2015. A total of 40 women with hepatitis B and 30 reproductive health care providers were individually interviewed. Interviews were conducted based on topic guides, including a series of broad questions used to explore and probe the experiences of the interviewees. All interviews were recorded and each interview lasted from 60 to 90 minutes. The collected data were analyzed using the content analysis method. Data analysis yielded 88 codes and 186 items. Two main themes were extracted from the analyzed data including the need for information and the need for health care. The first theme involved two categories (the patient’s need for information and the health provider’s need for information) and four subcategories. The second theme included three categories (supportive care, disease and reproductive health care, and capacity building) and thirteen subcategories. From the viewpoint of women with hepatitis B interviewed in this study, a successful program that meets the special reproductive health needs of these patients is required to respond to the need for information and the need for health care. Meeting treatment needs should include responding to the informational needs of both patients and service providers. Besides, satisfying the need for health services should focus on support services, disease care, reproductive health care, and capacity building.

Many studies have shown that psychological distress such as worries and anxiety is one of the causes of the development, recurrence, or exacerbation of multiple sclerosis (MS). This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of patients with MS during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative study was conducted using an interpretive phenomenological approach. The participants were selected from patients with MS in Tehran, Iran who were members of the Iranian MS Society in 2021. The research sample included 19 patients with MS who were selected using purposive sampling. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews until the data were saturated. The collected data were analyzed using Van Manen’s phenomenological approach, and the validity and truthfulness of the data were confirmed using the four criteria proposed by Lincoln and Guba. Explication of the data revealed 22 subthemes and 5 main themes. The main themes identified were: Feeling of helplessness and fear of inadequacy in self-care, Economic concerns and financial problems, Ineffective interaction with family members, preoccupations and obsessions with the pandemic, and ambivalent and conflicting beliefs about others. The experiences of those affected by the pandemic were linked to personal and familial concerns, health issues, feelings of inadequacy in self-care, and economic difficulties. Additionally, participants were preoccupied with the pandemic and the social problems they faced. Gaining an understanding of these experiences can offer valuable insights to medical professionals, families of patients, and relevant organizations regarding the lived experiences of individuals with MS.

Pregnancy is a sensitive time in women’s lives, as they experience numerous physical, psychological, and behavioral changes that can affect their sexual and marital relations. Due to the significance of this topic, the present study aimed to examine pregnant women’s experiences of sexual activity during pregnancy. The participants in this qualitative content analysis study were 23 pregnant women who visited hospitals in Babolsar, Iran (2019-2020) and were selected using purposive sampling. Following in-depth interviews, a semi-structured questionnaire guide was used to collect qualitative data. Data were analyzed using the conventional content analysis method proposed by Graneheim and Lundman. The MAXQDA 10 software was utilized for qualitative data analysis. In the present study, pregnant women ranged in age from 19 to 35 years. The analysis of pregnant women’s experiences of sexual activity during pregnancy led to the identification of four categories including sexual changes perceived during pregnancy, strategies for coping with sexual changes during pregnancy, sexual changes leading to the couple’s development, and factors influencing sexual activity during pregnancy. During pregnancy, women observe various sexual changes in themselves and their partners, influenced by gestational age, medical disorders, physical changes, psychological and emotional factors, and underlying factors. Accordingly, it is recommended that couples be educated on sexual health during pregnancy which emphasizes the need for further research in this area.

Brain injury and coma after trauma are major health problems all over the world as the hemodynamic indicators of patients fluctuate and their clinical conditions deteriorate. Consequently, the demand for professional care will increase. Accordingly, this study aimed to explain the experiences of people caring for comatose patients with head injury. The present study was conducted using a conventional qualitative content analysis approach. The participants were selected through purposive sampling and the sampling process continued until data saturation. A total of 17 nurses and 3 head nurses working in the intensive care units (ICUs) of Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences in 2022 participated in the study. Data analysis led to the identification of three main categories and nine subcategories including clarification of needs (understanding patients’ needs based on symptoms, intensive vision, application of care knowledge), continuous care to facilitate transition (skilled and quality care, progress monitoring, continuity in care and teamwork), and empathic support (living in the patient’s world, therapeutic relationship, and conscience-oriented actions. As a result, “targeted care” was detected as the main theme of the study. According to the results of the current study, in order for nurses to perform targeted care to get patients out of critical situations as quickly as possible, first a detailed examination is required to identify the patients’ needs and problems. Then, continuous nursing care with comprehensive support should be provided to the patients. The results of this study can instill motivation in care and improve its quality, ultimately leading to patient-centered nursing and treatment.

The emergence of the Internet and its development led to the expansion of virtual education. The development of virtual education in recent years has had a tremendous impact on the improvement of education and the establishment of educational justice in different parts of the world. Despite its advantages, virtual education is also associated with some challenges. The present study aimed to investigate para medicine students’ experiences of virtual education. This qualitative study was conducted using conventional content analysis. The participants were 25 students in various fields of para medicine who were selected using purposive sampling. The study took place at universities in the north of Iran. The data were collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus groups from January to April 2022. The collected data were analyzed using Graneheim and Lundman’s qualitative content analysis method. The core category identified in this study was from helplessness to interaction which was divided into three main categories (challenges and desperation, deprivation of mutual interaction and learning, and resilience and adaptation) and fourteen subcategories. The main theme extracted from the interviews with the participants was from helplessness to interaction. When a person has numerous failures, cannot control environmental conditions, and feels the ineffectiveness of their activity and response, they will experience a sense of vulnerability. Thus, the person has to accept the conditions and interact with them. In other words, interaction is a skill that improves the ability to quickly learn new skills and behaviors in response to the conditions. Thus, identifying challenges and realizing the weaknesses, strengths, opportunities, and threats governing the existing virtual education environment can help to turn many threats into opportunities, promote virtual education, and support teachers and students to improve the quality and quantity of the teaching-learning process in the COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 era.

Physical and emotional stress during the residency period can have lasting negative effects on residents’ health as well as patient care. Such stress can cause emotional and psychological burnout, decreased physician productivity, impaired job performance, and poor social relationships. First-year residents have more burnout and stress due to many factors. This study aimed to investigate the reasons for the protest of this group of residents.

This qualitative study was conducted with the participation of residents and professors of obstetrics and gynecology in one of the teaching hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in spring of 2021. Data were collected through individual face-to-face interviews and group discussions. The conventional content analysis method was used to analyze the data. To ensure the accuracy of the qualitative data, the criteria proposed by Lincoln and Guba were considered.

A total of 14 participants were interviewed and 16 people participated in focus group discussion sessions. From the text of the interviews, two themes were extracted. Participants’ experiences showed unbearable pressure, domination, and anonymity as stressors in first-year obstetrics and gynecology residents.

The results showed that the main reason for the protest of the first-year residents was the wrong behavior of the second-year residents and the lack of supervision over these behaviors. Launching a kindness campaign was a suggested solution in this research that could help improve communication between residents and the educational atmosphere.

Caregivers of hemodialysis patients experience several daily challenges due to the specific condition of their patients. It is necessary to study the challenges of this group to reduce the adverse effects on the caregivers and the patients. Accordingly, the present study aimed to describe the caregivers’ lived experiences of caring for hemodialysis patients. This was a qualitative study conducted using a phenomenological approach. The participants were 21 caregivers of hemodialysis patients from three hemodialysis centers in Qazvin, Iran who were selected using purposive and snowball sampling. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step method. A total of 107 primary codes, 15 subcategories, 7 categories, and 3 main themes were extracted from the analysis of the interviews. The main themes included caregiver as the central pillar, fear of the foggy future, and the heavy burden of being judged by others. Caring for patients with hemodialysis constantly imposes many challenges for caregivers. The managers of hospitals and hemodialysis clinics can prevent the severe consequences experienced by caregivers and patients by planning and implementing individual development training courses and effective policies to enable caregivers.