Is nurses' clinical competence associated with their moral identity and injury?

BACKGROUND: The enhancement of nursing care quality is closely related to the clinical competence of nurses, making it a crucial component within health systems. OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the relationship between nurses' clinical competence, moral identity, and moral injury during the COVID-19 outbreak. RESEARCH DESIGN: This cross-sectional study was carried out among frontline nurses, using the Moral Identity Questionnaire (MIQ), the Moral Injury Symptom Scale-Healthcare Professionals version (MISS-HP), and the Competency Inventory for Registered Nurse (CIRN) as data collection tools. PARTICIPANTS: and research context: The research population for this study consisted of all frontline nurses (n = 251) employed in a hospital in southern Iran. Sampling was conducted between May 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021, during the COVID-19 outbreak. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: The present study received approval from the research ethics committee of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, with project No. 99267 and code of ethics ID No. IR. RUMS.REC.1399.262, dated 15.02.2021. RESULTS: According to the study findings, 42.2% of the nurses demonstrated high clinical competence, while 51.4% exhibited moderate clinical competence. The results indicated a positive correlation between moral identity and clinical competence but a negative correlation between moral injury and clinical competence. Furthermore, the variables of moral identity and moral injury were found to predict 10% of the variance in clinical competence. CONCLUSION: According to the results, moral identity and moral injury had an impact on the clinical competence of nurses. Therefore, implementing a program aimed at enhancing moral identity and providing training strategies to address moral injury during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic can lead to improvements in nurses' clinical competence and the overall quality of care they provide.

Synthesis of novel conjugated benzofuran-triazine derivatives: Antimicrobial and in-silico molecular docking studies.

Two new developments of antibacterial agents, a series of benzofuran-triazine based compounds (8a-8h) were designed and synthesized. The derivatives were prepared through conventional chemical reactions and structurally characterized with FT-IR, 1H and 13C NMR techniques. The antibacterial activity of the synthesized derivatives was assessed against gram-positive bacterial strains (Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative bacterial strains (Salmonella entritidis and Escherichia coli). Compound 8e, with the MIC value of 125-32 µg/µl against all the examined strains of bacteria, was the most active antibacterial compound. The synthesized derivatives were also studied for docking to the binding sites of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) receptor which has a key role in drug resistance associated with bacterial infections. The synthesized compounds showed good interaction with the targets through hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. According to antibacterial and docking studies, compound 8e could be introduced as a candidate for development of antibacterial compounds.