This study supports the value of health service managers coordinating the appropriate use of international aid in advance. It is suggested that this can be done by better communication with local and foreign constituents. Further, this study indicates that public education and proper pre-event planning help to bring about an effective response to providing healthcare services during a disaster.

Since the existence of work-related stressors is inevitable in nurses' workplace, nurses usually use a variety of coping strategies which can be called cognitive, affective, and behavioral techniques. In this study, we aimed to explore the coping strategies employed by the Iranian clinical nurses in depth. Methods: This work was a qualitative study using Straus and Corbin's grounded theory approach focusing on the process of coping with job stress used by Iranian clinical nurses. Results: The results of the present qualitative study indicate that the core category was "on the route to coping" which contained six categories comprising work management, self-control, emotional, spiritual, cognitive, and interactional strategies. Conclusions: We conclude that in nursing it is inevitable that different kinds of strategies are used to cope with the many stressors. The conceptual model emerging from the data indicate that nurses are engaged in a dynamic process of struggling to cope with job stressors. In fact, they are "on the route to coping" with the job stressors. Considering the high level of stress in the nursing profession, the findings of this study have implications for both hospital managers and Iranian clinical nurses. (J Occup Health 2011; 53: 123-129)

In end-of-life care, it is important for nurses to be able to change the focus of their care when the patient's condition is diagnosed as irreversible. They also need to be well equipped to maintain a balance, thereby preparing themselves for the patient's forthcoming death.