Living a Threatening Circumstance from a Nursing Perspective.

This introduction reminds nurses to use a nursing perspective in their work with other clinicians and researchers. In this introduction, the humanbecoming perspective is used to help nurses see a group of persons with specific challenges or threatening circumstances as a case study of an important phenomenon, so as to remain as humane as possible in their practice, teaching, and research.

A Study of the Use of Medicinal Plants by Persons With Type 2 Diabetes in Iran.

Medicinal plants are used by many people with Type 2 diabetes in Iran. The aim of this study was to explore why this is so, from their perspective. Sixteen persons with Type 2 diabetes in Yazd City, Iran, were interviewed in April and May 2020 for this study. A thematic analysis of the transcripts of those interviews was done using MAXQDA 10 software. Six themes were identified: beliefs about medicinal plants, psychological factors, accessibility and economic barriers, patients' knowledge and awareness, social pressure, and the role of family culture. The recommendation of the study is that health counselors and specialists should provide needed information and skills for the proper use of medicinal plants, and the pharmaceutical infrastructures need to be expanded to provide enough drugs to facilitate better access to needed medication and reduce reliance on medicinal plants for persons with Type 2 diabetes.

The Efficiency of the Health Belief Model in Predicting the Preventive Behaviors of Pregnant Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Iran.

This study examined the efficiency of the health belief model in understanding preventive behaviors of pregnant women in Iran. A cross-sectional descriptive-analytical methodology study was conducted of pregnant women who were referred to a healthcare center in 2021. The data were the responses to a questionnaire designed for this study. The data were analyzed with SPSS 24 software, Amos 22 software, correlation tests, regression analysis, and independent t tests. In terms of the health belief model, pregnant women with high perceived susceptibility showed the highest vaccination rate, while those with high perceived barriers had the lowest. The model predicted 20% variance in the preventive behavior from COVID-19, with perceived susceptibility and cues to action being the strongest and weakest predictors of behavior, respectively. The conclusion of the study was that the health belief model was an appropriate model to guide the care of pregnant women.

Defiance or Self-Neglect?

A brief consideration of the term "self-neglect" as used in the gerontological nursing literature is in this column. It will serve as an introduction to the main article that reports on a survey of family members in Japan about their elder family members who refuse nursing care.

Transcultural Nursing in Italy: An Explorative Study.

The health profile of foreigners in Italy is affected by multiple factors and events, including environmental, microbiological, cultural, and behavioral. To explore nurses' basic cross-cultural knowledge, and their perceptions of problems that arise in encounters with clients from outside the country, and to suggest solution strategies, we enrolled 327 nurses in an observational, cross-sectional, multicenter study. The findings suggested a need to improve sociocultural skills related to working in a multiethnic society, as early as the first level courses and possibly continue with appropriate master's degrees and research projects.

Improving Physical Fitness and Health of Office Workers in Iran.

This paper reports on a study on improving the health and fitness of office workers in Iran using a comprehensive model. The research design was a randomized controlled trial involving 294 employees. The intervention was a 6-month program to promote physical activity. The primary outcome measure was their scores on the physical activity (PA) index recorded at 3 and 6 months. A statistically significantly increase in PA was found in the intervention group over the control group. In addition, the mean values of related health and physiological indices of the intervention group demonstrated a statistically significant increase compared to the control group. The conclusions of this study support research findings in multiple countries, that the physical activity and health of office workers can be improved in a short period.

Nursing Cultural Competence in Israel: Does Practice Make It Better?

Because of globalization, immigration, and mass exodus from countries due to political conflicts, there is an ever-changing mix of people with diverse cultural backgrounds who require institutions to provide continuing education to ensure that effective services are provided to everyone. Part of the transcultural challenges involves religion, socioeconomic differences and languages, and ethnic backgrounds that differ. The objective of this study was to examine whether a transcultural training program for undergraduate nursing students in Israel could enhance students' cultural competence. In this study, 319 senior undergraduate nursing students were asked to complete the Transcultural Health Care Screening Questionnaire as a measure of their cultural competence. The students' cultural competence was satisfactory but less than it had been in previous years. The authors suggest that cultural competence needs to be considered as a contextual, developmental, and experiential process that requires ongoing attention and curricular revisions.

Comorbidities in older adults with opioid use disorders.

BACKGROUND: There is a growing number of opioid use disorders (OUDs) and overdose deaths in older adults. In addition, older adults with OUD routinely receive lower-quality preventive and chronic care that result in poorer overall health. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify older patients with OUD at the study site and determine the prevalence of medical and psychiatric comorbidities. METHODOLOGY: This retrospective study used a computer algorithm employed by a network of Federally Qualified Health Center primary care clinics in lower New York state. With the approval from institutional review board, the IT department of the organization captured data about older adults with an OUD diagnosis. The IT department identified 664 patients and provided anonymized demographic and medical history data of these patients for analysis. RESULTS: Patients with OUD had 2-3 times more medical and psychiatric co-occurring conditions than national sample of older adults with no OUD of similar age and income. The most frequent co-occurring medical conditions in the patients were heart or circulatory disorders, movement disorders, respiratory disorders, pain disorders, nutritional disorders, and metabolic disorders. The most common co-occurring psychiatric conditions were anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and bipolar disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Older adults with OUD often have complex health care needs that often include one or more chronic medical and psychiatric conditions. IMPLICATIONS: Providers should be aware of the multiple needs of older adults with OUD so that appropriate and comprehensive care can be offered to the patients.

Living a Nonlinear Concept of Aging: Toward A Global Perspective.

The author in this article suggests that applying a simple linear concept of time to the phenomenon of aging and development in the United States and around the world is both outdated and problematic, and he explores an alternative view. The author suggests that nursing and other sciences should stop considering age as a non-modifiable risk factor. Various nursing and other theories that support a nonlinear view of time and aging are included, as well as reports from the growing field of geoscience that holds that we can and should target aging and that it can be slowed and, in some cases, reversed. Some implications for nursing and the world are included.

Improving Global Health and Nursing's International Influence.

The increasing power and political involvement of nurses globally via international nursing organizations, such as Sigma Theta Tau, International and the International Council of Nurses, as well as in International Health Organizations, like Partners in Health, are discussed in this paper. The voice of nurses, like Holly Shaw at the United Nations, and influence of nurses in leadership positions, like Shelia Davis at Partners in Health, are examples of nurses using increasing power and influence in improving health globally. A brief nursing perspective on power is also included.

An Opportunity of a Lifetime: How Imagination Can Transform Life During a Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a demand for change and innovation in nursing and nurse education. In this paper, the authors tell the story of a nurse faculty member and two of her prelicensure RN nursing students who were evicted from their classroom and clinical site because of the pandemic, but who were able to use their imagination and creativity to explore new ways of teaching and learning nursing and being a nurse. Humility and empathy are critically important aspects of imagination and creativity, particularly in nurse education. The authors also seek to consider these issues from a global perspective, thanks in part to the diversity and international backgrounds of the contributors.

Caring for Patients in a Coma Following a Traumatic Brain Injury in Iran.

The study described here is the process of caring for patients in a coma following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Iran. The data that were analyzed come from in-depth semistructured interviews of 20 key participants and associated memos and field notes. The MAXQDA 10 qualitative analysis software was used to assist with the coding of the data. Ten catagories and 26 subcategories were identified from the primary analysis, which fit well into four themes. The main themes that were identified were chaos and confusion, inconsistent quality, multilateral support, and improving care. The processes of caring for persons in a coma following a TBI were found to be an ever-changing, multidimensional, context-dependent process.

Searching for Significance During a Pandemic: A Muslim Perspective.

The authors in this article seek to describe the importance of keeping one's beliefs and spiritual practices alive during the COVID-19 pandemic from a Muslim perspective, and it considers this challenge in light of the theory of religious coping and the growing literature on the benefits of mindfulness. It provides nurses and other healthcare providers a view into the beliefs and practices of a Muslim-American family and shows how faith practices can help people not only cope but grow in difficult times. Implications for nursing and healthcare are discussed.

Innovative Communities: A Global Nursing Perspective.

The author in this article explores four innovations in communities that offer a place of welcome and growth while inviting all to see people, including those with intellectual or developmental challenges, elders, persons with dementia, and persons with chronic progressive diseases very differently than is widely assumed. These four innovative communities are L'Arche Homes and Communities, the Green House Model of Long-Term Care, the village of Hogeweyk, Holland, and Lyfebulb. Implications for nursing and healthcare are discussed.

Understanding Shame as an Obstacle: Toward a Global Perspective.

In this paper, the authors suggest that shame is a barrier to many patients' willingness to disclose their history of trauma to nurses and other members of the healthcare team and that the clinicians participate in this withholding of information because of their experience of vicarious shame. The authors propose that shame and vicarious shame reduce the accuracy of assessment, limit the nurse-patient relationship, and reduce the ability of the healthcare teams to accurately diagnose and treat patients. Shame as a barrier to trauma assessment is also considered in light of the Roy adaptation model and from a global perspective. Implications for education, research, and nursing practice are discussed.

Humanbecoming Hermeneutic Sciencing: A Global Perspective on Presence in "In Harm's Way".

The purpose of this article is to report the details of the humanbecoming hermeneutic sciencing of presence in In Harm's Way. Humanbecoming hermeneutic sciencing is dialoguing with an artform by discoursing with penetrating engaging, interpreting with quiescent beholding, and understanding with inspiring envisaging. The artform explored in this article is the comments and images of 60 nurses from around the world included in The New York Times story titled "In Harm's Way." The report is on the meaning of presence as lived and talked about by nurses on the front lines at the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Loss of a Parent to Suicide in Military Families.

In this paper the authors explore the impact of loss of a parent to suicide on adolescents in military families using Marcia's identity status theory and the Roy adaptation model (RAM). After describing a brief case study of a 13-year-old boy in a military family who lost his father in this manner, these two theories are applied to better understand his struggle to develop and maintain a healthy identity and adapt to numerous relocations, deployments, and then loss. The military family stressors are seen as weakening the resilience of children in such families, making them more vulnerable to the impact of parent loss. Implications for nurses and other healthcare professionals are discussed.

Nursing in Iran: Issues and Challenges.

The authors of this article discuss the challenges that nurses in Iran face as they seek to advance the profession and healthcare in Iran. The challenges they face are shared by nurses in other nations in the region and to some degree globally, that is to say a significant nursing and nurse educator shortage, the aging of the nursing work force, and inadequate resources committed to the recruitment, education, and retention of a sufficient number of competent nurses to deal with the information explosion and rapidly changing workplace. Nurses in Iran have historically suffered from a low social status that has limited their voice in the country, despite having the BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) as the entry to practice, and fine graduate and doctoral programs in the country. Efforts to address these challenges are discussed.

Deliberating What is Important: A Parsesciencing Inquiry.

Deliberating what is important, as a universal humanuniverse living experience, was investigated using the Parsesciencing mode of inquiry. Ten historians engaged in discussion to answer the question, "What is your experience of deliberating what is important?" The inquiry uncovered the discerning extant moment of deliberating what is important as follows: Deliberating what is important is arduous deciphering amid discordant proposals surfacing in untangled resolve with cultivating affiliations.