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AIM: To describe how women perceived relational autonomy for decision-making during childbirth pain and illuminate influencing factors. BACKGROUND: Most women report challenging pain during birth. Circumstances can affect their ability to engage in pain management decisions. DESIGN: We used an interpretative description approach to conduct this study. METHOD: A purposive sample of ten women who reported pain during childbirth participated in semi-structured interviews. The study was conducted between July 2019 and November 2020 and reported according to the COREQ checklist. RESULTS: Circumstances during childbirth, such as women's expectations and relationships, influenced their efforts to engage in relational autonomy. Care providers dealt with the unpredictability of childbirth and challenges with pain management using decision-making practices that could disrupt women's expectations, undermine women's trust, demonstrate disrespect for women and rely on inadequate communication. Women who felt dependent on others were less likely to participate in decision-making. When care providers' perceptions about pain differed from women's reports of pain, participants became distressed because care providers did not acknowledge their subjective pain experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Women regarded their relationships and communication with care providers as foundational to relational autonomy in decision-making about pain management during childbirth. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Study findings can support care providers' considerations of the complexity of childbirth pain and factors affecting women's relational autonomy in decision-making about pain. In particular, the findings highlight the importance of women's expectations and care providers' recognition of women's experiences of pain. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Women who shared their stories of childbirth pain contributed to the data collected. The chief nursing officers in the data collection setting facilitated the recruitment and data collection.
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Labor Pain , Labor, Obstetric , Pregnancy , Female , Humans , Labor Pain/therapy , Pain Management , Delivery, Obstetric , Trust , ParturitionABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Research on medical assistance in dying (MAiD) decision-making indicates that family members and close friends are often involved in making decisions with patients and their care providers. This decision-making model comprising patients, family members, and palliative care providers (PCPs) has been described as a triad. The objective of this study is to understand PCPs' experiences engaging in MAiD-related decision-making triads with patients and their families in Canada. METHODS: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were analyzed using interpretive description. RESULTS: We interviewed 48 specialist PCPs in Vancouver (26) and Toronto (22). Interviews were audio-recorded, professionally transcribed, and coded using a coding framework. PCPs take on 5 notable roles in their work with family members around MAiD. They provide emotional support and counseling, balance confidentiality between patients and families, provide education, coordinate support, and mediate family dynamics. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: PCPs take on multiple roles in working with patients and families to make decisions about MAiD. As patients and families may require different forms of support throughout the MAiD pathway, PCPs can benefit from institutional and interprofessional resources to enhance their ability to support patients and families in decision-making and bereavement.
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BACKGROUND: Moral distress is a serious problem for health care personnel. Surveys, individual interviews, and focus groups may not capture all of the effects of, and responses to, moral distress. Therefore, we used a new participatory action research approach-moral conflict assessment (MCA)-to characterize moral distress and to facilitate the development of interventions for this problem. AIM: To characterize moral distress by analyzing responses of intensive care unit (ICU) personnel who participated in the MCA process. RESEARCH DESIGN: In this qualitative study, we invited all ICU personnel at 3 urban hospitals to participate in individual or group sessions using the 8-step MCA tool. These sessions were facilitated by either a clinical ethicist or a counseling psychologist who was trained in this process. During each session, one of the researchers took notes and prepared a report for each MCA which were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT: A total of 24 participants took part in 15 sessions, individually or in groups; 14 were nurses and nurse leaders, 2 were physicians, and 8 were other health professionals. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: This study was approved by the Providence Health Care/University of British Columbia Behavioural Research Ethics Board. Each participant provided written informed consent. RESULTS: The main causes of moral distress related to goals of care, communication, teamwork, respect for patient's preferences, and the managerial system. Suggested solutions included communication strategies and educational activities for health care providers, patients, family members, and others about teamwork, advance directives, and end-of-life care. Participants acknowledged that using the MCA process helped them to reflect on their own thoughts and use their moral agency to turn a distressing situation into a learning and improvement opportunity. CONCLUSIONS: Using the MCA tool helped participants to characterize their moral distress in a systematic way, and to arrive at new potential solutions.
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Health Personnel , Stress, Psychological , Humans , Stress, Psychological/psychology , Health Personnel/psychology , Morals , Qualitative Research , Intensive Care Units , Surveys and Questionnaires , Attitude of Health PersonnelABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Medical care that has therapeutic effects without significant benefits for the patient is called futile care. Intensive Care Units are the most important units in which nurses provide futile care. This study aimed to explain the causes of futile care from the perspective of nurses working in Intensive Care Units are. METHOD: The study was conducted using a qualitative approach. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data. Study participants were 17 nurses who were working in the Intensive Care Units are of hospitals in the north of Iran. They were recruited through a purposeful sampling method. Data was gathered using in-depth, semi-structured interviews from March to June 2021. Recruitment was continued until data saturation was reached. RESULTS: Two main themes, four categories, and thirteen subcategories emerged from the data analysis. The main themes were principlism and caring swamp. The categories were moral foundation, professionalism, compulsory care, and patient's characteristics. CONCLUSION: In general, futile care has challenged nursing staff with complex conflicts. By identifying some of these conflicts, nurses will be able to control such situations and plan for better management strategies. Also, using the findings of this study, nursing managers can adopt supportive strategies to reduce the amount of futile care and thus solve the specific problems of nurses in intensive care units such as burnout, moral stress, and intention to leave.
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BACKGROUND: After over 4 years since medical assistance in dying legalization in Canada, there is still much uncertainty about how this ruling has affected Canadian society. OBJECTIVE: To describe the positive aspects of medical assistance in dying legalization from the perspectives of hospice palliative care providers engaging in medical assistance in dying. DESIGN: In this qualitative descriptive study, we conducted an inductive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with hospice palliative care providers. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Multi-disciplinary hospice palliative care providers in acute, community, residential, and hospice care in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, who have engaged in end-of-life care planning with patients who have inquired about and/or requested medical assistance in dying. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: The research proposal was approved by University of British Columbia Research Ethics Board in Vancouver and University Health Network in Toronto. Participants were informed regarding the research goals, signed a written consent, and were assigned pseudonyms. RESULTS: The 48 participants included hospice palliative care physicians (n = 22), nurses (n = 15), social workers (n = 7), and allied health providers (n = 4). The average interview length was 50 min. Positive aspects of medical assistance in dying legalization were identified at (1) the individual level: (a) a new end-of-life option, (b) patients' last chance to express control over their lives, (c) patient and family comfort and relief, and (d) a unique learning experience for hospice palliative care providers; (2) the team level: (a) supportive collegial relationships, (b) broadened discussions about end-of-life and palliative care, and (c) team debriefs provide opportunities for education and support; and (3) the institutional level: (a) improved processes to facilitate the implementation logistics. CONCLUSION: While being involved in the medical assistance in dying process is complex and challenging, this study sheds light on the positive aspects of medical assistance in dying legalization from the hospice palliative care provider's perspectives. Medical Assistance in Dying legalization has resulted in improved end-of-life conversations between hospice palliative care providers, patients, and their families. Improved communication leads to a better understanding of patients' end-of-life care plans and bridges some of the existing gaps between hospice palliative care and medical assistance in dying.
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Hospice Care , Hospices , Suicide, Assisted , Canada , Humans , Medical Assistance , Palliative CareABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Good quality of care is dependent on nurses' strong clinical skills and moral competencies, as well. While most nurses work with high moral standards, the moral performance of some nurses in some organizations shows a deterioration in their moral sensitivity and actions. The study reported in this paper aimed to explore the experiences of nurses regarding negative changes in their moral practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a qualitative study utilizing an inductive thematic analysis approach, which was conducted from February 2017 to September 2019. Twenty-five nurses participated in semi-structured interviews. RESULTS: The main theme that emerged from our analysis was one of moral neutralization in the context of an unethical moral climate. We found five sub-themes, including: (1) feeling discouraged; (2) normalization; (3) giving up; (4) becoming a justifier; and (5) moral indifference. CONCLUSIONS: Unethical moral climates in health organizations can result in deterioration of morality in nurses which can harm both patients and health systems. Some unethical behaviors in nurses can be explained by this process.
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Nurses , Workplace , Attitude of Health Personnel , Clinical Competence , Humans , Morals , Qualitative ResearchABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Physical restraint is among the commonly used methods for ensuring patient safety in intensive care units. However, nurses usually experience ethical dilemmas over using physical restraint because they need to weigh patient autonomy against patient safety. AIM: The aim of this study was to explore factors behind ethical dilemmas for critical care nurses over using physical restraint for patients. DESIGN: This is a qualitative study using conventional content analysis approach, as suggested by Graneheim and Lundman, to analyze the data. METHODS: Seventeen critical care nurses were purposefully recruited from the four intensive care units in Tehran, Iran. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and were concurrently analyzed through conventional content analysis as suggested by Graneheim and Lundman. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran with the code: IR.IUMS.REC.1397.795. Before interviews, participants were provided with explanations about the aim of the study, the confidentiality of the data, their freedom to participate, and the right to withdraw the study, and their free access to the study findings. Finally, their consents were obtained, and interviews were started. RESULTS: Factors behind ethical dilemmas for critical care nurses over using physical restraint were categorized into three main categories, namely the outcomes of using physical restraint, the outcomes of not using physical restraint, and emotional distress for nurses. The outcomes of using physical restraint were categorized into the three subcategories of ensuring patient safety, physical damage to patients, and mental damage to the patient. The outcomes of not using physical restraint fell into two subcategories, namely the risks associated with not using physical restraint and legal problems for nurses. Finally, the two subcategories of the emotional distress for nurses main category were nurses' negative feelings about restraint use and uncertainty over the decision on physical restraint use. CONCLUSION: Decision-making for restraint use is often associated with ethical dilemmas, because nurses need to weight the outcomes of its use against the outcomes of not using it and also consider patient safety and autonomy. Health authorities are recommended to develop clear evidence-based guidelines for restraint use and develop and implement educational and counseling programs for nurses on the principles of ethical nursing practice, patient rights, physical restraint guidelines and protocols, and management of emotional, ethical, and legal problems associated with physical restraint use.
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Ethics, Nursing , Nurses/psychology , Restraint, Physical/ethics , Adult , Attitude of Health Personnel , Critical Care Nursing/methods , Critical Care Nursing/standards , Female , Humans , Iran , Male , Middle Aged , Patient Rights/ethics , Patient Safety/standards , Qualitative Research , Restraint, Physical/psychology , Restraint, Physical/standards , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:: Patients' rights arise from their expectations of the healthcare system, which are rooted in their needs. Visitation is seen as a necessary need for patients and families in intensive care units. OBJECTIVES:: The authors attempted to design, implement, and evaluate a new visiting policy in the intensive care units. RESEARCH DESIGN:: This study was an action research, including two qualitative and quantitative approaches. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT:: The viewpoints of 51 participants (patients, families, doctors, nurses, and guards) on how to change the limited visiting policy were explained through semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The new visiting policy (contractual visitation) was designed, implemented, and evaluated with the involvement of participants. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS:: The hospital ethics committee approval was gained and the informed consent was obtained from all the participants. FINDINGS:: The content of interviews was analyzed and classified into four categories: advantages and disadvantages of visiting policies, and barriers and facilitators of changing the limited visiting policy. After implementation of the new policy (contractual visitation), a significant difference observed in satisfaction status before and after the changes (p value < 0.001). DISCUSSION:: Nowadays, many countries' clinical guidelines recommend flexible visiting policy, which is consistent with the results of this study. CONCLUSION:: Changing the limited visiting policy was a necessary need for patients and families that established with the involvement of them and staff.
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Intensive Care Units/organization & administration , Organizational Policy , Visitors to Patients , Ethics, Nursing , Focus Groups , Humans , Patient Satisfaction/statistics & numerical data , Qualitative ResearchABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Informed consent goes beyond signing a form; it is a process of providing necessary information, helping patients make an informed decision, and actively participate in their treatment. AIM/OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the quality of obtaining surgical informed consent in hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Research design/participants/context: In a cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study, 300 patients were chosen through stratified sampling from seven hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected using a questionnaire developed by the researchers and analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics on SPSS software. Ethical considerations: Ethical approval of this study was granted by Tehran University of Medical Sciences research ethics committee. Written informed consent for participation was obtained. The participants were reassured that their information will be used anonymously and their answers will not affect their treatment and care. FINDINGS: The mean score of quality of acquisition of informed consent was 17.13 out of 35, indicating that the quality falls in the inappropriate category. The results indicate that 48% of the signatories do not even read the form before signing it. Among the 52% who did read the consent form, 61.3% mentioned varying degrees of incomprehensibility of the consent form and 94.2% mentioned the presence of incomprehensible technical, medical and legal vocabulary. Only 12% and 18% of respondents reported that they were not in hurry and they had no fear or anxiety, respectively, when signing the form. The quality of obtaining informed consent was higher in women, younger patients, patients with higher education, and those who had special surgeries. DISCUSSION: This study shows a poor practice in obtaining surgical informed consent in Iran. It seems necessary to consider fundamental changes in the process of acquiring consent based on the temporal and local conditions of the patients.
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Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Informed Consent/ethics , Professional-Patient Relations , Surgical Procedures, Operative , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Informed Consent/standards , Iran , Male , Middle Aged , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young AdultABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Nursing students, during their study, experience significant changes on their journey to become nurses. A major change that they experience is the development of their moral competency. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to explore the process of moral development in Iranian nursing students. RESEARCH DESIGN: A constructivist grounded theory method was adopted. Twenty-five in-depth, semi-structured, face-to-face intensive interviews with 22 participants were conducted from September 2013 to October 2014. All interviews were audio-taped, transcribed, and analyzed using writing memos and the constant comparative method. Participants and research context: The setting was three major nursing schools within Tehran, the capital of Iran. Nineteen nursing students and three lecturers participated in the study. Ethical considerations: The study was approved by the Tehran University of Medical Sciences Committee for Medical Research Ethics (92/D/130/1781). It was explained to all participants that their responses would be treated with confidentiality and that they would not be identified in any way in the research and any publication ensuing from the research. All participants agreed to be interviewed and signed written consent forms agreeing to the recording and analyses of the interview data gathered. FINDINGS: Findings indicated three levels of moral development along with the formation of professional identity. The three levels of moral development, getting to know the identity of nursing (moral transition), accepting nursing identity (moral reconstruction), and professional identity internalization (professional morality), were connected to the levels of professional identity formation. DISCUSSION: The proposed model added a new insight to professionalism in nursing. CONCLUSION: From the findings, it was concluded that to enhance higher moral practice, nursing instructors should promote the professional identity of nursing students. Reinforcement of moral characteristics and professional identity within registered nurses occurs over a series of phases and, once fully integrated into the identity of nursing students, the moral characteristics that they acquire become part of their both professional and personal identities.
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Education, Nursing , Ethics, Nursing , Grounded Theory , Moral Development , Nurse's Role/psychology , Personal Construct Theory , Students, Nursing/psychology , Adult , Female , Humans , Iran , Male , Middle Aged , Qualitative Research , Social Identification , Young AdultABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: It is the responsibility of each occupational therapist to always act ethically and professionally in a clinical setting. However, there is little information available concerning the factors influencing ethical behavior of occupational therapists at work. Since no study has been conducted in Iran on this topic, this qualitative study aimed to identify the factors influencing ethical behavior of pediatric occupational therapists. METHODS: Twelve pediatric occupational therapists participated in this study. The sampling was purposeful, and the interviews continued until reaching data saturation. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. The data were analyzed by qualitative content analysis, and the ethics of qualitative research was considered. RESULTS: The factors influencing ethical behavior were classified into four main categories including organizational factors, therapist related factors, client's family issues, and social factors. CONCLUSION: This study identified numerous factors influencing the ethical behavior of pediatric occupational therapists that could be used to train occupational therapists, human resources managers, professional policy makers, and could also be used to conduct future researches, and produce tools.
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INTRODUCTION: Informed consent constitutes one of the most important legal, professional, and ethical principles of a surgical operation. Consent obtained from a patient is only valid when the patient has received enough information regarding the proposed treatment option. This study aims to determine how much the patients are informed before undergoing surgery, as well as the factors influencing it in hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences. METHOD: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive-analytic study of 300 patients undergoing surgery in 7 teaching hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The patients were recruited through clustered sampling. Data were collected using a questionnaire completed by interview. Data were analyzed on SPSS software using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULT: The mean score of data provision for patients was 27.09 out of 60, indicating the level of information provided as unacceptable. Among 12 questions dealing with data provision, patients had received an intermediate level of information about nature of the disease, type of surgery, benefits and importance of the surgery, and complications of rejecting the recommended therapy. On the contrary, they had not received enough information about the surgical procedure, type of anesthesia, potential complications of surgery, potential risks of surgery, other therapy options instead of surgery, length of hospital stay for surgery, postsurgical follow-up, and expenses of the surgery. In the majority (85%) of cases, the surgeon was reported to be the information provider. Among the variables studied, level of information received was directly related to the patient's education level. DISCUSSION: The findings of this study indicate that during the process of obtaining an informed consent for surgery, patients do not receive sufficient information, and it is necessary to provide the essential information in an understandable manner adjusted for the patient's level of education.
Subject(s)
Informed Consent/ethics , Surgical Procedures, Operative/ethics , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Informed Consent/standards , Iran , Male , Middle Aged , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Prescribing represents a new aspect of practice for nurses. To make qualitative results more accessible to clinicians, researchers, and policy makers, individuals are urged to synthesize findings from related studies. Therefore this study aimed to aggregate and interpret existing literature review and systematic studies to obtain new insights on nurse prescription. METHODS: This was a qualitative meta synthesis study using Walsh and Downe process. In order to obtain data all Digital National Library of Medicine's databases, search engines and several related sites were used. Full texts with "review and nurs* prescri* " words in the title or abstract in English language and published without any time limitation were considered. After eliminating duplicate and irrelevant studies, 11 texts were selected. Data analysis was conducted using qualitative content analysis. Multiple codes were compared based on the differences and similarities and divided to the categories and themes. RESULTS: The results from the meta synthesis of the 11 studies revealed 8 themes namely: leading countries in prescribing, views, features, infrastructures, benefits, disadvantages, facilitators and barriers of nursing prescription that are discussed in this article. The results led to a schematic model. CONCLUSION: Despite the positive view on nurse prescribing, there are still issues such as legal, administrative, weak research and educational deficiencies in academic preparation of nurses that needs more effort in these areas and requires further research.
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This study explored how nursing students can be kept motivated throughout their clinical education. Motivation is a key issue in nursing clinical education for student retention. The study was conducted using grounded theory methods, which are appropriate when studying process in a social context. Sixteen students and four instructors, who were purposefully selected, participated in semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Students' motivational journey occurred in three steps: (i) social condition; (ii) encountering the clinical education challenges; and (iii) looking for an escape from nursing, or simply tolerating nursing. Struggling with professional identity emerged as the core variable. Iran's social context and many other conditions in the clinical education setting affect students' motivation. Identifying motivational process might assist educational authorities in offering solutions to promote motivation among students.
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Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate/methods , Motivation , Professional Competence , Students, Nursing/psychology , Adult , Attitude of Health Personnel , Career Choice , Cultural Characteristics , Educational Measurement , Faculty, Nursing , Female , Humans , Interprofessional Relations , Iran , Job Satisfaction , Male , Risk Assessment , Young AdultABSTRACT
Informed consent is a cornerstone of ethical human research. However, as cluster randomized trials (CRTs) are increasingly popular to evaluate health service interventions, especially as health systems aspire toward the learning health system, questions abound how research teams and research ethics boards (REBs) should navigate intertwining consent and data-use considerations. Methodological and ethical questions include who constitute the participants, whose and what types of consent are necessary, and how data from people who have not consented to participation should be managed to optimize the balance of trust in the research enterprise, respect for persons, the promotion of data integrity, and the pursuit of the public good in the research arena. In this paper, we report the findings and lessons learned from a qualitative study examining how researchers and REB members consider the ethical dimensions of when data can be collected and used in CRTs in the evolving research landscape.
Subject(s)
Motivation , Research Design , Humans , Ethics Committees, Research , Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic , Informed Consent , Ethics, ResearchABSTRACT
Breast cancer is one of the most frequent malignancies worldwide which is characterized by early onset and diagnosis at advanced stages in Iranian women. Increasing women's awareness and implementing breast cancer screening programs detect cancer earlier and reduce mortality. Physicians play a pivotal role in this regard. Further, there is limited literature about knowledge, attitude, and screening behaviors in Iranian women. Using a questionnaire, we assessed and compared breast cancer knowledge, attitude, and screening behaviors in 102 female physicians and 94 female non-health care personnel, who were mostly from the hospital's cleaning and housekeeping sections. Of the physicians and of non-health care personnel, respectively, 93.1 and 24.7 % felt confident about their knowledge and 37.6 and 26.1 % performed monthly breast self-examination. Of physicians aged 40 and over, 31.25 and 18.75 % had clinical breast examination and mammogram, respectively, within 12 months prior to date of data collection. In non-health care personnel aged 40 and over, the results were 27.59 % for clinical breast examination and 17.24 % for mammogram at the same period of time. Despite the higher knowledge and socioeconomic class of physicians, there were no significant difference in screening behaviors between physicians and non-health care personnel (P > 0.05).
Subject(s)
Allied Health Personnel/psychology , Attitude of Health Personnel , Breast Neoplasms/prevention & control , Early Detection of Cancer/psychology , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Physicians/psychology , Adult , Breast Neoplasms/diagnosis , Breast Neoplasms/psychology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Practice Patterns, Physicians' , Prognosis , Young AdultABSTRACT
A significant development for conducting research on patient rights has been made in Iran over the past decade. This study is conducted in order to review and analyze the previous studies that have been made, so far, concerning patient rights in Iran. This is a comprehensive review study conducted by searching the Iranian databases, Scientific Information Database, Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology, Iran Medex and Google using the Persian equivalent of keywords for 'awareness', 'attitude', and 'patient rights'. For pertinent Iranian papers published in English, scientific databases PubMed, and Google Scholar were searched using the keyword 'patient rights' and 'Iran'. A total of 41 Persian and five English articles were found for these keywords, only 26 of which fulfilled the objective of our study. The increasing number of papers published indicates that from 1999 onwards, this subject has begun to draw the attention of Iranian researchers in a progressive fashion and Iranian papers in English have also been compiled and published in international sources.
Subject(s)
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Patient Rights/legislation & jurisprudence , Attitude of Health Personnel , Clinical Competence , Humans , IranABSTRACT
Introduction: Given that children in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) are more vulnerable to safety risks, health care officials are required to identify the weaknesses and strengths of care and ensure the safety of these children. In this study, the safety status in PICUs of selected educational children's hospitals in Tehran, Iran, was examined and compared with standards proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Methods: In this descriptive study, the performance of nurses with a bachelor's degree or higher and minimum work experience of six months in the PICU was examined. The study environment included four selected educational hospitals located in Tehran, Iran. Data collection tools were eight safety observation checklists based on the safety standards of WHO. Data collection took five months and the nurses' performance was categorized into three groups of undesirable, relatively desirable, and desirable. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 13, descriptive statistics, and regression analysis. Results: Consistency of nursing care for the safety of hospitalized children was found undesirable in hand hygiene in accordance with the WHO standards. Nurses' performance was relatively desirable in the fields of being more cautious about drugs with similar names or spelling to avoid medication errors, communication during patient hand-over, and performance of correct procedure at correct body site. Regarding other fields, the consistency was at a desirable level. Conclusion: Children's safety in the PICUs is not desirable in terms of observing health codes and there is a long way to go to meet the international standards.
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Children of parents with mental illness are a substantial, yet marginalized group. This study, as part of a more extensive research project, used grounded theory to explore the outcomes of parental mental illness on their children. Seventeen informants were interviewed at a mental hospital in the city of Qazvin, Iran. The participants were selected using purposeful and theoretical sampling. Interviews were analyzed using Strauss and Corbin's method. It was revealed that parental mental illness leads to five major outcomes that involve communication, mental, educational, economic, and extra roles factors. As such, it is suggested that these children should be considered within health care plans and that policy makers, nurses, and other health care providers use these findings for preventive and educational purposes.
Subject(s)
Child of Impaired Parents , Cost of Illness , Family Health , Mental Disorders , Adolescent , Adult , Child of Impaired Parents/psychology , Female , Health Services Needs and Demand , Humans , Iran , Male , Social Stigma , Socioeconomic Factors , Stress, PsychologicalABSTRACT
Background: Concerns regarding personal, professional, administrative, and institutional implications of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) are of particular interest to palliative and hospice care providers (PHCPs), who may encounter additional moral distress and professional challenges in providing end-of-life (EOL) care in the new legislative and cultural era. Objective: To explore PHCPs' encountered challenges and resource recommendations for caring for patients considering MAiD. Design: Qualitative thematic analysis of audio-recorded semistructured interviews with PHCPs. Setting/Subjects: Multidisciplinary PHCPs in acute, community, residential, and hospice care in Vancouver, Canada, with experience supporting patients who have made MAiD inquiries or requests. Measurements: Interviews were deidentified, transcribed verbatim, and coded by four researchers using a common coding scheme. Key themes were analyzed. Results: Twenty-six PHCP participants included physicians (n = 7), nurses (n = 12), social workers (n = 5), and spiritual health practitioners (n = 2). Average interview length was 52 minutes (range 35-90). Analysis revealed four broad challenges associated with providing EOL care after MAiD legalization: (1) moral ambiguity and provider distress, (2) family distress, (3) interprofessional team conflict, and (4) impact on palliative care. Participants also recommended three types of resources to support clinicians in delivering quality EOL care to patients contemplating MAiD: (1) education and training, (2) pre- and debriefing for team members, and (3) tailored bereavement support. Conclusions: PHCPs encountered multilevel MAiD-related challenges, but noted improvement in organizational policies and coordination. Resources to enhance training, pre- and debriefing, and tailored bereavement may further support PHCPs in providing high-quality EOL care as they navigate the legislative and cultural shifts.