RESUMEN
Background: Cardiac patients are prone to experiencing constipation. The main purpose of the present study was to assess the effect of acupressure on preventing constipation in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) under primary percutaneous coronary intervention. Methods: The present randomized clinical trial was conducted on 90 patients with AMI (30 patients in each group) who were randomly allocated based on inclusion criteria. The intervention was carried out among the patients with AMI on the acupressure points SJ6, LI4, ST25, and SP6 two times a day (10 am and 6 pm) for three sequential days. Results: On the first and second days of the study, all of the patients had no defecation, and the first defecation occurred on the third day of the study. In the intervention, sham, and control groups, 93.3%, 46.7%, and 50.0% had normal defecation on the third day of the study, respectively. The results of the Chi-square test revealed significant differences among the three groups (P<0.001). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that patients with AMI in the intervention group had significant improvement in terms of stool consistency based on the Bristol stool scale. So, acupressure can be used as a nursing intervention in critical care units.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: One of the results of burn injuries is the appearance of scars and deformities in various organs of the body, which can cause many physical and psychological challenges to burn patients. Lack of proper communication between nurse and patient leads to inaccurate identification of psychological and social needs of these patients and thus affects the quality of care. AIM: This study aimed to investigate the effect of seeing the patient's pre-burn face photo on the quality of care and empathy of nurses with patients admitted to the burn intensive care unit. METHODS: The present study is a quasi-experimental interventional study conducted on 26 Burn Intensive Care Unit (BICU) nurses who were selected by census sampling method in 2018. Data were collected through QUALPAC Nursing Care Quality Questionnaire, Lumonica Empathy Questionnaire and Demographic Questionnaire, which were completed by nurses before and after the intervention. Pre-burn photos of patients with facial burns were displayed at the nursing station for one month and the data were compared before and after the intervention. Descriptive statistics and paired t-test and independent t-test, Mann-Whitney and Pearson correlation tests were used to analyze the data. FINDINGS: The results of present study showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the quality of nursing care (p = 0.001) and its psychological dimension (p < 0.001) before and after the intervention in the group of nurses. However, no significant relationship was found between nurses' empathy with patients before (p = 0.901) and after intervention (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Seeing the photo of the patient's pre-burn face and establishing a relationship between the nurse and the patient had an effect on the quality of nursing care and especially its psychological dimension. However, in order to generalize the results and implement this low-cost, convenient and low-complication intervention for all patients admitted to the intensive care unit, more studies are needed in this field.