Background: Job satisfaction is an important factor in health care settings. This concept is not a single factor; rather, it is the product of factors such as the conditions and relationships that govern the workplace, the organizational system of employment, and social, cultural, and economic factors. Therefore, awareness of its related factors is important for medical staff including nurses in special units and nursing managers. The aim of the present study was to investigate job satisfaction challenges in intensive care unit (ICU) nurses. Methods: This was a qualitative study using conventional content analysis approach. This study was performed in a general ICU of Amol City, Iran. Thirteen nurses employed in the ICU were recruited until data saturation was reached. Research data were collected through interviews, a focus group and field notes. Findings were analyzed using a conventional method. Results: According to data analysis, 6 themes including "nursing education", "organizational resources", "management", "multiple occupational stresses", "professional performance" and "professional identity" were developed. Conclusion: This study provided better and clearer understanding of job satisfaction challenges of nurses working in an ICU. The findings of this research can be helpful in developing management programs for understanding the factors affecting job satisfaction of nurses and job satisfaction promotion.

Nurses stated that the neglect of the professional status of nursing and distrust of nursing knowledge have always been a hindrance in forming a positive professional identity. They also mentioned that unprofessional performance and low professional attraction are the other influencing factors in this regard. Thus, detecting these factors can guide nurses and their managers towards creating positive professional identity, and as a result, will improve their job satisfaction, professional advancement, and durability.

ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to determine the levels of job satisfaction and to collect information about the factors affecting job satisfaction of Iranian ICU hospital nurses.ResultsThe participants included 124 nurses working in the ICU section of hospitals in the city of Amol in Iran, who were selected by census method. The instruments for gathering the information included Demographic Information Questionnaire and also the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. The results revealed that the average score of job satisfaction among ICU nurses was 2.50 ± 0.51. Also job satisfaction among women was higher than men (P = 0.03, t = 0.4). One way analysis of variance showed a significant relation between job satisfaction level with employment status and overtime work. Also older nurses had higher levels of job satisfaction. Hospital directors and managers, can use the results of this study in order to have a deeper understanding of job satisfaction among nurses, and the factors affecting it.

Background Nursing is a caring profession. Due to the nature of their work, nurses need to have the moral courage to deliver safe nursing care. Research results have reported a low level of moral courage in the majority of nurses. The current study aimed to identify the barriers to show moral courage in Iranian nurses. Methods This study was qualitative research that was conducted using conventional content analysis. Data was gathered using in-person, semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Interviews were conducted from March to September 2020. Purposeful sampling was used and sampling was continued until data saturation was reached. Participants were 19 nurses working in hospitals in Iran. Results According to data analysis, six categories and three themes were extracted. Themes are “organizational failure”, “deterrent personal identity” and “defeated professional identity”. Conclusions The results of this study revealed the barriers to show moral courage which were usually overlooked in previous quantitative studies. It appears that the elimination of these barriers is an effective step in the improvemalet of nurses’ competencies. The results of this study can be helpful in the developmalet of programs to address the factors affecting nurses’ moral courage.

Introduction: In order to improve nurses' critical performance and the quality of nursing care, nursing education must not only provide nursing students with specialized knowledge, but also develop their critical thinking skills. For nurses and nursing students to be efficient, they must be capable of critical thinking. The present study aimed to examine nursing students' disposition toward critical thinking and its relationship with their academic performance. Methods: This was a descriptive correlational study conducted in 2014. The sample consisted of 120 nursing students from the Nursing Faculty of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Through convenience sampling, the researchers selected the subjects from among the first-, second-, third-, and fourth-year students in the second semester. The data collection instrument was a two-part questionnaire: part one consisted of questions related to demographics, and part two was Ricketts' Critical Thinking Disposition Questionnaire. With a minimum score of 33 and a maximum of 165. The students' academic performance was measured on the basis of their total average grades. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics in SPSS 16. Results: The results showed that the mean and standard deviation of the nursing students' disposition toward critical thinking was 116.4 ± 10.09. Furthermore, the results of Pearson's correlation test showed that there was no significant correlation between the scores of subjects' disposition toward critical thinking and their total average grades (P = 0.85, r = 0.02). In addition, there was no significant correlation in disposition toward critical thinking scores with age, gender and years of academic study (P > 0.05). Conclusions: With regards to the score, it can be concluded that the disposition of students to critical thinking was significant. Accordingly, and due to the disposition of students, it is required to include techniques and methods for improving this kind of thinking in their trainings, which is essential for providing quality care.