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Abstract Background Pain in the knee joint area and reduced sleep quality are prevalent symptoms of knee osteoarthritis. This study examines the impact of self-administered acupressure on pain severity and sleep quality in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Methods In this trial conducted in 2023, 126 patients were enrolled. They completed a demographic characteristics form, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Afterward, they were randomly allocated to three groups: acupressure, sham, and control. While the control group received routine care, patients in the acupressure and sham groups were instructed to apply pressure on selected acupoints daily for one minute for a duration of one month. All participants completed the PSQI and the VAS one month after the intervention began and one month after it ended. Data analysis involved Fisher’s exact tests, chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis, and one-way ANOVA tests. Also, per-protocol analyses were conducted with linear mixed-effects models. Results No significant effects associated with group allocation were observed on pain VAS scores in acupressure and sham groups compared to the control group. However, participants in the acupressure group showed a significant decrease in pain VAS scores as time progressed. PSQI scores significantly decreased over time. Interaction effects showed that PSQI scores decreased more in the acupressure than in the control group over time. Finally, PSQI scores in the acupressure group demonstrated a significant decrease from pretest to follow-up, while no significant change was observed over time in the sham group. Conclusions Self-administered acupressure may be useful in improving sleep quality in patients with knee osteoarthritis. This work may be informative in developing acupressure interventions with more effective outcomes in future research. Trial registration This trial is registered on the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials website with the identifier IRCT20211221053475N1 (Date: 10/01/2022).

Background: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency method to restore blood flow and spontaneous breathing in a person who has suffered cardiac arrest. Clinical practice guidelines are recommendations for nurses regarding the care of patients with specific conditions such as cardiac arrest. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate the experiences of hospital emergency department nurses regarding the implementation of CPR guidelines.Methods: This study was conducted using a qualitative content analysis approach to investigate the experiences of 11 emergency department nurses. The participants were selected using purposive sampling. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews until saturation was reached. Data were analyzed using the content analysis method proposed by Graneheim and Lundman simultaneously with data collection.Results: Data analysis led to the identification of two main categories and ten subcategories. The categories included “barriers” with five subcategories (lack of knowledge and skills, low motivation, work pressure, lack of facilities, and lack of cooperation among the CPR team) and “facilitators” with five subcategories (facility development, teamwork, conscientiousness, adequate training, and effective supervision).Conclusion: Nursing managers can use nurses’ experiences to find appropriate ways to improve the use of clinical guidelines for CPR.

Shoulder pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy surgery is one of the important complications that can increase patients’ discomfort and their length of stay at the hospital. This study aimed to compare the effects of body acupressure and ear acupressure on shoulder pain in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. 101 patients participated in this randomized controlled clinical trial in 2022. They completed the demographic information form and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Then, they were assigned into ear acupressure, body acupressure, and control groups through block randomization. The control group did not receive any intervention. The amount of shoulder pain in patients was recorded in all three groups by using the VAS one (T1), four (T2), and eight (T3) hours after the intervention. Data analysis was done with the SPSS software (v. 25). The mean shoulder pain score in the ear acupressure group was lower than that in the body acupressure group and the control group in T1 (P

Background: One of the most important ethical requirements of the medical profession is to maintain the human dignity of patients. COVID-19 pandemic imposes a lot of stress on patients, which can be an obstacle to maintain the patients' dignity.Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between resilience and human dignity in patients with COVID -19.Method: This cross-sectional study was performed in 2021 on 180 patients admitted to COVID wards in Birjand, Iran. Data were collected using the Patient Dignity Inventory (PDI) and Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RIS). Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 20) and descriptive and inferential statistics. P

Background and aims: Patient advocacy role in nursing is affected by several barriers, such as the lack of nurses’ ethical knowledge about their roles as patient advocators. Since this role can be learned, these barriers may be overcome by education through an effective method. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of ethics education on nurses’ patient advocacy using ethics narration and lecture compared to a control group. Methods: This quasi-experimental, three-group design study was conducted among nurses of hospitals in Birjand, South Khorasan province in 2016-2017. The sample size (n) was 27 in the narration group, 26 in the lecture group, and 22 in the control group. We used the Protective Nursing Advocacy Scale (PNAS) developed by Hanks to collect data, whose validity and reliability have been confirmed in Iran. Data analysis was performed using a trial version of SPSS 22 by descriptive and analytical statistics appropriate to the research objectives. Results: The results of comparing the three groups after eliminating the effect of age indicated that lecture-based education increased the total patient advocacy (P

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic is the main challenge with which the education systems in the world have ever faced. Furthermore, nursing students and nurse educators have faced the challenges in the teaching-learning process. This study aimed to explain the experiences of nursing education amid COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: This research was conducted in 2020-2021 through qualitative content analysis approach. Participants were selected from nursing schools using purposive sampling. Data were collected using in-depth, unstructured, and face-to-face interviews. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. The conventional content analysis method was used to analyze the data.Results: 232 codes were generated which were grouped into four main categories, namely mandatory change in nursing education, change of training priorities of nurse educators, insufficient clinical competence, and opportunities during coronavirus outbreak.Conclusions: COVID-19 prevalence caused many unprecedented changes in nursing education. Such changes have brought about opportunities and challenges in nursing education.

Back pain is a common complaint seen in patients after coronary angiography. This study investigated the efficacy of ear acupressure for reduction of back pain in patients after coronary angiography. In this trial, 120 patients recruited from a post-angiography ward were allocated to an ear acupressure or a control group. Pain assessment in intervention group was performed immediately after participants entered post- coronary angiography ward (T0), twenty minutes after entering the ward (T1), and two, four, and six hours after the intervention (T2–T4). Pain in control group was assessed at the times similar to intervention group. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software (v. 19) by Chi-square, Fisher’s exact, independent t tests, Friedman test, Wilcoxon signed-rank, and Mann-Whitney U test. Final data analysis was done on the data gathered from 58 participants in the control group and 59 in the ear acupressure group. The pain intensity at T1–T4 for patients in the control group was significantly higher than T0 (P < 0.001), while patients in the ear acupressure group reported that pain intensity at T2–T4 was significantly higher than T0 for them (P < 0.001). Only at T1 and T2, pain intensity in the ear acupressure group was significantly less compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Ear acupressure in this study was effective to some extent in reducing back pain after coronary angiography. Future studies can be designed to examine the effects of ear acupressure using different ear acupressure points on the back pain after coronary angiography.