Nursing and Midwifery Studies
Volume:2 Issue: 2, Apr-Jun 2013

Context: Men entering the nursing profession have been investigated from several different perspectives. Due to male gender characteristics and existing public image, nursing is often not considered as a career choice by men. Whether nursing would benefit from increased number of men is a key question in the literature. The purpose of this integrative review of the literature was to identify factors influencing men to enter the nursing profession. In addition, it sought to understand the challenges they are confronted within this profession.. Evidence Acquisition: A systematic search of the existing literature was performed using an Internet search with broad keywords to access related articles in both Persian and English databases. Finally, 34 studies (written between 2000 and early 2013) were selected and surveyed.. Most of the studies were conducted in developed counties. The review identified reasons why males choose nursing, and other challenges facing men entering and working in nursing. Themes that emerged from the literature include educational and societal barriers experienced by men in nursing, recruitment, career choice, and role strain.. Regarding men’s influences on professional development, and also the importance of gender-based caring, policies for recruitment and retention of men in nursing must be followed hastily. However, there is a need for further research regarding the challenges faced by men entering nursing, in both Iran and other developing countries..

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) is a common problem in women. Zataria multiflora Boiss is a valuable plant. This herbal plant has been used in different conditions.. The study was performed to investigate the effects of Zataria multiflora Boiss to control PMS symptoms.. This study was a double-blinded, prospective randomized trial. The study population was the college students living in the dormitories of Isfahan University. Eighty-eight eligible students were randomly divided to intervention and control groups. Students completed the prospective record of the impact and severity of menstrual symptoms (PRISM) calendar including 30 PMS symptoms for four menstrual cycles (two cycles before, and two after the intervention). The intervention group received pearls containing 20 mg of Zataria multi-flora essence (four pearls each day) for two menstrual cycles, seven days before menstruation. The mean difference of PMS severity score between groups was analyzed with Mann-Whitney U test. The difference in frequency score of symptoms was analyzed using repeated-measure analysis of variance.. Thirty-eight students in intervention and 37 students in placebo group completed the study. The groups had no significant difference regarding the severity of PMS. Both groups showed a significant improvement in PMS severity score after the intervention. The repeated-measure analysis of variance showed that the frequency of symptoms decreased significantly in the cycles, but it was not different in intervention and placebo groups.. Our findings did not support the use of Zataria multiflora Boiss in premenstrual syndrome..

Self-care self-efficacy in patients with end stage renal disease, waiting for kidney transplantation, probably decreases due to facing new conditions and side effects of treatment.. The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of educating health promotion strategies on self-care self-efficacy in patients undergoing kidney transplantation..Patients and A double blind randomized clinical trial was conducted on 52 patients undergoing kidney transplantation in Baqiyatallah Hospital in 2012. Patients were randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. The questionnaire of Strategies Used by People to Promote Health (SUPPH) was employed to measure self-care self-efficacy. At first, the two groups filled the questionnaire. Then, the intervention group was trained regarding health promotion strategies within 4 sessions before the transplantation. The control group was trained according to routine protocol of the transplantation unit. Then, the two groups were followed up for two months, and reassessed at the end of the first and second months after the transplantation. The data were analyzed by descriptive and analytic statistics including independent samples T test, Chi square and repeated measures ANOVA.. In the intervention group, the mean of total self-care self-efficacy was 106.96 ± 25.1 at first, and changed to 135.81 ± 9.65 and 111.19 ± 12.45 after the first and second post-test respectively (P = 0.001). In the control group, the mean of total self-care self-efficacy was 112.73 ± 14.33 at first, and changed to 118.58 ± 17.59 and 108.73 ± 15.93 after the first and second post-test respectively (P = 0.001). Significant differences were observed between the two groups in the first post-test regarding total score of self-care self-efficacy (P = 0.001) and dimensions of reduction of stress (P = 0.001), enjoying life (P = 0.01), and coping (P = 0.001). The mean scores of the intervention group were higher than those of the controls in all domains of self-care self-efficacy in the second post-test. However, the difference was only significant in decision-making dimension (P = 0.04).. Educating health promotion strategies was effective in improving self-care self-efficacy in patients undergoing kidney transplantation. Establishment of a holistic caring program is suggested to integrate the pre-transplantation educations with a continual post discharge follow-up..

Hypertension is a dangerous risk factor for public health. It profoundly affects the patients’ quality of life. However, there is lack of agreement on the best method for self-care management in patients with hypertension.. This study was conducted to compare the effect of lecture and educational pamphlets on quality of life (QOL) in patients with primary hypertension.. Patients and A quasi-experimental study was performed on 90 patients with chronic primary hypertension referred to two outpatient clinics in Kashan city. Patients were randomly divided into three groups including lecture group, educational package group, and control group. The participants’ quality of life was measured using the SF-36 questionnaire at the beginning of the study, and two months later. Data was analyzed using ANOVA and Chi-Square tests.. No significant differences were observed between the three groups for demographics characteristics and QOL before the intervention except for marital status. Mean scores of QOL dimensions of the intervention groups were increased at the end of the study, except for the dimension of bodily pain. Tukey post-Hoc test showed that except for general health, the two intervention groups were not significantly different in other dimensions, and significant differences were observed between the control group and the two intervention groups (P < 0.05). At start and the end of the study, the mean differences in the general health dimension in three groups were 2.25 ± 0.1, 0.07 ± 0.01, and -1.70 ± 0.01 respectively. There were significant differences among groups (P = 0.04).. Lecture and educational package can both improve some dimensions of the QOL in patients with hypertension. However, as pamphlets are cheap and easy to use, this method may be used as an effective method for self-care education in health care settings in Iran, where the system is faced with nursing shortage..

Justice has gained much attention in social and human studies and has many consequences on employees and the organizations, especially on health system workers such as nurses who are among the key factors in health care systems.. The purpose of this study was to investigate perception of organizational justice among nurses in educational hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS), and to compare the results of general and specialty hospitals.. In this research, 400 nurses at SUMS hospitals were selected by random sampling method. A 19-item questionnaire was applied to measure distributive, procedural and interactional justice. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, including percentage, frequency, mean, and standard deviation. Also, the t-test and one way ANOVA were used to measure the differences between different hospitals and wards.. Of 400 nurses, 66% perceived a high level of organizational justice. In this study the mean scores of total perceived organizational justice (P = 0.035), procedural justice (P = 0.031), and interactional justice (P = 0.046) in specialty hospitals were higher than general ones. Furthermore, the mean score of interactional justice was higher than the other components of organizational justice, respectively 3.58 ± 1.02 for general and 3.76 ± 0.86 for specialty hospitals. Significant differences were observed between overall perceived justice (P = 0.013) and its components (P = 0.024, P = 0.013, and P = 0.036) in different wards.. Most nurses who participated in this study had a high perception of organizational justice. The mean score of organizational justice was higher in specialty hospitals. Health care policy makers and hospital managers should support their employees, especially nurses through fairness in distributions, procedures, and interactions..

Nursing students’ self-efficacy is a predictor for their educational progress. Students, who believe that they can be successful in their studies, are more confident. Therefore, many universities have focused on life skills training programs to improve the mental health of their students.. This study was conducted to evaluate and compare self-efficacy in two groups of nursing students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). One group of students was trained on life skill programs, and the second group was not trained on the issue.. A case-control study was conducted on two groups of nursing students in TUMS in the late 2012. The case group (n = 112) had passed life skills training course, and the control group (n = 139) was not trained on the issue. Data was collected using a questionnaire containing 12 questions about demographic features, and the Sherer’s general self-efficacy questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using independent sample t-test, Chi-square, odds ratio, and Fisher’s exact test.. In the untrained and trained groups, 23% and 8% of the students had very high self-efficacy, respectively. The overall mean scores of self-efficacy were 41.99 ± 9.31 and 38.99 ± 10.48 in the trained and untrained groups, respectively (P = 0.015), and the higher mean score indicates lower level of self-efficacy. A significant difference was also found between the self-efficacy and family income (P = 0.029).. The present study showed that life skills training program did not affect self-efficacy of nursing students. Perhaps, the methods used in education were influencing and then, more effective techniques such as role-play and group discussion should be substituted in life skills training..

Course failing and delayed graduation are important concerns in educational systems. The reasons of these educational failures need to be clarified.. This study was designed to determine the academic failure rate and its predictors in Nursing and Midwifery Students in Kashan University of Medical Sciences.. In this cross-sectional study, the records of all the students graduated in Nursing and Midwifery faculty during 18 years (1986 - 2003) were evaluated (1174 graduates). The demographic variables and the educational situation were recorded. The frequency of course repetition, probation, and delayed graduation were determined and the data were analyzed using the chi-square and logistic regression tests.. The frequency of course repetition, probation, and delayed graduation was reported to be 19.25%, 3.9% and 19.85%, respectively. Gaining Low grade in high school, transferring from other universities, having special quota, and transferring temporarily to other universities were mentioned as the risk factors of academic failure. The major had a significant relationship with academic failure. Day time students had more course failure and night time students stayed longer in the university.. The individual characteristics, educational background and admission criteria had showed relation with academic failure. Vulnerable students should be identified and educational supports should be provided for these students.

Good nutrition, a balanced diet and regular physical activity are foundations of good health. Research has found that dietary patterns change dramatically following the arrival of students in a foreign country. However, nutritional status of Iranian students studying oversea has never been investigated.. The objective of this study was to determine factors associated with body weight status of Iranian postgraduate students in Universiti of Putra Malaysia (UPM).. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the body weight status of 210 Iranian postgraduate students aged between 22 and 55 years in University of Putra Malaysia. The associations between body weight status and socio demographics factors and also lifestyle factors (smoking and physical activity) were assessed. Anthropometric factors (height, weight, BMI and waist and hip circumferences) were measured. Chi-square, Spearman Rho and Pearson tests were used for data analysis.. From a total of 210 postgraduate students 110 were females, and 100 males. No significant correlation was observed between smoking and BMI (P = 0.4). However, statistically significant correlations were observed between gender (P = 0.007), physical activity (P = 0.02), using protein (P = 0.005), carbohydrate (P = 0.002), fat (P = 0.001), fiber (P = 0.003), vitamin C (P = 0.04), calcium (P = 0.005), waist circumference (P = 0.02), hip circumference (P = 0.001), Waist to Hip Ratio (P = 0.002), and BMI.. The nutritional behavior of university students was poor. Therefore, it is essential to encourage young people, including university students to enrich their diets with milk, beans, fruit, and vegetables to decrease the risks of nutrition related disorders.