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Background. Workplace violence in the healthcare system has become an important policymaking issue in recent years and is considered one of the most complex issues for the governmental system. Due to the lack of a similar study in Golestan province, this study was conducted to determine the level of exposure to workplace violence against nurses and the factors related to it. Methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted in hospitals affiliated with Golestan University of Medical Sciences in 2021 Where 293 nurses were included after random stratified sampling. The data collection tool was demographic and occupational variables as well as the workplace violence questionnaire and data analysis was done by descriptive statistics methods and Mann-Whitney, Spearman, Kruskal-Wallis, and Chi-square tests in SPSS-23 software at a significance level of 0.05. Results. The average age of the nurses participating in the study was 33.93 ± 7.16 years and their average work experience was 9.82 ± 6.32 years. Among the subjects, 82.6% were women and the rest were men. The prevalence of workplace violence was 86% in one year. Mental and physical violence with a frequency of 79.5% and 42.7%, respectively, had the highest occurrences. Also, 57. 7% did not report any act of violence. In front of these acts of violence, the most reactions were inviting the attacker to calm down (42.3%), discussing the issue with colleagues (23.5%), and not taking any specific action (19.5%). There was a significant relationship between physical violence and gender (P-value=0.024) and department of hospital (P-value=0.003). Sexual violence was also significantly related to department of hospital (P-value=0.046). Also, there was a significant relationship between racial violence and gender (P-value=0.001), department of hospital (P-value=0.028), and work shift (P-value=0.005). Conclusion. According to the results, the prevalence of workplace violence was generally high in one year, but most of the nurses did not report any act of violence. Therefore, medical policymakers and hospital managers should consider improving nurses' communication skills, and security measures, training staff on anger management, and reducing nurses' workload. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim Fibromyalgia syndrome is a chronic disease that causes widespread musculoskeletal pain. It primarily affects women and negatively impacts many aspects of a person’s psychological and social life. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of cognitive therapy based on mindfulness and compassion therapy on automatic negative thoughts, psychological symptoms, pain intensity, and quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome. Methods & Materials This research is a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design with two experimental and one control group. The statistical study population consisted of all individuals with fibromyalgia syndrome referred to Mehregan Pain Clinic in Mirdamad (District 3), Seyed Khandan Clinic (District 4), and Taleghani Hospital Pain Clinic (District 1) in Tehran City, Iran. Of them, 30 patients were randomly selected and divided into three groups of experimental 1, experimental 2, and control; each group will include 10 people. The instruments used in this study included the World Health Organization quality of life questionnaire (WHOQOL BREF), pain intensity questionnaire (PIS), psychological symptoms questionnaire (Anxiety, Stress and Depression [DASS]), and automatic negative thoughts (QNS). Ethical Considerations This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Arak Branch, Islamic Azad University (Code: IR.IAU.ARAK.REC.1400.005). Results The analysis of covariance showed the effectiveness of both cognitive therapies based on mindfulness and compassion therapy on four variables of pain intensity, psychological symptoms, automatic negative thoughts, and quality of life (P<0.05). Comparing the two intervention methods showed that both therapies had almost the same effect on pain intensity, psychological symptoms, and automatic negative thoughts (P<0.05) but the effectiveness of mindfulness intervention on the quality of life was significantly higher than compassion intervention (P<0.05). Conclusion The results indicate that cognitive therapy based on mindfulness and compassion therapy are suitable for people with fibromyalgia under appropriate treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cerebrovascular disease is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Data on epidemiology of stroke, its pattern and risk factors, are scarce. Seasonal variation in the incidence of stroke and role of meteorological factors in its occurrence, have been investigated in several studies. These studies show that there were different patterns in stroke incidence across different areas. Objective: To investigate the seasonal pattern of stroke incidence and the association between daily stroke occurrences and meteorological factors among the patients admitted to the Poursina Hospital, northern Iran, in (2012). Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in the Poursina Hospital in Rasht. All the patients with acute onset of neurological symptoms during (2012), after performing imaging studies and confirmation of the diagnosis of stroke, were enrolled. Age, sex, history of diabetes and hypertension, and date of stroke occurrence were recorded for all patients. The number of stroke episodes, temperature and humidity were recorded on all days of the year. Distribution of stroke cases among seasons according to study variables, was analyzed using chi-square test. To compare the average number of strokes per day among different seasons, kruskal-wallis test was used. The relationship between the number of strokes per day and meteorological variables was analyzed using Spearman's correlation coefficient. Results: During the study period, 869 patients with diagnosis of stroke were admitted. Significant seasonal differences in the mean of ischemic stroke occurrence per day and mean of intracerebral hemorrhage occurrence per day, with peak rates in autumn, were observed. In the study of meteorological variables based on multiple linear regression with stepwise method, minimum temperature was inverse linear predictor of both overall stroke occurrence per day and ischemic stroke occurrence per day. For intracerebral hemorrhage occurrence per day, maximum temperature was inverse linear predictor and maximum humidity was direct linear predictor. Conclusion: This study suggests a seasonal pattern in the incidence of stroke and a possible role of meteorological factors in the incidence of stroke in this area. Attention to this seasonal pattern can be useful for medical centers to provide better services to their patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Critical Thinking (CT) is an essential component of clinical decision-making and professional competence. Personal characteristics of the students are one of the factors influencing their critical thinking development. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between Critical Thinking Disposition (CTD) and self-esteem among pre-clinical and clinical medical students in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences. Methods: In this descriptive-analytic study, 225 pre-clinical and clinical medical students were randomly selected through stratified sampling method in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2011. The data gathering tool included California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI), and Cooper-Smith self-esteem inventory. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation coefficient, Chi-Square, and independent sample t-test. Results: Results showed the students' mean scores in critical thinking disposition was 212.99±28.87(out of 420). Among all, CTD scores of 120 students (53.3%) were in ambivalence range, 102 (45.3%) were strong opposition, and 3(1.4%) positive inclination. There was a significantly positive correlation between CTD and self-esteem scores (r= 0.429, P=0.001). Also, there was a significant correlation between being in high or low self-esteem groups and CTD scores (P=0.0001, χ2=25.9). Conclusion: Students with higher self-esteem had a better CTD scores compared with those who had lower self-esteem and there was a direct and positive correlation between these two variables. Thus, faculty members should impart adequate self-esteem to their students for proper clinical judgment and decision making in different clinical circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Blended-E-Learning system uses various methods and technologies to improve learning quality. We developed some courses based on Instructional System Design Processes (analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation) for blended-e-learning, then we evaluated the effectiveness of this system in Tehran University of medical Science. Methods: In this partnership-based action research study, carried out in 2008-2009, firstly viewpoints of faculty members and also nursing and midwifery students of Tehran University of Medical Science on the blended e-learning were assessed via a valid and reliable questionnaire. Then a platform of blended e-learning was designed and voluntary faculty members participated in a workshop held to develop an e-learning course. Finally a blended learning program covering 22 courses (45 credits) for BS, MS and PhD students of nursing and midwifery was designed. At the end of the semester, we used questionnaires and check-lists to assess students' & faculty members' feedback on the learning outcome of this program. The collected data were analyzed using frequency, Chi square and Wilcoxon tests in SPSS software version 16. Results: 181 students filled out and returned questionnaires (response rate=82.2%). 67.4% students were highly satisfied with this system. Similarly 88.2% of faculty members were completely satisfied with teaching in blended e-learning system. Both students and faculty members preferred the blended e-learning system to the conventional method (P=0.000). Mean scores of students' grades and participation were significantly higher in blended learning method than students' in the previous semester with face-to-face method (P<0.001). Conclusion: Because the blended e-learning uses benefits of both e-learning & face to face learning and provides more flexibility and satisfaction for learner and teacher, it can be considered as an effective alternative method for education in universities of medical sciences in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]