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Introduction: Assessing the characteristics of the atmosphere of psychiatric wards provides managers with valuable information. This tool has had different accreditation features in different countries. This study was conducted to validate the Persian version of the short form of the psychiatry Ward Atmosphere Scale (WAS). Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was part of a wider research (181 nurses and 299 patients) in selected hospitals of Bushehr and Shiraz cities-Iran in 2019. The psychiatry WAS-short form was validated according to the collected data. The steps of translation and re-translation of the scale were done by two people fluent in Farsi and English. Form validity and content validity were checked by asking the opinions of 11 experts, and the reliability of the questionnaire was checked by determining internal consistency and stability. SPSS software version 22 was used for data analysis. Results: No items were removed during content validity. The average index and content validity ratio were 0.92 and 0.88, respectively. The Kuder-Richardson coefficient was calculated for nurses and patients, respectively, 0.92 and 0.86. The intracluster correlation between test and retest scores for nurses and patients was calculated as 0.91 and 0.89, respectively. Conclusion: Considering the validity and reliability of the short form of the psychiatry ward atmosphere scale in Iranian society, it is recommended to be used by researchers and medical staff. Other methods, such as divergent validity and factor analysis of the questions of the revised Iranian version of the questionnaire, are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of a portfolio-based professional development program on nurses' competence in a university hospital in Iran. A pre-test/post-test, controlled, quasi-experimental design was used. From the university hospital's 18 general wards, four wards were randomly selected. Two wards were randomly allocated as the experimental group (35 subjects) and two wards as the control group (38 subjects). Nurses in the experimental group participated in a 12-month portfolio-based professional development program and nurses in the control group participated in the routine professional development programs of their wards. The data were collected by the Nurse Competence Scale and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent and paired t-tests. After intervention, the average nurses' competence in the experimental group increased significantly ( P < 0.001) but these changes in the control group were not significant ( P = 0.08). This study shows that the professional portfolio is an effective tool for improving nurses' competence. The professional portfolios help nurses update their knowledge, skills, and competence towards their full role as nurses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hospitals are integrated with medical universities in Iran and are categorized into three types with respect to educational and health services quality. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine and compare the level of clinical competence of nurses who were working in type 1 and type 2 university hospitals. The clinical competence of all 266 nurses in the two hospitals was assessed by using the self-assessment method. The Nurse Competence Scale, a questionnaire consisting of 73 items, was used to assess the level of clinical competence and the frequency of using skills. The nurses who were working in the type 1 university hospital viewed themselves as more competent than those who were working in the type 2 university hospital. Also, only 70% of the clinical skills were used frequently by the nurses who were working in the type 2 university hospital, in comparison to > 83% for the nurses who were working in the type 1 university hospital. The results can be used for the educational needs assessment of nurses and for modifying the quality of care in hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]