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Background and Aim: Coronavirus disease known as COVID-19 pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is affecting over 200 countries all over the world. This study was aimed to identify simple and swiftly available laboratory biomarkers to help facilitate effectual triage to categorize suspected COVID-19 patients. Materials and methods: According to a standard protocol, we collected clinical, etiological, and laboratory data of 140 patients who underwent diagnostic tests at Medical Laboratory Group, Tehran, Iran, from October 1 to November 28, 2020, based on PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Leukocyte parameters, C-reactive protein (CRP) and, ferritin levels were measured in patients with positive PCR COVID-19 test. Results 140 patients with COVID-19 infection were included in the study. The median age in women was 41.5 (23-60) years and 45.3 (22-68) years in men. Based on RT-PCR result, there were significant differences for neutrophil, lymphocyte, and monocyte counts. Overall, 72.8% of patients had monocyte count more than 11 x109 /L. The mean neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) for women was 2.8 (SD: 1.8) and 2.6 (SD: 1.7) for men. Only in 15 patients (10.7%) with respiratory symptoms, CRP level was more than 5 mg/L. Conclusion: We found a significant increase in monocyte count. Lymphopenia was also observed. In patients with respiratory symptoms, CRP was significantly higher than the normal reference range. © 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Background: Parents play a vital role in the assessment and management of pain. There is limited knowledge about parental viewpoint or their participation in the pain management of the neonates admitted to the intensive care units. The present study aimed to assess the viewpoints of mothers about the pain management of neonates/ infants admitted to Tabriz hospitals. Methods: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study. A total of 255 mothers whose infants had been admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) were recruited by convenience sampling method from September 2016 to August 2017. The required data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and PAIN questionnaire-Neonatal Intensive Care. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS. Results: The Mean±SD age of the mothers was 28.38±6.10 years, and the majority of them (39%) had diploma. Among the mothers, 73% believed that their infants had experienced pain during admission to NICU. However, only 19% of the mothers stated that nurses tried to find the signs of pain in their infants; the majority of mothers (80%) indicated that to some extent, they were satisfied with the information they received from the treatment team regarding pain control for their newborns. Conclusion: Despite the prevalence of pain phenomenon in neonates, mothers’ education for the symptoms of pain in their infants was inadequate. It seems that the mothers’ participation in the pain management of their newborns makes them more capable of caring after discharge from the hospital. The study makes important findings available for future research.

Objectives: Nurses, as the largest group providing health care services, play a critical role in the continuity of care and respond to services commensurate with their competence. Professional competence in nursing is a complex and ambiguous concept and needs the redefinition of competence and development of its definition and concept. In this study, we aimed to conceptually analyze professional competence in nursing. Methods: In this study, a hybrid concept analysis was used. In the literature review phase, the concept of ‘competence’ was investigated through valid databases limited to 2000 - 2018 and the participants’ experiences also appeared in the fieldwork phase. In the fieldwork phase, the participants revealed some aspects of professional competence in nursing, which were not well-addressed in the literature. Finally, the comprehensive definition of professional competence in nursing was presented after integrating the findings obtained in these two phases. Results: According to the findings, professional competence in nursing is a combined, complex, multidimensional, and context-dependent concept, and consists of different domains. Based on the analysis results of the fieldwork phase, this concept was classified into 16 domains and the participants largely contributed to the provision of a comprehensive definition based on the definitions of professional competence presented in the literature. Conclusions: Based on the domains of professional competence in nursing obtained from this study, an appropriate instrument can be developed to assess professional competence in nursing for students and nurses.