Aims To evaluate the relationship between mental workload and job performance among nurses providing care to patients with COVID‐19, and to explain the factors predicting their performance. Background The increased workload of health care workers in the COVID‐19 pandemic affects their job performance, causes medical errors, contributes to patients’ mortality and is a major concern for all health care organisations in the world. Methods This cross‐sectional study recruited 139 nurses selected from the ICUs, infectious disease wards and emergency units of two hospitals in Iran. The NASA‐Task Load Index and Paterson's job performance questionnaire were used. Results Mean scores of mental workload and job performance of the nurses were 67.14 ± 30.53 and 37.37 ± 7.36, respectively. A total of 71.95% and 96.4% of the nurses had high mental workload and job performance levels, respectively. The results indicated a weak positive correlation between mental workload and the mean score of job performance( r = .057). Unlike the mental demand ( r = .175, p = .04) and temporal demand ( r = .307, p < .001) that had a significant positive correlation with job performance, frustration had a significant negative correlation with job performance ( r = −.183, p = .032). The following variables explained 33% of the variance of nurses’ job performance: age, gender, type of ward, working shift, experience of providing care to patients with COVID‐19 and frustration. Conclusion The nurses’ mental workload increased during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Given the negative effect of mental workload on the nurses’ behaviour and performance, the rise in their job performance and its weak positive correlation with their mental workload should be further addressed. Implications for Nursing Management The present study results support the need for focusing on implementing strategies such as providing social and psychological support to moderate mental workload and improve job performance of nurses who provide care to patients with COVID‐19.

Background COVID-19 is a public health emergency with a high mortality rate and it reduces the patient’s Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) significantly. This effect is measured in the current study. Methods In a cross-sectional study in Iran, 320 randomly selected treated patients from COVID-19 were studied. To collect the required data, we applied a questionnaire that included socio-demographic factors, clinical characteristics, and questions on the patients’ HRQoL. Time trade-off (TTO) approach was used to measure the lost HRQoL attributed to COVID-19. Besides, we applied a two-limit Tobit regression model to determine the effects of the socio-demographic factors on patients’ health utility and the visual analogue scale approach was used to estimate the perceived total current health status. Results The overall mean (SE) and median (IQR) of the health utility values were 0.863 (0.01) and 0.909 (0.21) respectively. These values for the traders (those who were willing to lose a part of their remaining time of life to avoid the disease) were estimated at 0.793 (0.01) and 0.848 (0.17), respectively. The lowest amount of utility value belonged to the elderly (mean (SE) = 0.742 (0.04); median (IQR) = 0.765 (0.42)) and those living in rural areas (mean (SE)) = 0.804 (0.03); median (IQR) = 0.877 (0.30)). The univariate analysis showed that age, place of residence, and household size had a statistically significant effect on health utility. Moreover, findings of the regression analysis indicated that the participants’ age and hospitalization status were the key determinants of COVID-19 health utility value. Conclusion COVID-19 is associated with a substantial and measurable decrease in HRQoL. This decline in HRQoL can be directly compared with that induced by systemic health states.

Introduction: Medication errors (MEs) are potentially harmful patient safety events in all age groups. MEs are particularly hazardous in the pediatric population, especially with patients who require special attention due to the high incidence and severity of disease. This study aimed to determine the effect of a smartphone messenger application on nursing students’ learning regarding the prevention of MEs in pediatric patients. Methods: We performed this quasi-experimental study with 80 nursing students who were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. We collected the data using a researcher-made checklist. We conducted learning through Telegram, a smartphone messenger application (app), for 3 weeks. We analyzed data using SPSS version 16.0 by utilizing descriptive and inferential statistics, and P < 0.05 was considered to be significant. Results: The mean age of the students was 23.5 ± 2.9 years. The majority of mistakes related to MEs in the control groups included the lack of proper control of the following: high risk medication administration, medication incompatibility interactions, medication administration card, medication dose calculations, adverse drug event recognition, pharmaceutical name recognition during drug selection, aseptic and sterile technique adherence, microbore IV tubing flush practices, IV drip rate adjustment, and medication administration schedules. The mean scores of students’ performance were significantly different in the knowledge of preventing MEs between the 2 groups. (P = 0.022). Conclusions: Smartphone learning with the Telegram messenger app improves nursing student knowledge regarding the prevention of MEs in pediatric patients. We recommend that this form of learning be used in nursing schools to prevent errors related to medication ordering, dosing, and administration.

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Background & Aim: Hospitalization is a challenging experience all children go through in their lives, leading to their utmost anxiety. In this sense, interactive games and activities can help ease this psychological burden. Therefore, we endeavored to determine the effectiveness of a robotic game kit (RGK) on the anxiety of hospitalized preschoolers. Methods & Materials: This non-randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted in a pediatric hospital, Iran, between March and July 2019. 59 participants were assigned to intervention (n=30) or control (n=29) groups through available sampling. Inclusion criteria were Iranian native children aged 3-7 years with communication ability. The RGK was applied in eight sessions at least seven consecutive days of hospitalization. The collected data by using the demographic information form and the preschool anxiety scale (PAS) were analyzed in descriptive, chi-square, t-test, the one-way ANCOVA (analysis of covariance), and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). Results: Two groups were homogenous in terms of demographic variables (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the mean score of PAS before the intervention in the intervention 46.33±15.81 and control groups 37.24±19.65 (p=0.055). However, the mean score of PAS in the intervention group was significantly lower than the control group (P=0.030). Also, using the RGK was effective in two subscales related to separation anxiety and physical injury fears (P=0.034). Conclusion: The modern RGKs could have a significant place in pediatric health care in hospitals. It is thus an undeniable fact that high-quality, comprehensive care can be boosted through RGK based interventions for children encountering stressful situations.

Background & Aims: Feeling of loneliness has a high prevalence among medical students and may affect their physical, mental, and social health. Identifying the factors associated with feeling of loneliness can provide the information needed to design the interventions needed to prevent it. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between lifestyle and loneliness of the students in Urmia university of medical science. Materials & Methods:The present study was a correlational study in which 510 students of different fields of Urmia University of Medical Sciences were selected by stratified random sampling in 2019. Data were collected using the Demographic Characteristics Questionnaire, the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (R-UCLA), and the Standard Lifestyle Questionnaire (LSQ). Then the data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20 using descriptive statistics and Spearman correlation coefficient test. Results:The prevalence of moderate and severe loneliness in this study was 33.5% and 40.3%, respectively. The results showed that from 510 people studied in this study, 89% of them had a stronghealthy lifestyle. The result of Spearman correlational test showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between lifestyle and loneliness (r = -26/26, P = 0.001). Conclusion:The results of this study emphasize the need to pay attention to the state of loneliness and lifestyle in the students, identify situations and causes of intensification of this feeling in this age group, and set up intervention programs to reduce it.

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