Background:Few studies, especially in Iran, have assessed the status of family participation in the care of the hospitalized patients.Objectives:This study was conducted to assess why family members partake in caregiving of their patients in hospitals, the type of care that family provide, and the outcomes of the participation in the opinions of nurses and family members.Patients and Methods:In this comparative-descriptive study, data was collected by a two- version researcher-developed questionnaire, from 253 family members of patients by quota sampling method and 83 nurses by census sampling method from wards which had licensed for entering the families. Each questionnaire has three sections: the care needs of the patients which family participated to provide, the reasons to take part, and the outcomes of this collaborative care. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and also chi-squared test through SPSS software version 11.5.Results:The patients received more unskilled and non- professional nursing care from their family members. Most of the nurses and families believed that family participation is both voluntary and compulsory. The shortage of personnel in different categories of nursing and speeding up the patient-related affairs were the most important outcome of the participation, from the nurses’ viewpoint was speeding up the patient-related affairs and from the side of the family members, it was the patients’ feeling of satisfaction from the presence of one of their relatives beside them.Conclusions:Co understanding, skillfulness and competence of families and nurses in collaboration with each other were not good enough.Few studies, especially in Iran, have assessed the status of family participation in the care of the hospitalized patients.

Introduction: Menopause is a natural part of women's lives, which is associated with physical and mental changes and can lead to uncertainty and consequent undesirable effects in the lives of menopausal women. The present study was conducted to compare the impact of multimedia and booklet educational methods on the uncertainty about menopause during this transition period. Materials and methods: In a cluster randomized trial 68 women aged 45-55 years were randomly allocated into two groups: multimedia and booklet. Data were collected using knowledge and uncertainty questionnaires about menopause in three stages, i.e. before intervention, immediately after intervention (two weeks later), and one month later. Repeated-measures analysis of variance (rANOVA) was used to compare knowledge and uncertainty scores between two groups for the duration of the study. Data were analysed using SPSS software and p values < 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Results: The results of the study indicated a high level of uncertainty in both groups before the implementation of the educational program. There was no significant difference between groups in terms of knowledge and uncertainty about menopause over time (p > 0.05). However, we found a significant increase in knowledge and a significant decrease in uncertainty scores in both groups (p < 0.001) after the interventions. Conclusions: Although the findings of this study did not show a significant difference between the effect of multimedia and booklet educational methods in postmenopausal women, the high level of uncertainty of women before intervention and its significant reduction after the implementation of the educational programs indicated the importance of education throughout this period.

Background:Despite the benefits of the objective structured assessment of technical skills (OSATS) and it appropriateness for evaluating clinical abilities of nursing students , few studies are available on the application of this method in nursing education.Objectives:The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of using OSATS and traditional methods on the students’ learning. We also aimed to signify students’ views about these two methods and their views about the scores they received in these methods in a medical emergency course.Patients and Methods:A quasi-experimental study was performed on 45 first semester students in nursing and medical emergencies passing a course on fundamentals of practice. The students were selected by a census method and evaluated by both the OSATS and traditional methods. Data collection was performed using checklists prepared based on the ‘text book of nursing procedures checklists’ published by Iranian nursing organization and a questionnaire containing learning rate and students’ estimation of their received scores. Descriptive statistics as well as paired t-test and independent samples t-test were used in data analysis.Results:The mean of students’ score in OSATS was significantly higher than their mean score in traditional method (P = 0.01). Moreover, the mean of self-evaluation score after the traditional method was relatively the same as the score the students received in the exam. However, the mean of self-evaluation score after the OSATS was relatively lower than the scores the students received in the OSATS exam. Most students believed that OSATS can evaluate a wide range of students’ knowledge and skills compared to traditional method.Conclusions:Results of this study indicated the better effect of OSATS on learning and its relative superiority in precise assessment of clinical skills compared with the traditional evaluation method. Therefore, we recommend using this method in evaluation of students in practical courses.

No abstract

Aims: This study aimed to compare the effects of self-care education using focus group discussion and teach-back method on the lifestyle promotion of pregnant women. Methods & Materials: In this randomized field trial, participants were 90 pregnant women referred to the community health centers in Gonabad, Iran with no history of physical and psychological problems that can affect their self-care. They were randomly selected from among the three health centers and divided into three groups of focus group discussion, teach-back, and control. The data collection tools were a demographic form, and Walker’s Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP) questionnaire completed before and one month after the intervention. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS v. 20 software using independent t-test, paired t-test and ANOVA. The P-value <0.05 was set as the significance level. Findings: There was no significant difference between the three groups in terms of educational level (P=0.029), occupation (P=0.090), income (P=0.099), and gestational age (P=0.741), and they were homogeneous. After intervention, all aspects of health-promoting lifestyle (except stress management) in two groups of teach-back (P<0.001) and focus group discussion (P<0.001) were significantly improved compared to the control group (P=0.66). In comparing the two educational methods, focus group discussion had a more significant impact on the lifestyle than the teach-back method. Conclusion: Focus group discussion method is recommended for the self-care education of pregnant women.