Modern Care Journal
Volume:19 Issue: 3, Jul 2022

Controlling and measuring the quality of health services is the first necessary step in providing good services. Hospitals, as the most critical healthcare organization in various countries and communities, need assessment most.

This study aimed to determine the quality assessment methods of hospital services from the patients’ viewpoints based on standard assessment models in Iran.

A narrative literature review was conducted in IranDoc, SID, Magiran, IranMedex, PubMed, Google Scholar, CINAHL, and the World Health Organization (WHO) databases. The relevant English and Persian publications were selected between January 1994 and December 2020. The quality of studies was assessed using the STROBE checklist. A total of 212 articles were found, of which 48 articles related to the purpose of the study were selected according to the inclusion criteria. Quality assessment and data extraction and analysis were performed for all studies.

One of the most widely used methods for assessing the quality of hospital services was the standard SERVQUAL model to assess customer expectations and perceptions of service quality.

The SERVQUAL tool appropriately assesses patients’ satisfaction with hospital services. Therefore, it can be used along with other health system stakeholders’ views to assess the quality of hospital services.

Toxocariasis is a common zoonotic helminthic disease with worldwide distribution. Seroepidemiological data related to human toxocariasis and its risk factors are limited in the east of Iran.

The current study evaluated the seroprevalence of toxocariasis and associated risk factors in clinically healthy individuals aged 18 years or older in eastern Iran.

We took 450 samples from clinically healthy individuals referred to medical laboratories for health screening between March and May 2022 in Birjand, Iran. The seroprevalence of IgG antibody against Toxocara was performed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit (IBL, Germany). Logistic regression was used to analyze the association between toxocariasis and potential risk factors by SPSS 21.0 software. A probability P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The sample included 210 (56.6%)men, and 240 women (53.3%) who were aged 18 to 81 years (mean 35±13 years). The Toxocara ELISA was positive in 36 (8%) individuals. The statistical analysis showed that washing hands before eating (odds ratio (OR) = 0.1, 95% CI: 0.05 - 0.3, P < 0.0001), contact with cats and dogs (OR = 0.1, 95% CI: 0.05 - 0.3, P < 0.00001), and raw meat consumption (OR = 4.8, 95% CI: 2.2 - 11.4), P < 0.0004) were risk factors associated with Toxocara infection.

The relatively low seroprevalence of Toxocarainfection in our study can be caused by environmental and socio-cultural conditions and moderate to high hygiene standards in Birjand. It is suggested that more extensive studies be conducted with larger sample sizes in at-risk groups in this area

The career development of nursing preceptors is key to improving the quality of clinical education. However, there is a lack of sufficient and specific information about the career development of nursing preceptors in Iran.

This study aimed to investigate the nursing preceptors’ career development status.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with the participation of 92 nursing preceptors. Participants were selected by census sampling method from 5 hospitals in Tabriz, Iran. Demographic and 6-dimension career development questionnaires were used to collect data. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 22, and the significance level for all statistical tests was determined to be less than 0.05.

Participants received the highest career development on ethical, cultural, and individual dimensions with mean scores of 3.55 ± 0.471, 3.41 ± 0.525, and 3.38 ± 0.540, respectively. However, they obtained the lowest career development on the organizational, research, and educational dimensions with mean scores of 2.68 ± 0.580, 2.28 ± 0.672, and 2.20 ± 0.690, respectively. Moreover, a comparison of career development based on demographic information showed that female preceptors, preceptors with more than 20 years of work experience, preceptors with master’s degrees, and contract employees had the highest mean scores for career development.

Given the preceptors’ cooperation with nursing faculty as clinical nursing educators and their role in nursing education, officials of nursing faculties should develop specific career development programs (especially in organizational, research, and educational dimensions) and establish an effective relationship between preceptors and professors to enhance nursing students education.

Satisfaction with the field of study can affect the acquisition of knowledge and skills necessary for that profession.

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between satisfaction with the field of study and clinical competence in nursing students.

This descriptive correlational study was performed on 167 nursing students in the seventh and eighth semesters in the School of Nursing and Midwifery of Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch, Iran, from 2020 to 2021. Sampling was done by a purposeful sample method. Data collection tools were the demographic information form, the Satisfaction with the Field of Study Questionnaire, and Students’ Clinical Competency Questionnaire, which were completed by the self-report method. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16 using Pearson correlation coefficient, chi-square test, and t-test and reported by descriptive statistics of mean, standard deviation, frequency, and percentage.

The clinical competence of nursing students in the seventh and eighth semesters was moderate (53.3%), and 56.9% of them were very satisfied with their field of study. A weak positive and significant correlation was obtained between satisfaction with the field of study and the total score of clinical competence (P = 0.001, r = 0.260).

With increasing satisfaction with the field of study, the clinical competence of nursing students increased. This finding emphasizes the need to invest in strategies to promote increased satisfaction with the field of study to help develop the clinical competence of nursing students.

In recent years, biological drugs, including antitumor necrosis factors, have revolutionized the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); however, there is no consensus about the superiority of adalimumab over infliximab.

This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of adalimumab for the management of IBD in the southwest region of Iran.

During this prospective observational study, the patients with active IBD and a history of no response to previous treatments that referred to an IBD clinic were included. Moreover, this study evaluated and compared the effectiveness of treatment, including clinical remission rate, disease activity index (the Mayo score in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and the Crohn’s disease activity index (CDAI) in Crohn’s disease (CD) patients), clinical response, and side effects related to adalimumab injection in 0, 12th, 24th, and 52nd weeks after treatment.

A total of 71 patients, including 42 male and 29 female, with a mean age of 29 years, were included. In this study, 37 and 34 patients were diagnosed with UC (52.1%, 20 male and 17 female) and CD (47.8%, 22 male and 12 female), respectively. The time to remission in the UC group was significantly longer than in the CD group (10.05 and 1.71 months; P < 0.0001). Clinical remission rate (≥ 2 points reduction in the Mayo score) in the 12th week among UC patients after treatment with adalimumab was 67.5% and raised to 100% (all the UC patients) in the 24th and 52nd weeks after treatment. None of the UC patients experienced disease recurrence. In CD patients, the CDAI significantly decreased during the treatment time (P < 0.0001); however, all CD patients (100%) experienced disease recurrence after a mean time of 2.59 ± 0.55 months (within 2 - 4 months) (P < 0.0001). Failure of treatment was observed in 94.1% of CD patients (n = 32); nevertheless, none of the UC patients had treatment failure (P < 0.0001). There were no complications related to adalimumab, and no patients needed colectomy during the study period.

Adalimumab has a positive effect on the improvement of clinical symptoms, reduction of disease activity, prevention of disease recurrence, and need for colectomy in moderate to severe UC patients. However, adalimumab has no efficacy in the improvement of CD patients, and failure of treatment was observed in most of these patients. Adalimumab could be a therapeutic option for the management of UC with prior failure of treatment.

Jaundice is a common neonatal disorder that occurs in most term and preterm infants. Chicory or dandelion flower has long been used in the treatment of jaundice. This study aimed to investigate the effect of common chicory essence and phototherapy on serum bilirubin levels in preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Valiasr Hospital in Birjand, Iran. This in vitro study was conducted on preterm infants with gestational age of less than 37 weeks and weight less than 2500 g. Bilirubin levels in blood samples from 21 infants were measured before and after the addition of chicory essence or distilled water. Then, phototherapy was performed, and bilirubin levels were measured again. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 21). The mean weight of infants was 1542.8 ± 453.5 g. In the chicory essence group, the mean total serum bilirubin was 5.29 ± 1.55 and 0.18 ± 0.07 mg/dL before and after the intervention, respectively (P < 0.001). The mean indirect serum bilirubin was 4.96 ± 1.59 and 0.18 ± 0.07 mg/dL before and after the intervention, respectively (P < 0.001). The mean changes in total bilirubin in the distilled water and chicory groups were 5.15 ± 1.70 and 5.43 ± 1.99 mg/dL, respectively (P = 0.62). The results showed that both distilled water and chicory essence decreased direct and total serum bilirubin concentrations. The indirect bilirubin changes were not significant, and there was no difference in the total bilirubin changes between the two groups. Totally, the chicory essence had no effect on reducing the serum bilirubin level in preterm infants.

Spontaneous hemopneumothorax is an unusual complication of pneumonia caused by COVID-19. This study presents a rare case of hemopneumothorax caused by COVID-19.

A 21-year-old man with no medical or surgical history was visited with left shoulder pain. For two days, he suffered from increased pain in his left shoulder, which extended to his neck and back, and he was unable to lean forward. He had no history of chest trauma and no symptoms such as fever, cough, or gastrointestinal symptoms. After the visit, a chest X-ray (CXR) was ordered, and he was admitted with a diagnosis of pneumothorax. A PCR test was performed on the patient that was positive.

The patient’s pathophysiology of spontaneous Hemopneumothorax disease was unknown. While this is an uncommon complication, spontaneous hemopneumothorax has life-threatening effects at the top of the list of respiratory complications associated with COVID-19.