The effect of emotional freedom techniques on test anxiety in Iranian Paramedical students: a randomized controlled trial study

Background

Based on evidences, there has been no study conducted on the effects of emotional freedom techniques on Iranian medical students. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the impact of emotional freedom techniques on examination anxiety in Iranian nursing and allied students.

Methods

This randomized controlled clinical trial study was conducted in 2021. The sample included students from the School of Nursing and Midwifery and the School of Paramedical Sciences enroled from the second to eighth semesters. Based on inclusion criteria, 30 students were assigned to each group. The test anxiety questionnaire was utilized to assess the test anxiety of students. The educational sessions in the intervention group were structured according to the Church's educational package and were delivered in six non-face-to-face (online) sessions, each lasting 45 min, once a week. In the control group, no intervention was implemented. All statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics software version 24 (IBM SPSS Statistics).

Results

The mean age of students in the intervention and control groups were 25.22±1.85 and 22.80±1.80 years, respectively. After the intervention, the mean examination anxiety in the experimental group (50.88) significantly decreased to within the moderate range (25-75), compared to the mean examination anxiety in the control group (65.36) within the same range (P<0.001). Furthermore, the ANCOVA analysis indicated that the group and examination anxiety before the intervention were statistically significant.

Conclusion

This positive impact on test anxiety is particularly promising for medical sciences students, who often endure heightened stress levels due to the rigorous nature of their studies and the demands of their profession.

A comparative study of religious beliefs, spiritual intelligence and spiritual well-being in two therapies based on education (anonymous drug user) and methadone in drug user in Iran

OBJECTIVE

Prevention of high-risk behaviors has always been considered; According to the researches, a person's religious attitudes and beliefs and intelligence quotient are associated with the prevention of high-risk behaviors such as drug addiction, and religiosity and spirituality also reduce drug addiction; Therefore, this study was conducted to compare religious beliefs, intelligence and spiritual health in two methods of education-based treatment and methadone in people with addiction.

RESULTS

A comparative study was performed among 184 people on all drug users admitted to these wards that treated with methadone and participants of meetings of anonymous drug users. Four questionnaires were used to collect information. Mean, and standard deviation were used to describe the demographic characteristics of participants. Chi-square and fisher tests were used to compare demographic information in the two groups. The present study was performed following acquisition of the code of ethics (IR.BUMS.REC.1395.156) from Research Ethics Committee of Birjand University of Medical Sciences.

Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on perceived stress among patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: A randomized controlled trial

PURPOSE

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on perceived stress of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

DESIGN AND METHODS

This was a randomized clinical trial in which the patients under coronary intervention were allocated to two groups, intervention and control by using block randomization. The experiment group received eight sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy. The patients' perceived stress was measured before, immediately, and 1-month post ntervention.

FINDINGS

The results showed the perceived stress scores changed significantly in the intervention group compared with the control group immediately and 1 month after the intervention. Therefore, the perceived stress level significantly reduced in the patients of the intervention group (p < 0.001).

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Cognitive-behavioral therapy significantly reduced perceived stress in patients undergoing PCI.

Factors associated with disordered feeding among high school students in Kerman City, Iran

BACKGROUND

Mental health problems and disordered eating, are more common in adolescents. This study investigated relationship between mental health and disordered eating in high school girls in southeast Iran.

METHODS

This cross-sectional descriptive correlational study accomplished in high school girls of Kerman at the southeast of Iran in 2019. Using three parts demographic, Standard General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and Eating Attitudes questionnaire, (Eat-26) with three subscales: eating habits, desire to eat and oral control. We investigated high school girl's mental health and relationship with disordered eating with cluster sampling method (600 high school girl). Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the association between significant variables and the risk of General Health (Yes/No) and Eating attitude (Yes/No). Spearman correlation test, Mann-Witheny U test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used, and Significant level was considered at P < 0.05.

RESULTS

A direct and significant relationship between mental health and disordered eating (r = 0/19, P < 0.001). In other words, the higher the mental health disorder score, the higher the disordered eating score, and the higher disordered eating score, the higher mental problems. There was a direct and significant relationship between mental health and all aspects of disordered eating including eating habits (r = 0/12, P < 0.05), desire to eat (r = 0/1, P < 0.05) and oral control (r = 0/14, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

It seems that the disordered eating and mental health have a determinant role in relationship with each other. Therefore, prevention and health promotion programs should be implemented to improve female adolescent mental health and reduce disordered eating.

Iranian nurses' perspective of barriers to sexual counseling for patients with myocardial infarction

Background

Sexual counseling is an essential part of cardiac rehabilitation. This study aimed to investigate Iranian nurses’ perceptions of barriers to sexual counseling for patients with myocardial infarction.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included 169 nurses who worked in CCUs, Post CCUs, and cardiac surgery wards of teaching hospitals in southeastern Iran. The barriers to providing sexual counseling inventory was used to assess sexual counseling barriers for patients with myocardial infarction. SPSS 19 was used to analyze the data. The significance level was 0.05. This study lasted from November 2019 to March 2020.

Results

The results showed that the highest mean scores for patient-related barriers were related to the patient’s religion and belief (2.83 ± 0.52) and embarrassment (2.82 ± 0.52 %). The highest scores for nurse-related barriers were related to nurse’s discomfort in discussing sexual issues (2.67 ± 0.62), a lack of experience in sexual counseling (2.62 ± 0.65), and sexual hesitation in advising patients (2.57 ± 0.7). The highest mean scores for organizational barriers were a lack of managerial attention and support for counseling (2.67 ± 0.66) and a lack of proper supervision system (2.62 ± 0.72).

Conclusions

Religion/beliefs, embarrassment and a lack of managerial attention and support for counseling were the most important barriers in the organizational, nursing and patient domains. Since sexuality is a significant issue in most cultures and religions, particularly in Islamic countries, health care professionals should work to change the attitudes of patients towards sexuality through sexual health education and counseling to meet patients’ needs and improve their sexual health.

Sexual counseling to patients with myocardial infarction: Nurses' performance, responsibility and confidence

Background & Aim: One of the main concerns in patients with myocardial infarction is that there is no return to sexual activities. Sexual counseling is an interaction between patient and nurse that requires appropriate performance, responsibility, and confidence. The present study aimed to determine nurses' performance, responsibility, and confidence in sexual counseling of myocardial infarction patients. Methods & Materials: This descriptive/analytical cross-sectional study was carried out on 180 nurses from the cardiac care unit (CCU) at the hospitals located in southeastern Iran in 2018. Sampling was performed with the census method; and the data collection tool was a demographic information form and questionnaire, involving nurses' performance, responsibility, and confidence in sexual counseling of cardiac patients. Information was analyzed using SPSS software (ver.18) through descriptive and inferential statistics, including t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient. The significance level was considered as 0.05. Results: The mean of total performance scores in the nurses was 14.54 ± 4.4, indicating the average performance of nurses in the sexual counseling of myocardial infarction patients. The total mean score of responsibility was 14.32±2.7, indicating their average responsibility in sexual consultation. The total mean score of confidence was 12.86±2.35, indicating their average confidence in the sexual counseling of cardiac patients. Conclusion: The present research showed that nurses’ performance and confidence were not high or acceptable in the sexual counseling of patients with a myocardial infarction, which can lead to some dangerous events such as recurrent myocardial infarction or sudden death. Thus, holding some workshops or training related to the sexual counseling of the patients can assist nurses to be better in this case.

Barriers of Palliative Care in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

Objective:

Neonatal nurses face numerous barriers in providing end-of-life (EOL) care for neonates and their families. Addressing neonatal nurses’ attitudes could provide insight into barriers that impede neonatal palliative care (NPC). This study thus conducted to examine neonatal nurses’ attitude toward barriers in providing NPC in Southeast Iran.

Method:

In this cross-sectional study, a translated modified version of Neonatal Palliative Care Attitude Scale was used to examine attitudes of 70 nurses toward barriers of palliative care in 3 neonatal intensive care units in Southeast Iran.

Results:

Findings indicated that overall 42.63% of nurses were strongly agreed or agreed with the proposed barriers in NPC. Among all categories, the highest and the lowest scores belonged to the categories of “insufficient resources” (3.42 ± 0.65) and “inappropriate personal and social attitudes” (2.33 ± 0.48), respectively. Neonatal nurses who had less education and study regarding NPC reported the presence of more barriers to NPC in the categories of “inappropriate organizational culture” and/or “inadequate nursing proficiency.” Also, younger nurses had more positive attitudes toward the category of inappropriate organizational culture as being a barrier to provision of NPC (4.62).

Conclusion:

The findings suggest that developing a context-based instrument is required to represent the barrier more precisely. Neonatal palliative care can be improved by establishing a special environment to focus on infants’ EOL care. This establishment requires standard palliative care guidelines and adequate NPC-trained nurses.

Being Under the Umbrella of Persistent Grief: Experiences of Survivors of Bam Earthquake

The loss of a loved one is a highly stressful event that nearly everyone experiences. Multiple losses can leave relatives feeling overwhelmed or stuck in their grief, a phenomenon commonly referred to as bereavement overload. This study aimed to elucidate the meaning of prolonged grief from the viewpoint of the survivors of the Bam earthquake (Iran, December 2003) 11 years after the earthquake in south eastern Iran. Family members who lost loved ones in the Bam earthquake were considered potential participants. A total of 12 survivors participated in this study. The interviews were analyzed with Ricoeur's phenomenological hermeneutic method. The meaning of prolonged grief was comprehensively understood as "being under the umbrella of persistent grief." This can be divided into four themes: experiencing a divine and painful destiny, experiencing heartbreaking goodbye with loved ones, losing all hopes and dreams, and being in a state of fragile peace. The results in this study suggest survivors of the Bam earthquake grief can be moderated by adequate crisis-related coping resources such as social, cultural, and religious supports. These supports are clearly important to survivors' post-earthquake recovery.

Critical care nurses' attitude towards life-sustaining treatments in South East Iran

BACKGROUND

Life-sustaining treatments (LSTs) may prolong life but greatly decrease the quality of death. One factor influencing decision-making about withholding and withdrawing these treatments is the attitude of nurses. This study aimed to evaluate the attitude of critical care nurses towards life-sustaining treatments in South East Iran.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, "Ethnicity and Attitudes towards Advance Care Directives Questionnaire" was used to investigate the attitude of 104 critical care nurses towards life-sustaining treatments in three hospitals affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

RESULTS

The findings of this study indicated that although a majority of critical care nurses (77%) did not have personal desire for use of LSTs including CPR and mechanical ventilation, they had moderately negative to neutral attitude towards general use of LSTs (2.95 of 5).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that nurses' attitude towards LSTs can be changed by inclusion of specific courses about death, palliative care and life-sustaining treatments in undergraduate and postgraduate nursing curricula. Educating Muslim nurses about religious aspects of LSTs may also improve their attitudes.