Excessive dependence of preschool children on their parents has led to a significant increase in the incidence of home injuries. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate factors influencing the knowledge and attitudes of mothers in this group regarding their adoption of preventive measures for home injuries. The subjects in this descriptive/analytical study consisted of all mothers of preschool children with home injuries, who had referred to the emergency department of Imam Hussein Hospital and Shohada-e-Haftome Tir Hospital in Tehran, Iran. After knowledge levels and attitudes of mothers were divided into two groups, multivariate logistic regression analysis and chi-squared test were used. Finally, 230 mothers, with a mean age of 29.4 ± 5.2 years, were evaluated, 75.0% of whom had good knowledge and 46.2% had positive attitudes. High school education, mothers' employment and mothers' absence from home for at least 8 hours a day were the factors predicting poor attitudes of mothers. There was a close correlation between mothers' knowledge and attitudes. The results of this study showed that mothers' high educational status, absence, occupation and the number of children in the family and history of accidents during the previous 3 weeks are important predicting factors.

Purpose A quality management system (QMS) is defined as interacting activities, methods and procedures used to monitor, control and improve service quality. The purpose of this paper is to describe the QMS status using the Quality Management System Index (QMSI) in hospitals affiliated to Shahid Beheshti Medical Sciences University in Tehran, Iran. Design/methodology/approach In this cross-sectional study, 28 hospitals were investigated. A validated 46-item questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, independent student’s t-test and regression analysis. Findings The mean QMSI score was 18.4: 15.3 for public and 20.9 for non-public hospitals (p=0.001). The lowest (1.96) and the highest (2.14) scores related to “Quality policy documents” and “Quality monitoring by the board,” respectively. The difference between public and non-public hospitals was significant in all nine QMSI dimensions (p=0.001). The QMSI score was higher in non-public and small hospitals than in public and large ones (p=0.05). Originality/value Most QMS studies come from developed countries, and there is no systematic information about the mechanisms and processes involved in implementing QMS in developing countries like Iran. This is the first study on Iranian hospital QMS using a newly developed tool (QMSI), and results showed that QMS maturity in these hospitals was relatively good, but the non-public hospitals status (private and charity) was far better than public hospitals.

BackgroundThe emergency department (ED) is one of the high-risk places for blood-borne disease (BBD) transmission.ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the rate of adherence to preventive measures (PM) against the blood-borne diseases via emergency medicine (EM) residents.Materials and MethodsIn this descriptive cross-sectional study, 80 emergency residents of an educational public hospital were observed with regard to abiding by the preventive measures from March to May 2010.ResultsCleaning blood tainted skin before phlebotomy or IV line preparation and hand washing before donning latex gloves achieved the maximum (88/150) and minimum (0/150) scores. The most observed barriers of PM were frequent attendance of patients (85%), work load (80%), and need to work rapidly (68%).ConclusionsIt seems that, the preventive instructions are not optimally respected by ERs possibly due to the crowded wards, high work load and the need to work rapidly.

Background and Objectives: Rural family physician is one of the strategic reforms in Iranian health system. It has been implemented since 2005 with the aim of improving people's access to health services. Despite its pivotal role in health system programs, the program has not progressed according to its original policies. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to identify the challenges of the rural family physician to provide solutions to these problems. Material and Methods: The present study is in the field of qualitative studies. This was done by interviewing and reviewing the documentation. The sampling was purposive and the documents were systematically selected. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 key informants. Data were analyzed using MAXQDA software by content analysis method. Results: After more than a decade of practicing family physician, the program still faces a number of key challenges in the areas of leadership and governance, financing, service providers, training and making culture, customer behavior, and monitoring and evaluation. Most of the program's challenges are related to leadership and governance, such as the negligible role of the private sector in service delivery, politicians are not justified about the program, and failure to anticipate the infrastructure required for the program. Conclusion: Given the importance and key role of the family physician in the field of health and completing primary health care (PHC), especially the effective role in achieving UHC, with proper planning, appropriate and practical interventions should be designed and implemented to remove barriers and enhance the family physician program.