The Effectiveness of Doctoral Program in Nursing in Iran Based on the Patrick Model

Background: Doctoral program in nursing aims to train nursing professionals and managers to improve the quality of care and ultimately to promote public health. Some critics believe that in Iran this program mostly focuses on training instructors and researchers and neither improves the function and position of nursing discipline nor meets the needs of the community. Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of nursing doctoral program based on the Patrick model from the perspective of nursing doctoral students. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 90 nursing students who were conveniently selected from seven nursing schools. A questionnaire designed based on the Patrick model was used. Descriptive statistics, simple and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Percentage of the effectiveness scores was reported. Results: The mean score of effectiveness of the nursing doctoral program was 84.76 ± 2.73, which assumed a good level. Multiple regression analysis showed that job status and being native in the field of education explains 11% of the variance in the effectiveness score. Conclusions: Although the efficacy of nursing doctoral program is good, however, it needs revision to enhance the outcomes of the program in order to meet public needs and to increase learners’ satisfaction

Impediments to the formation of intensive care nurses� professional identify

Background: Nurses face challenges regarding professional identify. Being unaware of these challenges and not owning positive professional identify leads to a lack of self-confidence. Thus, nurses face problems in interpersonal communication and lose their attachment to their profession. Few studies have engaged with impediments to forming positive professional identity in relation to intensive care nurses. Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impediments to forming positive professional identity in nurses working in intensive care unit. Research design: In this study, the conventional content analysis method was used in order to obtain the impediments to forming positive professional identities in nurses. Data were collected through 15 semi-structured interviews and 2 focus group interviews from March 2015 to June 2016. Purposive sampling was used and participants were recruited until data saturation was reached; they were then analyzed using the conventional content analysis method. Participants and research context: In total, 24 intensive care unit nurses from one hospital in Northern Iran were selected through purposive sampling. Ethical consideration: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Findings: Four main themes of professional identity challenges were extracted from the analysis of the data: neglect of professional status of nursing; distrust of nursing knowledge; unprofessional performance; and low professional attraction. Discussion and conclusion: Nurses stated that the neglect of the professional status of nursing and distrust of nursing knowledge have always been a hindrance in forming a positive professional identity. They also mentioned that unprofessional performance and low professional attraction are the other influencing factors in this regard. Thus, detecting these factors can guide nurses and their managers towards creating positive professional identity, and as a result, will improve their job satisfaction, professional advancement, and durability. © The Author(s) 2018

Prediction of academic burnout and academic performance based on the need for cognition and general self-efficacy: A cross-sectional analytical study

One of the main challenges of nursing education is students’ academic burnout due to the stressors associated with nursing practice. Therefore, identifying and predicting cognitive and motivational factors behind academic burnout and academic performance are of great importance. This study aimed to predict nursing students’ academic burnout and academic performance based on the need for cognition and general self-efficacy and also to assess the mediation effects of the need for cognition and general self-efficacy. This was a cross-sectional analytical study. Two Faculties of Nursing and Midwifery in Shiraz and Rafsanjan, Iran. A sample of 337 bachelor’s nursing students. Data were collected using a demographic and academic characteristics questionnaire, Cacioppo and Petty’s Need for Cognition Scale, Sherer’s General Self-Efficacy Scale, and Maslach’s Burnout Inventory-Student Survey. Academic performance was also measured based on students’ grade point average. Data analysis was performed via Pearson correlation analysis, simple and multiple regression analyses, and Sobel test equation for mediation effects. Analyses revealed the significant positive correlation of general self-efficacy with the need for cognition and academic performance as well as the significant inverse correlation of academic burnout with the need for cognition, general self-efficacy, and academic performance. However, the need for cognition was not significantly correlated with academic performance. Moreover, the need for cognition and general self-efficacy simultaneously predicted 16.8 of the variance of academic burnout, while only general self-efficacy was the significant predictor of academic performance, accounting for 3.5 of its total variance. General self-efficacy mediated the relationship of the need for cognition and academic burnout. Also, the need for cognition mediated the relationship of general self-efficacy and academic burnout (P < 0.001). Interventions for improving students’ self-efficacy and need for cognition can help reduce their academic burnout and improve their academic performance. © 2018 Revista Latinoamericana de Hipertension. All Rights Reserved

Quality of nurses' communication with mechanically ventilated patients in a cardiac surgery intensive care unit

Objective. To describe the quality of the relationship between nurses and patients under mechanical ventilation. Methods. This observational study, performed in a cardiac surgery intensive care unit in Iran, selected 10 nurses and 35 patients through simple random and convenience sampling, respectively. One of the researchers observed 175 communications between nurses and patients in different work shifts and recorded the results according to a checklist. Nurse and patient satisfaction with the communication was assessed by using a six-item Likert scale, 8 to 12 h after extubation. Results. Most of the patients were male (77.1), while most of the nurses were female (60). Patients started over 75 of the communications observed. The content of the communication was related mostly to physical needs and pain. Besides, the majority of patients used purposeful stares and hand gestures, and head nod for communication. Most of the communications between patients and nurses were satisfied 'very low' (45.7 in nurses, versus 54.3 in patients). However, 'complete satisfaction' was lower in nurses (0), compared with patients (5.7). No statistically significant correlation was found between patients' and nurses' satisfaction and demographic variables. Conclusion. The results showed that communication between nurses and mechanically ventilated patients was built through traditional methods and was based on the patients' requests. This issue might be the cause of an undesirable level of their satisfaction with the communication, given that effective communication can lead to understanding and meeting the needs of the patients. © 2019 Facultad de Enfermeria de la Universidad de Antioquia