Background: Critical thinking is one of the most important concepts in the field of education. Despite studies published on nursing students' critical thinking skills (CTS), some suggest that there is not enough evidence supporting the relationship between content of nursing education programs and nursing students' CTS. Objectives: Given the existing discrepancies, this study aimed to compare the critical thinking skills of freshmen and senior nursing students. Patients and Methods: This comparative study was conducted on 150 undergraduate freshmen and senior nursing students in Kashan University of Medical Sciences, during 2012. The students in the first and the last semesters of their study in nursing were entered in the study using the census method. Data were collected using a questionnaire including questions on demographic data and the California Critical Thinking Skills Test, form B. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS v.13 software. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Moreover, independent sample t-test and Spearman and Pearson's correlation coefficients were used in the data analysis. Results: Both the freshmen and senior nursing students had low CTS. The mean critical thinking scores were 11.79 ± 4.80 and 11.21 ± 3.17 for the freshmen and the senior students, respectively (P = 0.511). Moreover, no significant correlation was found between the students' score in CTS and their age, gender, high school grade point average (GPA), rank in university entrance examination (RUEE) and interest in the nursing profession. Conclusions: The students were low skilled in critical thinking and their CTS did not significantly change during their nursing degree. Thus it may be concluded that the nursing education program did not affect the CTS of its students. Longitudinal studies are suggested for assessing nursing students' critical thinking over time. Moreover, revising the curriculum and preparing nursing educators for implementing innovative and active teaching strategies are suggested.
Background:Patients in coronary care unit are at risk of sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation can be associated with increased blood pressure and heart rate, raising the risk of developing cardiovascular problems among patients hospitalized in coronary care unit.Objectives:This study was carried out to examine the effect of eye mask on sleep quality in cardiac patients.Patients and Methods:In this randomized controlled trial, 60 patients who met the inclusion criteria were selected using a convenient sampling method and randomly allocated into the experimental and control groups. Patients in the control group received routine care. However, in the experimental group, patients received routine care and eye mask for three subsequent nights. In the both groups, the sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh sleep quality index. Data were analyzed by the chi-square test, independent samples t-test, Mann-Whitney U, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests.Results:After the study, the median scores of the subjective sleep quality, the sleep latency, the sleep duration, the habitual sleep efficiency, and the sleep disturbances domains, as well as the median score of overall Pittsburgh sleep quality index in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). However, no significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of the use of sleep medications and the daytime dysfunction domains (P > 0.05).Conclusions:Using eye mask can significantly improve the sleep quality in cardiac patients. Therefore, nurses are recommended to use eye mask in combination with current treatments for improving patients’ sleep quality.
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