Journal of Client-Centered Nursing Care
Volume:3 Issue: 1, Winter 2017

As members of the health care team in Intensive Care Units (ICUs), nurses play a vital role in caring for critically ill patients. The demands of caring in such an environment put the nurses under huge pressure, especially when their patients die. This qualitative study explores the feelings and experiences of Kurdish intensive care nurses providing care for dying patients in the ICU.
This qualitative study used inductive content analysis. The data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 10 Kurdish registered nurses working in adult ICUs of Rezgary and Hawler Teaching hospitals (Erbil, Iraq).
Three main categories, including emotional burden, encountering with obstacles, and personal growth emerged. In spite of their emotional burden and also the pressure imposed by heavy workload, the nurses’ personal growth was enhanced by the self-confidence and spiritual satisfaction they acquired by caring for ill and end stage patients and their families.
Nurses’ religious beliefs and their special cultural background could partly modify their negative feelings and perceptions. However, in the long run, dealing with these pressures and negative environmental and organizational inhibitors could lead to burnout. All potential sources of emotional and psychological burden in these ICUs need to be minimized by appropriate planning.

Students’ general health is of great importance and serious attention should be paid to their health-related issues. Some personal characteristics such as their traits may be the most influential factors in their general health. Thus, the current study was conducted to determine the relationship between personal traits and general health in nursing students.
This is a descriptive correlational research which was conducted on 194 undergraduate nursing students of Qom Medical University, Qom, Iran, in 2015. Samples were chosen by census method. The relevant data were collected by demographic information, the shortened form of five personality traits assessment, and general health questionnaires. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and t-tests by SPSS V. 23.
A significant positive correlation was found between personality traits of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and general health, while there was a significant negative correlation between neuroticism and general health. Also with regard to general health domains, the maximum mean (± SD) belonged to social dysfunction with 8.72 (3.420), and the minimum to depression with 3.27 (4.368). Study results indicated that maximum score belonged to conscientiousness and minimum to neuroticism among the personality traits.
Since personality traits play an influential role in different aspects of students’ general health, it is expected that factors affecting nursing students’ general health be paid more attention and appropriate training for raising health services for students be planned and provided.

Diagnostic cardiac catheterization is a common procedure in coronary artery disease. Patients’ movement and activities are limited because of potential risks; therefore, they need bed rest. The current study aimed at investigating the impacts of changes in body position and earlier ambulation on comfort, bleeding, and ecchymosis after the diagnostic cardiac catheterization.
The current clinical trial with quasi-experimental design included 90 patients undergoing diagnostic catheterization hospitalized in Shariati Hospital, Tehran, Iran. The purposive sampling method was used in the current study and subjects were allocated into 2 groups of intervention and control each of 45. The control group received the routine practices, the supine and flat rest for 8 to 24 hours, and sandbag for 8 hours. The intervention group changed their position in bed; first hour in flat position and head of bed in 15° and second hour in flat position and head of bed in 30°; then, in the 3rd hour in 45° position as well as applying sandbag on catheter entrance site for the first 3 hours; then, the patient was allowed to rest in any position (15° to 30°). Levels of comfort as well as the amount of bleeding and ecchymosis were studied immediately after the admission, 6 hours, 24 hours, and 7 days after the catheterization. Then, the results were analyzed using Chi-square and the Mann-Whitney tests with SPSS V. 11.5.
There was no significant difference in the levels of comfort as well as the amount of bleeding and ecchymosis in early admission between the 2 groups, but the level of comfort was higher in the intervention group than the control group at the hours 6 and 24 after the catheterization (P It was observed that patients may be allowed to change their bed position, and they may be ambulated earlier (the sixth hour) after the diagnostic cardiac catheterization.

The rights of patients admitted to the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) are threatened more than the ones admitted to other hospital wards due to the nature of ICU and special health conditions of the patients admitted such as lower consciousness and their need for invasive and noninvasive care practices. Awareness of obstacles and observance of patients’ rights are of particular importance. Therefore, the current study aimed at determining the observance of patients’ rights and the organizational facilitators and deterrents influence them from the viewpoint of nurses working in ICUs of educational and therapeutic centers affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
The current descriptive, cross sectional study included 160 nurses working in ICU, surgery and general wards selected by the census method. Data collection instruments included the 3-section demographic characteristics questionnaire, the Client Observation Checklist (COC) as well as patient safety culture questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS V. 21.
Based on the results of COC, the client observation was 76.16% in the current study. The highest amount of satisfaction and desirable observance belonged to the information receipt axis (78.34%) and the lowest observance belonged to the selection and decision making axes (67.17%). The most important facilitating organizational and deterrent factors to observe the client’s rights were identified as reduction of working hours of nurses (96%), handling nurses’ amenities (94.6%), inappropriate nurse/patient ratio (92.6%), and lack of job security and mental safety in nurses (90.6%).
Several factors, such as inappropriate nurse/patient ratio, socioeconomic problems, working hours, and heavy workload in a limited time were among the factors influencing the quality of nursing practices, based on the charter of patients’ rights

Preconception care is an organized and comprehensive program of health care that identifies and reduces woman’s reproductive risks before conception through risk assessment, health promotion, and interventions. This study aimed to assess knowledge, practice, and attitude of married women about preconception care and find out the association between the level of knowledge and practice among them and some sociodemographic and obstetrical characteristics.
A descriptive study was conducted on 150 married women who had at least one pregnancy in Maternity Teaching Hospital in Hawler City and Taren primary health care center in Kasnazan from 26th November 2015 to 10th April 2016. The relevant data were collected through interview technique with study participants and filling out a questionnaire format, which contained five main parts: sociodemographic data, obstetric data, and knowledge, practice, and attitude of participants about preconception care. The obtained data were analyzed by using SPSS V. 22 through calculating frequencies and percentages and using Chi-square test.
After collection of data and analyzing the study results, it was revealed that the highest percentage (76.7%) of mothers had fair knowledge, 20% poor knowledge, and 3.3% good knowledge about preconception care. The majority of the study sample (68%) did not seek preconception care. Regarding attitude, 84.7% of the women had good attitude about preconception care.
Kurdish women need to be educated about the preconception care and it is an important duty by reproductive health care providers. Midwives can play vital role for improving preconception care concept among women.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) affects different aspects of patients’ life. By awareness of the quality of life and related factors of each patient, nurses can plan for and do proper care. So the present study was performed to evaluate health-related quality of life and related factors in patients with COPD.
This study is a cross-sectional descriptive research that was performed on 141 patients with COPD in 2016 who referred to selected hospitals of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences (Hajar Hospital and Ayatollah Kashani Hospital). Patients were selected and entered into the study through consecutive sampling method. The research tools included a demographic questionnaire and St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistical tests using SPSS V. 24.
Total score of health-related quality of life in patients with COPD was 43.52; the score of symptoms, activity, and impact area were 46.24 ± 16.51, 52.40 ± 16.24, and 37.39 ± 15.13, respectively. It was also found that the disease stage, smoking, and comorbidity are significantly related to health-related quality of life (P = 0.001, P = 0.007, P = 0.037, respectively).
Health-related quality of life in patients with COPD is significantly low. The stage of disease, smoking status and number of comorbidity is inversely related to the health-related quality of life. Therefore, it is better for healthcare personnel, especially nurses, to assess the

Shift report in nursing profession comprises the collection of information, assessment of nursing cares provided to hospitalized patients, providing an opportunity to get acquainted with patients, and being aware of their caring process. This study aimed to investigate the effect of educating nurses in intensive care units on the reporting of work shift using the SBAR tool.
The present study is quasi-experimental and interventional. It was conducted with pre/post training and one-group design. The study was an observational study done by the researcher using a checklist based on SBAR tool. The samples were recruited by census sampling method in the intensive care unit of Hazrat Rasool Hospital, affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences. Work shift delivery report was observed using the 18-item SBAR checklist by the researcher once before training reporting (3 work shift delivery reports from each nurse) using the SBAR tool and once after training (3 work shift delivery reports from each nurse). In training sessions, reporting method was taught to nurses in the unit based on SBAR tool. After one month of training, nurses’ performance in reporting delivery of work shift was evaluated in accordance with the above tool. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS v.20.
Comparison of the performance of nurses in intensive care units before and after work shift delivery report training using the SBAR tool showed a significant statistical difference between the performance scores in all areas before and after the intervention and the scores increased after intervention.
Using the shift work reporting method had a significant effect among the study participants using SBAR tool and improved their performance with regard to work shift delivery report.