Psychometric evaluation of the Persian version of Emergency Medical Services- Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (EMS-SAQ).

AIM: This study aimed to conduct a psychometric evaluation of the Persian adaptation of the Emergency Medical Services Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (EMS-SAQ). METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the validity and reliability of the EMS-SAQ were assessed among 484 Iranian pre-hospital emergency department employees between February and June 2023. RESULTS: Five factors were extracted namely safety climate, teamwork, job satisfaction, stress management, and working conditions with explained 38.75% of the total variance. The goodness of fit indexes confirmed the model (χ2 = 409.031, DF = 196, χ2 /df = 2.087, CFI = 0.900, IFI = 0.901, PCFI = 0.763 and PNFI = 0.701, and RMSEA = 0.069 [CI90% 0.059-0.078]). CONCLUSION: The Persian version of the SAQ-EMS, comprising 22 items across five factors, demonstrated good validity and reliability. It is recommended to undertake qualitative studies focusing on the concept of patient safety in pre-hospital settings, considering diverse contexts and cultural nuances to develop more robust assessment tools.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the emergency nurses' professional resilience tool.

BACKGROUND: There is no specific tool for measuring the professional resilience of emergency nurses. Therefore, the present study aimed to design and psychometrically evaluate a new tool named the emergency nurses' professional resilience tool. METHOD: This mixed-method sequential exploratory study was conducted in two phases: (1) item generation using literature review and evaluation of the results of a qualitative study and (2) psychometric evaluation of the developed scale. The face, content, and construct validity (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis), reliability (internal consistency, relative, and absolute), and accountability were assessed in the population of Iranian nurses (N = 465) during March 2019-June 2020. RESULTS: The tool designed for assessing the professional resilience of Iranian nurses included 37 items. The average scale content validity index (S-CVI/Ave) was equal to 0.94. The exploratory factor analysis revealed five factors, including professional competencies, emotional-cognitive characteristics, external support, in addition to behavioral and cognitive strategies, and explained 75.59% of the whole variance. Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation were 0.915 and 0.888, respectively. Construct validity for five factors was established with acceptable model fit indices [Chi-square/df = 1336.56/619, p < .001]; [Comparative Fit Index [CFI] = 0.96]; [Non-Normed Fit Index [NNFI] = 0.96]; [Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.074 and 90 Percent Confidence Interval = (0.069; 0.080)]; and [SRMR = 0.095]. CONCLUSIONS: According to the findings of the current study, the emergency nurses' professional resilience tool can be used by healthcare managers as a valid and reliable scale to evaluate the professional resilience of nurses to designate them as nurses working in emergency and disaster situations.

Professional quality of life and resilience in pre-hospital emergency technicians during COVID-19 in Iran: a cross-sectional study.

The professional quality of life of pre-hospital emergency technicians has been adversely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study was performed to investigate the professional quality of life and resilience and their relationships in pre-hospital emergency technicians of Kermanshah Province, Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional, descriptive correlational study was conducted on 412 pre-hospital emergency technicians in Kermanshah Province in 2020 using the census method. Data collection tools were the Stamm Professional Quality of Life Questionnaire and the Emergency Medical Services Resilience scale. Pre-hospital emergency technicians experienced moderate levels of the professional quality of life dimensions and high/acceptable levels of resilience. There was a significant correlation between resilience and the dimensions of the professional quality of life. The results of the regression test showed that resilience had a significant effect on all three components of the professional quality of life. Therefore, the use of resilience enhancement strategies is recommended to improve the professional quality of life of pre-hospital emergency technicians.

Were our hospitals prepared to face the COVID-19 epidemic?

BACKGROUND: The rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a major challenge for hospitals, which plays a key role in local and national responses to different emergencies and disasters, including the outbreak of communicable diseases. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the readiness of selected hospitals in one of the provinces of Iran in response to the COVID-19 epidemic. METHODS: In this descriptive, analytical, and cross-sectional study, we used a checklist developed by the World Health Organization for the COVID-19 pandemic to assess the readiness of hospitals. We assessed and compared the readiness of four hospitals and used Microsoft Excel 2013® to collect and analyze the data. RESULTS: The present results showed that the hospital, which was the main referral center for COVID-19, was in good conditions. However, other hospitals needed to increase their preparedness for the COVID-19 epidemic. CONCLUSION: Besides the importance of hospital readiness to respond to natural and man-made disasters, these institutions and health policymakers should be also prepared to respond properly to the outbreak of highly contagious diseases.

Institutional Accreditation in Medical Education: The Experience of The Survey Visit Teams.

OBJECTIVES: This study discussed about challenges and opportunities of institutional accreditation in Iranian medical universities. The lesson learned of the first round of the accreditation would direct initiatives and solutions for future accreditation. METHODOLOGY: This research is a qualitative content analysis research that studied the experience of the survey visit teams. Semistructured interviews with a purposive sampling approach were done to reach data saturation. Constant comparative method was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The emergent themes were incompatible scheduling with accreditation workload, accreditation sustainability, the weakness of the survey instrument, advantage of the survey instrument, the quality of evaluators' survey, the opportunity of progress for universities, accreditation perspective, defendable cost opportunity, perceived injustice, and the leading strategies. In this study, the relationship between categories and themes was shown with a systematic approach. CONCLUSION: In medical education systems, it is necessary to continue the research and development studies using the findings in each accreditation period to achieve the prospect of international accreditation.

Circulation Enrichment of Functional Endothelial Progenitor Cells by Infantile Phototherapy.

Phototherapy is the most common therapy used for severe jaundice. There is increasing evidence that phototherapy can directly affect the expression and function of cell surface receptors including adhesion molecules, cytokines, and growth factor receptors. In this study, the effect of two infantile phototherapy regimens, including single and intensive phototherapy was investigated on biological features of circulation endothelial progenitor cells (cEPCs), as well as on serum secretion of two important chemotactic cytokines, SDF-1 and VEGF. Sixty infants diagnosed with severe hyperbilirubinemia and exposed to phototherapy were enrolled in this study. cEPCs were isolated before and after phototherapy and then migratory, proliferative, tubulogenic, and functional properties of these cells were analyzed. Our results revealed that intensive phototherapy markedly increased the release of EPCs into the circulation, and augmented the serum concentrations of both SDF-1 and VEGF cytokines. Cell proliferation, tubulogenic, and migratory properties of cEPCs isolated and expanded from infants with intensive phototherapy were significantly improved. cEPCs from infants with intensive phototherapy also showed greater levels of acetylated low-density lipoprotein and lectin binding. Overall, our results showed that the intensive phototherapy regimen can mobilize functional EPCs into the circulation through up-regulation of serum levels of VEGF and SDF-1, indicating phototherapy as an effective modality for improvement of stem cell mobilization in the therapeutic regenerative medicine. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 330-340, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Communication Barriers Perceived by Nurses and Patients.

Communication, as a key element in providing high-quality health care services, leads to patient satisfaction and health. The present Cross sectional, descriptive analytic study was conducted on 70 nurses and 50 patients in two hospitals affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences, in 2012. Two separate questionnaires were used for nurses and patients, and the reliability and validity of the questionnaires were assessed. In both groups of nurses and patients, nurse-related factors (mean scores of 2.45 and 2.15, respectively) and common factors between nurses and patients (mean scores of 1.85 and 1.96, respectively) were considered the most and least significant factors, respectively. Also, a significant difference was observed between the mean scores of nurses and patients regarding patient-related (p=0.001), nurse-related (p=0.012), and environmental factors (p=0.019). Despite the attention of nurses and patients to communication, there are some barriers, which can be removed through raising the awareness of nurses and patients along with creating a desirable environment. We recommend that nurses be effectively trained in communication skills and be encouraged by constant monitoring of the obtained skills.