Search

Background: This study examined the impacts of an educational intervention based on the Progressively Lowered Stress Threshold (PLST) extended model on caregiving for people with dementia (PWD). Method: This study was conducted in Isfahan, Iran, from May 2016 to June 2018, with 38 caregivers of PWD as participants assigned to an intervention group. Data were collected using a multi‐sectional, researcher‐developed questionnaire that recorded the demographic characteristics, and measured the dementia‐related knowledge and caregiving practices of the participants. The questionnaire and an educational program were designed in three parts according to the educational needs of caregivers to enhance their practice, skills, and ability to handle challenging behaviours in PWD. The questionnaire's face validity was confirmed by expert review, and its reliability was assessed with Cronbach's alpha coefficient (knowledge section, 0.838; practice section, 0.802). The sampling method used was convenience sampling, and none of the caregivers refused to receive the educational content. Therefore, the evaluation of the program lacks a randomized controlled group. To tailor the intervention program to the participants' needs, the educational content was based on the PLST extended model. Results: The mean scores for knowledge and practice increased following the intervention (P < 0.05). An educational intervention, using the PLST extended care model, thus produced positive impacts in improving the knowledge and practice of caregivers of PWD. Conclusion: Educating caregivers with the PLST extended model, with a specific focus on the cultural and religious backgrounds of societies, is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Understanding factors that can potentially influence patient care and nursing workload in intensive care units is important. Previous studies have shown contradictory outcomes about the relationships between nursing workload and patient and nurse characteristics. Aims and objectives: This study aimed to investigate nursing workload in intensive care units and examine the association between this in relation to patient and nurse characteristics. Design A cross‐sectional design was conducted. Methods: All nurses who were working in the intensive care units of five hospitals and met the study criteria were enrolled in the study. Two demographic questionnaires collected nurse and patient demographic information. The Nursing Activities Score was applied to determine nursing workload in three shifts (morning, evening, night) for each nurse. Data were analysed using the independent sample t‐test, one‐way analysis of variance, and multivariable linear regression analysis. Results: The Nursing Activities Score was calculated for 509 patients who were under the care of 105 intensive care unit nurses. The mean (SD) Nursing Activities Score was 72.84% (22.07%). Morning shifts, male patients, medical treatments, and referred patients from the emergency ward and other intensive care units imposed a higher workload for nurses. Specifically, female nurses, increased number of patients receiving care, and increased patient length of intensive care unit stay were directly associated with increased Nursing Activities Scores. Work in surgical and burn intensive care units were inversely associated with the Nursing Activities Score. Conclusion: This study suggests that the workload of nurses in intensive care units can be affected by both nurse and patient characteristics. Relevance to clinical practice: The findings can be used to ensure appropriate staffing of intensive care units by nurses. However, nurse and patient characteristics should not be considered the only factors that influence nursing workload in intensive care units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To validate a semi‐quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SFFQ) and assess the dietary intake of Iranian adults. Methods: This study was conducted among 113 healthy adults in Iran. We administered twelve 24‐hour dietary recalls (24DRs) during a year as a reference method. The 165‐item SFFQ was administered twice, along with the first and last 24DRs. To examine validity and reproducibility of SFFQ, the correlation coefficients (r) and de‐attenuated correlation coefficients and intra‐class correlation coefficient (ICC) between 24DRs and SFFQ were calculated. The Bland‐Altman method was used to assess agreement between the two methods. Results: De‐attenuated correlations varied from 0.42 (polyunsaturated fatty acids) to 0.62 (energy) (all P <.001) for nutrients and from 0.48 (oils and fats) to 0.65 (sweets) for food groups (all P <.05). We found reasonable reproducibility of SFFQ for both nutrients and food groups. ICC (95%CI) varied from 0.47 (0.15‐0.74) for saturated fatty acids to 0.64 (0.47‐0.76) for energy and from 0.43 (0.15‐0.62) for oils and fats to 0.58 for grains (0.31‐0.69). According to the Bland‐Altman plots, we observed an acceptable level of agreement between the two methods. Conclusions: We found reasonable relative validity and acceptable reproducibility of SFFQ. This SFFQ can be used to classify individuals based on their dietary intake in our population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To develop and test the psychometric properties of an instrument assessing career success in nurses. Background: Despite the importance of achieving success in nursing, to date, this construct has been measured using unidimensional or generic scales not fully reflecting career success as perceived by nurses. Methods: This scale development study used a large sample of nurses across 10 hospitals in Tabriz, Iran. Items were generated based on existing literature and previous, research team‐led, qualitative study, followed by testing content and face validity of the items. Exploratory factor analysis (N = 530 nurses) then assessed the underlying structure of the scale, and reliability was tested using Cronbach's alpha and a 2‐week test–retest correlation. Findings: From the initial 73 items, fourteen rated by experts as 'not relevant' and seven with poor face validity were deleted. Exploratory factor analysis further identified 13 poor items. The final 39‐item solution extracted four robust career success factors: expected career progress, providing quality care, effective self‐regulation, and person‐organization fit. Cronbach's alpha and test–retest correlation showed excellent reliability. Conclusion: This multidimensional nursing‐specific scale with very good psychometric properties is suitable for individual/group‐based decisions. Implications for Nursing and Health Policy: This instrument can assess current perceptions of career success in nurses, so work resources can be allocated to improve policies, services and training programmes to meet career aspirations of nurses and objectives of the organization. Having a robust scale of career success will enable future research in the field of career success as specific to nursing in a clinical setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Healthcare providers involved in an unexpected adverse patient safety event are affected by negative outcomes of the event and are called 'second victims'. The Second Victim Experience and Support Tool has been introduced as a reliable and valid measure to assess the second victim responses and to support recourses of healthcare professionals. Aim: The core objective of this survey was to assess the psychometric attributes of the scale within Iranian nurse. Methods: Having translated the scale based on the WHO guidelines and assessing its face validity, a board of 8 specialists assessed the content validity of the measure. In order to assess the psychometric characteristics of the questionnaire, a survey was conducted in 5 university‐affiliated hospitals of Urmia. Confirmatory factor analysis is adopted to assess the construct validity. The internal consistency and test–retest reliability of the scale were determined. Results: The Persian version of the scale consists of 29 items and 9 subscales. Confirmatory factor analysis illustrated that the scale reflects a foolproof construct validity. Cronbach α coefficients revealed the reliability of the scale (0.68–0.88). Conclusions: The survey proves to be a reliable and valid measure to evaluate the second victim responses and conceivable support resources of Iranian nurses or other Persian‐speaking healthcare professionals of the region. Implications for health policy and practice: Health policymakers ought to build up large‐scale surveys to determine the degree of second victimization of healthcare professionals so as to offer suitable support systems. Taking the scale into account would improve evaluation of the benefits of second victim support initiatives in nursing practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health care providers should be able to provide good quality end‐of‐life care. A tool to evaluate the positive and negative consequences of caring for dying patients is warranted. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the End‐of‐Life Caregiving Experience Appraisal Scale (EOLCAS). Methods: This research was conducted in two phases. Phase I: The World Health Organization Protocol of forward‐backward translation and an expert panel in order to determine face and content validity. Phase II: Survey development with 310 nurses who worked in critical care units, construct validity (construct, convergent and divergent validity), internal consistency (average inter‐item correlation, Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega) and construct reliability were evaluated. Results: The exploratory factor analysis showed that the present scale (Persian version) has four factors: Negative physical‐emotional and social consequences, transcendental communication, information deficits and future rumination, which explained 83.92% of the overall extracted variance. Convergent and divergent validity were confirmed for all factors. The internal consistency and construct reliability were acceptable. Conclusion: The scale has a multidimensional concept that is sufficiently reliable and the use of the scale would be helpful in measuring consequences of caring for dying patients. Relevance to clinical practice: This scale makes a significant contribution in that it helps in the recognition of positive and negative consequences of critical care nurses' caring for dying patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To develop a nutritional screening tool and examine its reliability and validity in elementary school children with malnutrition based on PRECEDE--PROCEED model, in Shiraz, Iran. Methods: A questionnaire was designed and its reproducibility was analysed via test--retest design among students with malnutrition. The students were in the fourth to sixth grades. Validity was assessed using face validity, content validity, construct validity, item difficulty and item discrimination. Reliability was measured by Cronbach's alpha (internal consistency), the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and κ statistics (test--retest reliability). Results: A total of 165 primary school students (mean age of 11.21 ± 1.08 years, 65.5% females) participated in the study. The PRECEDE--PROCEED theoretical model for health education was adapted for this questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into four main sections: predisposing, reinforcing, enabling factors and behaviour. Coefficient κ reliability estimate was above 0.9 for most scales. The ICCs for different scales of the questionnaire were within the range of 0.402-0.800. Values for κ ranged from 0.412 to 0.785 for most scales. Conclusions: The results showed reasonable validity, excellent reliability and moderate to substantial reproducibility for all scales of the questionnaire except two questions for κ statistics. The present study is of great importance, as there are no psychometrically evaluated tools (based on health behaviour models) with accepted validity and reliability for the evaluation of such factors in children with malnutrition. The questionnaire developed in the present study can be used to assess the effect of intervention among primary school students with malnutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]