Modern Care Journal
Volume:12 Issue: 3, Jul 2015

Nurses’ job satisfaction has a main role in elevating the quality of healthcare services delivered to patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between personality traits dimensions (i.e., neuroticism, extroversion, conscientiousness) and job satisfaction among nurses working in the hospitals affiliated to Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Science in 2011. This correlational study was conducted on 300 nurses working in the hospitals affiliated to Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences who were selected through stratified random sampling method. The measures for data collection consisted of Job in General Scale (Ironson et al) and the revised Neo Big 5 personality traits inventory. The data were analyzed by SPSS 16 using Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise regression. Findings showed that job satisfaction has a significant negative relationship with neuroticism, but there was a significant positive relationship between job satisfaction, extroversion, and conscientiousness (P < 0.01). Regression analysis indicated that among the personality dimensions, extroversion and neuroticism are two that can predict job satisfaction. Considering nurses’ personal characteristics at the time of recruitment can lead to their higher job satisfaction.

Yogurt is one of the most consumed foods with different probiotic effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate antimicrobial effects of non-industrial yogurts on two common enteropathogens – Salmonella and Shigella. In this experimental study, we evaluated the antimicrobial effects of 30 various non-industrial yogurt samples on 11 Shigella sonnei, 7 Shigella flexneri, 2 Shigella boydii, and 15 Salmonella enteritidis isolates. All bacterial isolates were locally isolated from patients suffering from diarrhea. Using the well diffusion method, we evaluated the antimicrobial effect of whey protein from yogurt before and after 24 hours incubation at 42°C. The data was analyzed using independent t test and chi-square in SPSS (version 11.5). P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. None of the yogurts had antimicrobial effect on Shigella and Salmonella isolates before 24 hours incubation at 42°C. After incubation, however, 9 (30%) and 12 (40%) samples out of the 30 yogurt samples showed antimicrobial effects on 25%-50% and less than 25% of isolates, respectively. Six yogurt samples (20%) did not have any antimicrobial effects. Only 1 yogurt sample exhibited antimicrobial effect on more than 50% of the tested isolates. Our results suggested that some samples of non-industrial yogurts have an antibacterial effect on Shigella and Salmonella. However, neither of them had an influence on more than 51.5% of isolates. Therefore, reliance on yogurt as a standalone treatment is not recommended.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the second most common infection within intensive care units (ICUs). Happening in patients requiring mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours, the disease is associated with high morbidity and mortality. This study aims to compare the effects of matrica and chlorhexidine mouthwashes on the prevention of VAP among patients hospitalized in ICUs of selected hospitals in Qom in 2013. This random clinical trial was conducted on 60 patients admitted to the ICUs of selected hospitals in Qom. The patients receiving mechanical ventilation had no record of pneumonia and were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received the matrica mouthwash and the control group received 0.2% chlorhexidine twice a day. On the eighth day, the VAP was determined using the clinical pulmonary infection score (CPIS). The results were analyzed in SPSS 16.0 using chi-square, independent and paired t tests. The significant level was set at 0.05 Incidence of VAP was respectively 10 (33.3%) and 13 (43.3%) in matrica and chlorhexidine groups (P=0.42). Moreover, the clinical pulmonary infection mean score for both groups showed no significant difference before the intervention (P = 0.31) and after it (P=0.79). As regards the prevention of VAP, there was no difference between the application of matrica and chlorhexidine mouthwashes for oral care.

Accidents can happen to children more than other age groups. Given their specific behavioral and physiological traits, children require care on the part of adults. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of two educational methods based on Orem’s self-care model, i.e. storytelling and lecturing, on knowledge, attitude and self-efficacy of mothers of children 1 to 59 months in terms of domestic accidents prevention. This study was conducted on 60 mothers of 1- to 59-month children in Birjand. The educational interventions through storytelling and lecturing were performed in 4 sessions with 30 participants in either of the two groups. Knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy of the mothers were evaluated by a researcher-made questionnaire both before and after the intervention. The data were analyzed by chi-square, independent t test and paired t test at α = 0.05 level. The age means of mothers in the lecture and storytelling groups were 28.36±4 and 29.63±6 years and those of children were 25.46 ± 17 and 20.26 ± 16 months respectively. The difference between the two groups was not significant in this regard. Following the lecturing intervention, the total mean scores of knowledge, attitude and self-efficacy increased respectively from 15 ± 1.6 to 20 ± 1.5 (P < 0.001), 93.8 ± 9 to 101 ± 7 (P = 0.001), and 59 ± 5.3 to 61.3 ± 5.4 (P = 0.02). Similarly, in the storytelling group, the mean scores before and after the intervention increased respectively from 12.8 ± 2.7 to 19.4 ± 1.6 (P < 0.001) for knowledge, from 92.4 ± 12 and 98 ± 9.3 (P = 0.03) for attitude, and from 54.4 ± 5.5 to 57.7 ± 6.3 (P = 0.001) for self-efficacy. Mean score changes of knowledge for mothers in the story-telling group (4.9 ± 1.6) was significantly greater than that of the lecture group (6.5±2) (P = 0.002). However, there were no significant differences between the two methods in terms of attitude and self-efficacy mean score changes. In teaching the principles of domestic accidents prevention to children, both lecturing and storytelling approaches proved effective. Although there was no significant difference between the two groups in attitude and self-efficacy scores, storytelling could contribute to higher levels of knowledge than lecturing.

Postoperative hemorrhage is a common complication following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Warming the patient may be effective on postoperative hemorrhage and blood transfusion. The main objective of this study was to determine the effect of postoperative active warming of the patient on hemorrhage and blood transfusion after off-pump CABG surgery. This single-blinded randomized clinical trial was performed on 60 candidates. The patients undergoing CABG surgery were randomly allocated to case and control groups. Members of the case group (n = 30) were actively warmed postoperatively by Warm TouchTM 5800 after admission in intensive care unit (to reach a temperature up to 36.7°C). In the control group (n = 29), a bed sheet, was applied as the routine intervention. Blood loss and need for blood transfusion were assessed in both groups during the first 24 hours after surgery. For statistical analysis, chi-square and independent sample t test were used. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of age, sex, weight, left ventricular ejection fraction and preoperative tests. Mean chest tube drainage was significantly lower in the Warm Touch group than the control group within 6 and 24 hours after surgery (P = 0.046 and P = 0.041 respectively). In addition, the difference between the two groups was not significant as for blood transfusion 24 hours following the operation. Warming of patients after CABG surgery reduces postoperative hemorrhage but does not affect blood transfusion.

Marital conflicts are unavoidable in family life, especially between a couple employed in a stressful job such as nursing. Therefore, identification and improvement of individualistic skills that can affect marital conflicts are important. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between resilience, psychological hardiness, and marital conflicts among nurses working in educational hospitals of Birjand, Iran. In this descriptive, correlational study, the statistical population included all the married nurses from Birjand (n = 220) of whom 170 nurses were randomly selected as the sample. The instruments included Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RIS) (25 items), Kobasa’s Personal View Scale (50 items) and Marital Conflict Questionnaire (42 items). The collected data were analyzed in SPSS (version 16) using descriptive statistics, i.e., Pearson correlation and regression analysis at the significance level of P < 0.05. The results of the present study showed a negative significant correlation between resilience and marital conflicts (r = -0.17, P = 0.025). The relationship between hardiness and marital conflicts was also negatively significant (r = -0.21, P = 0.005). However, the relationship between challenge and marital conflicts was insignificant. Regression analysis showed that resilience and hardiness could predict about 20% of marital conflict variance. Training and improvement of individualistic skills of resilience and hardiness can be effective in reducing marital conflicts in nurses.

Family psychological support is a highly important concept concerning patients diagnosed with cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate cancer patients’ perceptions of family psychological support. This study had a qualitative approach using inductive content analysis method. Through purposive sampling, 15 patients were selected who underwent semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. After data collection, all the interviews were transcribed and analyzed via content analysis. In general, 298 codes were extracted and categorized into two main themes: seeking support from family and valuing the patient as a family member. Seeking support from family composed of two subcategories, i.e., emotional support seeking and spiritual support seeking. Also, valuing the patient as a family member had two sub-categories consisting of unconditional acceptance and respect. From the point of view of the participants, emotional and spiritual support seeking as well as unconditional acceptance and respect play a significant role in the psychological support of the families for these patients.

Pediatric obesity and overweight have become worldwide epidemics. Iran is not an exemption in this regard. In the last decade, numerous studies have been conducted in Iran in relation to obesity in children, and an increasing rate of obesity has been reported in the Iranian context. Some of these studies have included an extensive domain covering several provinces, while others have been limited to few cities. In this study, the papers focusing on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in school-aged children in Iran were reviewed. This study was a systematic review. The key terms “child”, “obesity”, “overweight”, and “Iran” were searched for in PubMed, Scopus, Ovid, ProQuest, and Elsevier databases. Similarly, the key terms’ translations in Persian were searched for in Magiran, Iranmedex, Medlib, and SID. Non-repetitive papers conducted from 2001-2013 holding the key terms in their abstracts, keywords, or main body were extracted and reviewed. A total number of 20 Persian and 11 English papers were reviewed. The overall prevalence rate of obesity in primary-school children in the published literature varied considerably from 1.4% in Zahedan to 17.7% in Ahwaz, and the prevalence rate of overweight from 1.5% in Zahedan to 27.4% in Sari. Overweight and obesity prevalence rates are varied across Iran and high in certain regions – a fact which may be attributed to climatic, racial and temporal characteristics.