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Background:The practice environment pivotal role in patients and nurses better outcomes is evident. Practice Environment Scale of Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) is widely utilized to assess nursing work environments. The present study was conducted to demonstrate the validity and reliability of the Persian version of PES-NWI.Materials and Methods:The instrument was translated and its psychometrics were investigated by content, construct validity (factor analysis), and homogeneity (internal consistency and intraclass correlation) on a sample of 350 nurses at educational hospitals in East Azerbaijan, Iran.Results:The 30 items loaded onto 4 factors explained 34.95–50.06% of the variance. The items across the factors differed slightly from those reported by the original author of the PES-NWI. Cronbach's alpha and Pearson coefficient for the entire instrument and also for extracted factors was 0.70–0.96.Conclusions:The Persian version of PES-NWI has an appropriate level of validity and reliability in the Iranian setting for nurses. The subscale of Nursing Foundations for quality care needs modification.

Introduction: The overwhelming effects of cancer could be catastrophic for the patients and their family members, putting them at risk of experiencing uncertainty, loss, and an interruption in life. Also, it can influence their sense of meaning, a fundamental need equated with the purpose in life. Accordingly, this study aimed to compare the meaning in life (MiL) of patients with cancer and their family members. Methods: This descriptive comparative study was conducted on 400 patients with cancer and their family members admitted to university hospitals in Tabriz and Ardebil provinces, Iran. The participants were sampled conveniently and the Life Evaluation Questionnaire (LEQ) were used for collecting data analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS ver. 13 Software. Results: The mean score for the MiL of the patients with cancer and their family members was 119 (16.92) and 146.2 (17.07), respectively. There was a significant difference between patients with cancer and their family members in terms of MiL. Conclusion: The MiL of patients with cancer is lower than that of their family members, which indicates the need for further attention to the psychological processes and their modification in Iranian healthcare systems

Background and Aim: Anxiety is among the commonest psychological problems experienced by patients receiving hemodialysis. One of the anxiety management strategies is complementary therapy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of slow-stroke back massage on anxiety among hemodialysis patients. Methods: This randomized controlled clinical trial was carried out in a sample of 60 patients. The patients were allocated either to an experimental or a control group through simple random allocation. Patients in the experimental group received a slow-stroke back massage for 10 minutes thrice a week during 4 consecutive weeks, while patients in the control group received routine care services and had no information about the intervention provided to the patients in the experimental group. The level of anxiety was measured using Splielberger's State-trait anxiety inventory at 3 time points, namely, after hemodialysis and before the intervention, 15 days after the intervention, and 30 days after the intervention. Data were entered into SPSS software (v. 16.0) and analyzed through running the repeated measures analysis of variance and the independent-sample t-test. Descriptive statistic measures were used for data description. Results:The repeated measures analysis of variance showed that slow-stroke back massage significantly alleviated state and trait anxiety at 15 and 30 days after the intervention (P < 0.001). Thirty days after the intervention, the means of state anxiety in the experimental and control groups were 34.7 ± 7.4 and 46.2 ± 7.3 while the means of trait anxiety were 35.2 ± 8.4 and 46.2 ± 7.4, respectively. The means of the pretest-posttest mean difference of state anxiety on the 15th and 30th day after the intervention in the experimental group were 10.6 ± 8.5 and 12.8 ± 7.2 while the means of the trait anxiety pretest-posttest mean difference were 7.7 ± 8.2 and 10.7 ± 3.4, respectively. The means of posttest state and trait anxiety in the experimental group were significantly lower than the baseline values (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Using massage therapy programs can positively affect the level of anxiety among patients receiving hemodialysis.