Nursing Practice Today
Volume:1 Issue: 2, Spring 2014

Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in males and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Palestine. Although, many studies were conducted in de- veloped countries to evaluate quality of life (QOL) in survivors of prostate cancer, the researchers could not find any study that was conducted in a developing country including Palestine. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the QOL of prostate cancer survivors residing in Gaza Strip, Palestine, as an example of a developing country, and compare it with the literature.Methods & Materials: A total of a 121 men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer and live in Gaza Strip participated in this cross-sectional study. The University of California at Los Angeles Prostate-Specific Index including the RAND 36-Item Health Survey v2 was used to assess QOL of participants. Age of participants’ ranged between 52 and 89 years with a mean of 71.80 (SD 7.66). The greatest majority of participants (n = 94, 77.67%) were diagnosed with prostate cancer after the age of 60. The mean scores for the entire general QOL items was 47.93 (SD = 22.46) and the mean for all Prostate Cancer Index - University of California items was 44.20 (SD = 16.16). Prostate cancer survivors living in Gaza Strip, Palestine have lower level of QOL than their counterparts who live in developed courtiers. These differences could be related to early screening and advanced technology used to treat prostate cancer in developed countries. Health care providers and health care policy makers need to improve provided health care services and introduce screening method to diagnose prostate cancer early. Further studies are recommended to compare QOL of prostate cancer survivors living in developing countries and developed countries.

Family caregivers of patients with heart failure (HF) deal with a wide range of problems related to caregiving that influence their mental health. The aim of this study was to investigate the mental health status of the family caregivers of patients with HF.Methods & Materials: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 90 family caregivers of patients with HF, who referred Shahid Rajaei Cardiovascular Center, were selected through convenience sampling method. The data were collected using General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) for measuring mental health and were also analyzed by SPSS 16, and then processed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation test. The mean score of GHQ-28 was 33.06 ± 14.34 (range: 9–72). The majority of caregivers (74.4%) were suspected cases of mental health disorders. Regarding to instrument subscales, the prevalence of caregivers’ problems were 65.6% in somatic symptoms, 82.2% in anxiety/insomnia, 83.3% in social dysfunction, and 25.6% in depression. The total GHQ-28 score of the caregivers gradually decreased with increasing patient’s age as in the minimum age group of the patients (aged 40 years and lower), the highest mean score of GHQ-28 was observed (P < 0.05). A considerable proportion of family caregivers of patients with HF were suspected cases of mental health disorders. A routine assessment of mental health in this group of caregivers should be considered to identify those at risk. Also, clinical team should design and implement effective programs aimed at improving the mental health, especially in caregiver who provide care for younger patients.

Neonatal period is one of the most high-risk stages of human life affected by some factors associated to pre- and post-delivery stages, such as invasive procedures. Anxiety is found to be one of the most common psychological disorders during prenatal period, especially the third trimester. Until now, significant negative consequences of anxiety on newborn’s health are reported. The main objective for the present research was to determine the correlation between the third tri- mester maternal anxiety and neonatal pain during invasive procedures.Methods & Materials: In this longitudinal study, anxiety was measured using self-administered Spielberger’s State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) for 75 pregnant mothers referred to hospitals of Bandar-Abbas city, Iran, for routine prenatal care during the third trimester of pregnancy and sub- sequently after delivery. The physiologic and behavioral responses of their newborn to pain during invasive procedures were evaluated using the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale. Data analysis was carried out using IBM-SPSS Statistics and descriptive-analytic statistical tests (Pearson correlation). The findings showed no significant correlation between total average scores of the third trimester maternal anxiety and average scores of newborn pain (P = 0.13). However, there was a significant negative correlation between the mother’s trait anxiety and the newborn’s mean pain score (P = 0.04). Based on our findings, it can be concluded that the anxiety of pregnant women during pregnancy may weaken the newborn’s response to pain. This decreased sensitivity to pain in newborns can be a result of rising of maternal stress hormones in response to chronic stressors, which may have negative effects on development of newborns’ nervous system. Therefore, it is necessary to identify and alleviate pregnant women’s anxiety. In addition, more researches can shed light on this issue.

The importance of neonatal jaundice is not only for its social, economic, and psychological complications resulted from hospitalization of neonates in the hospital, but also for the permanent neurological handicaps and its consequent high morbidity. Since Iranian mothers have no, in spite of the importance of matter, appropriate approach in coping with their newborn jaundice, this study aimed to explore mother’s experiences of neonatal jaundice.Methods & Materials: This qualitative study was carried out through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 14 mothers whose infants were hospitalized in one of the hospitals affiliated to Shahrood University of Medical Sciences with a diagnosis of neonatal jaundice. The participants were selected purposefully and the data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Two main themes and several subthemes emerged from the data. The main themes were as follows: mothers’ experiences of jaundice crises and its management, and mothers’ present ex- periences after crisis of jaundice. First theme arranged into four subthemes and second theme was grouped into three subthemes. Mothers’ and grandmothers’ cultural and dietary beliefs have an important impact on mothers’ health-seeking behavior. Educational programs about neonatal jaundice and its manage- ment through prenatal care consulting and mass media is recommended as an important priority for health system of country.

Nurses’ clinical competence is the most important topics of nursing profes- sional influenced by intrinsic motivational factors in addition to external motivational factors. This study is designed to determine the relationship between clinical competence and motivation- al factors from McClelland’s theory of needs that include: need for affiliation, need for achieve- ment and need for power.Methods & Materials: This descriptive–correlation survey was performed on 200 nurses in three hospitals of Babol University of Medical Sciences, by simple random sampling method. Data collection tools for this study were included: demographic information, motivational needs questionnaire, and clinical competence questionnaire. Among 200 questionnaires distributed, 175 questionnaires were collected, of which 171 questionnaires completed (response rate 87.5%), this number exceeded the number was defined by sample size calculation as based sample (165 par- ticipants). The data after collecting were analyzed, using SPSS, statistical software version 19 with descriptive statistics and Pearson tests, ANOVA test, Scheffe test, and t-test. Based on the results of the survey, there was a significant relationship between clinical competence and the motivation need for affiliation (r = 0.377, P = 0.000), need for achievement (r = 0.291, P = 0.000) and need for power (r = 0.200, P = 0.009). As well as corresponding self- assessment nurses, need for achievement with the highest mean of 45.27 ± 6.39 ranked first, need for affiliation with a mean of 44.36 ± 5.83 ranked second and need for power with a mean of 39.24 ± 7.19 was ranked third. In addition, the results showed significant differences in clinical nurses competence of hospital “C” with a mean of 115 ± 14.97 compared with nurses competence of hospital “A” with a mean of 122.55 ± 11.65 and hospital “B” with a mean of 121.67 ± 9.57. There is a significant relationship between motivational needs and clinical compe- tence, hence that the strongest relationship had existed between need for affiliation and clinical competence and the weakest relationship had existed between need for power and clinical compe- tence, so more attention by nursing managers is essential to provide appropriate feedback to steer nurses’ efforts for improving patients’ care.

Universities should play an important role in education commensurate with the expectations of stakeholders and of the community as well. The university professors and teach- ers have critical positions in education. This research aimed to explore the perspective of students in Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) about characteristics of a model teacher.Methods & Materials: Inductive qualitative content analysis was used to explore students’ perspec- tive based on naturalistic philosophy. The participants in this study were 19 students who were en- rolled in various courses at TUMS. To collect data, semi-structured in-depth individual interviews were used. Findings were analyzed using conventional content analysis approach. The results of the study led to the identification of three main themes: teacher’s science, moral imperatives in education, and communication with students. The first and third theme had a subtheme called science and oration and flexibility of classroom atmosphere. Regarding a considerable proportion of family caregivers of patients with heart failure were suspected cases of mental health disorders, routine assessment of mental health in this group of caregivers should be consider to identify those at risk, also clinical team should design and imple- ment effective programs aimed at improving the mental health especially in caregiver who provide care for younger patients.

A significant proportion of the women in reproductive ages suffer from prob- lems such as menstrual irregularities. The aim of this study was to determine the association be- tween menstrual cycle regularity and obesity-related anthropometric indices in students of Kashan University of Medical Sciences in 2012.Methods & Materials: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using a questionnaire through systematic random sampling at dormitory of Kashan University of Medical Sciences from September to October 2012. The questionnaire contained demographic questions, menstrual cycle characteristics, anthropometric measurements and Visual Analog Scale questionnaire for pain. A midwifery student measured obesity-related anthropometric measurements included waist, pelvis, thigh and mid-arm circumference, height and weight. A total of 250 students entered in the study. Mean ± Standard deviation (SD) age of stu- dents was 21.295 ± 1.585 years. Irregular menstruation was seen in 17 students (6.8%). Results showed a significant statistical between menstrual cycles regularity with height (MD = −3.37, confi- dence interval [CI] = −6.039 to 0.703, P = 0.013), body mass index (BMI) (MD = 1.654, CI = 0.199–3.109, P = 0.026), and pelvic-to-height ratio (MD = 0.027, CI = 0.003–0.051, P = 0.023). Mean ± SD duration and interval of menstrual cycles were 6.564 ± 1.3014 and 29.301 ± 4.821 days, respectively. Based on the Pearson correlation index, menstrual intervals showed significant statistical between waist-to-thigh (P = 0.010) and arm-to-thigh (P = 0.019) ratio, but showed no correlation with other anthropometric indices. In the univariate analysis to assess the unadjusted relationships, there were significant statistical between waist-to-thigh and arm-to-thigh ratio with menstrual interval. Due to association between menstrual cycle regularity and obesity-related anthropo- metric indices, control of weight and BMI may lead to a reduction of menstrual irregularity.

Low back pain (LBP) has developed as a major public health problem in the western industrialized societies, and the socio-economic burden of this problem has a huge dimen- sion. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of body mechanics behavior on LBP of workers.Methods & Materials: Descriptive study includes convenience sample of 290 workers who work at car production industry. The research data were collected using: (1) The worker’s socio- demographic data form, (2) the body mechanics behaviors form, and (3) Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) by the researchers. About 90% of the workers are male, 74.8% of them are married, and 36.9% of them are high school graduates. In about 48.3% of the workers the pain recurrence was very mild, in 24.8% of them was moderate, and in 10.3% of them was mild and did not varied much. A signifi- cant difference has been determined between ODI classification and paying attention to the position of spine, while lifting something (P < 0.01), paying attention to the position of head, shoul- der and back, while walking (P < 0.05), paying attention to suitable sitting position (P < 0.05). Workers LBP complaints varied. Complaints were found “minimally disability” to “crippled” on ODI classification. It is clear that body mechanic behaviors of the workers have an influence on ODI.