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Background: The number of patients with chronic renal failure is increasing in Iran. Quality of life is an important indicator that reveals the sense of well-being, positive understanding of their, and the effectiveness of health care in patients undergoing dialysis, which could be affected by duration of dialysis. Objectives: This study aimed at investigating the relationship between quality of life and duration of dialysis in hemodialysis patients. Methods: In this descriptive correlational study, 246 patients with chronic kidney failure were selected by Single-stage stratified cluster sampling. Hemodialysis patients were put into 2 groups with a duration of hemodialysis less than and more than 36 months andwere thencomparedwith each other. The quality of lifewasmeasuredusing the kidney disease quality of life shortform(KDQOLSF36). Data analysis was performed by the Pearson correlation coefficient, independent t-test, and ANOVA Results: The mean duration of hemodialysis patients was 34.03 months. There was no significant relationship between the quality of life in patients and duration of hemodialysis. Poor quality of life had a significant correlation with old age (P< 0.001), educational level (P < 0.001), job, and income (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The findings showed poor quality of life in patients on dialysis. The length of the disease and other accompanying diseases reduced the quality of life in dialysis patients as their age increased. It is evident that educated people who have better access to sources of support and are able to cope with disease complications have a higher quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Violence is a critical phenomenon in clinical settings, which negatively affects the nurses' quality of working life (QoWL). Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine occupational violence and its association with nurses' QoWL in intensive care units. Methods: This was a descriptive, analytical, correlational study, the participants of which were 220 nurses working in the intensive care units of Mazandaran educational-medical centers. The participants were selected by using the stratified random sampling method in 2019. Data collection instruments were three questionnaires, namely Dumont Occupational Violence, Walton QoWL, and Demographic Information. The data were analyzed using SPSS, version 24, and descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Overall, 63.2% of the participants rated their QoWL as average, and 68.3% of the nurses stated that they had experienced violent behaviors from their nursing colleagues. Also, people with higher incomes had significantly higher QoWL (P = 0.003). In general, there was a significant negative correlation between occupational violence and QoWL (P = 0.01, r = -0.173). Conclusions: By taking into account the various aspects of QoWL, nurse managers should adopt effective strategies to create favorable working conditions to improve the QoWL of nurses and reduce the incidence of violent behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tracheal intubation is an essential method of keeping the airway open in patients under general anesthesia. Sore throat is a prevalent complication after endotracheal intubation., Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of green tea gargling on sore throat after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)., Patients and Methods: This was a single-blind, randomized clinical trial, in which 121 patients who had undergone CABG were divided into two groups: those who gargled distilled water and those who gargled a green tea solution. An hour after extubation, the patients of the intervention group were asked to gargle 30 cc of green tea, and the patients of the control group were asked to gargle 30 cc of distilled water, every 6 hours for up to 24 hours (four times per patient). A sore throat questionnaire was filled out 6, 12, and 24 hours after endotracheal extubation., Results: The results showed that there were no significant differences between the two groups with regard to patient age, sex, body mass index, smoking background, and duration of anesthesia. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of sore throat before the intervention (P = 0.461) and 6 hours after the intervention (P = 0.901). However, a significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of sore throat 12 hours (P = 0.047) and 24 hours (P < 0.001) after removing the endotracheal tube., Conclusions: Gargling a green tea solution, an anti-inflammatory, natural, and harmless substance, can reduce the pain of sore throat in patients after endotracheal extubation.

Background: Occlusion of central venous catheters is one of the limiting factors in using them. Heparinized saline solution is the standard solution used for keeping the catheters open., Objectives: This study aimed to determine the effect of heparin saline solution and normal saline in maintenance of patency of central venous catheters., Patients and Methods: This double-blind study was performed on 84 patients of intensive care unit who had central venous catheters. The patients were randomly divided into two groups of heparin saline receivers and normal saline receivers. In the heparin group after each drug injection into the lumen, 3 mL of heparin saline solution was injected in the catheter as well. The other group only received 10 mL of normal saline instead. The catheters were examined for blood return and flushing every eight hours for 21 days. Data was analyzed using SPSS software version 20 and descriptive and analytic statistics were studied., Results: There was no significant difference in the rate of flushing (P = 0.872) and possibility of taking blood samples from catheters (P = 0.745) in the two groups of heparin and normal saline receivers. Furthermore, using heparin had no effect on prolonging the survival of catheters., Conclusions: Considering possible side effects of heparin and the increase in treatment charges and the fact that using heparin did not have a significant effect on patency and survival of catheters in the studied patients, it is recommended to use normal saline solution to maintain the patency of central venous catheters.