Evaluation and comparison of the effect of two educational methods of self-empowerment training on the quality of life in diabetic patients visiting the diabetes clinic of urmia of medical sciences

Background and objective: Diabetes mellitus is one of the common chronic diseases with many complications and one of the serious challenges for the health system that affects on the quality of patient's life. Training patient is one of the oldest and best ways to control these complications. Traditional and modern education methods have shown different results on the quality of life of these patients which is remarkable. The present study was conducted aimed to compare the effect of self-empowerment training through educational package and workshop on the effect of quality of diabetic patients' life who visit the Diabetes Clinic in the Urmia University of Medical Sciences in 2013. Materials and methods: The present study is an experimental study with pretest-posttest which was carried out on 40 individuals of diabetic patients visiting the Diabetes Clinic in the Urmia University of Medical Sciences. The research samples were randomly assigned to the training workshop and training package. A two-part tool was used to collect data which included demographic information and the questionnaire of life quality of diabetic patients. After collecting data and coding them in the statistic software of SPSS (ver. 16), data were analyzed using Chi-square, U-Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon statistical tests.Results: The mean scores of life quality of research samples in the intervention group with training workshop were 40.25±7.69 and 46.00±7.56 before and after training, respectively and 48.5±5.56 and 39.9±9.00 in the intervention group with training package, respectively. The research findings showed no significant difference in the scores of life quality between two intended groups before and after intervention (P: 0.570), but a significant difference was found before and after intervention (inter-group) in the scores of life quality in each group (P<0.0001).Discussion and conclusion: The present study showed that the indirect educational method such as using the training packages is useful and effective in increasing the life quality score as well as the direct educational method such as training workshop and in cases where it is not possible to hold workshops for the patients with diabetes, it can be used as an effective educational method for improving the quality of life in diabetic patients

INVESTIGATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDIED TRAITS WITH GRAIN YIELD USING REGRESSION ANALYSIS AND PATH ANALYSIS IN 34 BARLEY LINES AND CULTIVARS

ABSTRACT: Path analysis has great significance in determine the relationship between important characteristics with economic performance. This experiment was conducted in Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Station of Ardabil in 2011-12. In this experiment, 39 barely lines and cultivars were evaluated in the form of augmented designs. Several varieties of these numbers called Bulbul, Sadik-02, Radical, Tokak and Makooye that is grown in the region were cultured in triplicate and 34 other lines were distributed randomly within these repeats and were studied. Results showed that the number of spikelet per spike, spike weight and length with 37% explained the maximum yield variation. The results showed that number of spikelet per spike and spike weight had respectively highest positive impact and spike length negative effect on increasing grain yield. Also results showed that characteristics such as number of spikelet per spike and spike weight had respectively 0.743 and 0.3 direct positive effect and spike length (-0.654) had a negative direct effect on grain yield

Comparison of Stress, Anxiety, and Depression Levels in Nurses in Specialized and General Ward

Background: Nurses are exposed to higher stress, anxiety, and depression due to the nature of their work. Considering the differences between specialized and general hospital units, this article focuses on comparing the levels of stress, anxiety, and depression among nurses in these two types of units. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2023 on 135 nurses in specialized units and 219 nurses in general units selected through stratified random sampling out of 1681 nurses. For this study, 6 public hospitals in the West Azerbaijan province of Iran were selected. Data were collected through a demographic questionnaire and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) and analyzed using SPSS software. A significance level of 0.05 was considered for this study. Results: This study reported that stress, anxiety, and depression affected 72.04%, 46.33%, and 53.68% of nurses, respectively, with mild to extremely-severe intensity levels. No significant differences were observed in stress, anxiety, and depression between specialized and general units (p > 0.05). Among specialized units (ICU, CCU, and dialysis ward), dialysis unit nurses had significantly lower depression scores (p 0.05). Conclusions: The similarities among nurses in specialized and general units outweigh the observed differences. Given the high prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression among nurses and the negative correlation with job satisfaction, managers should improve job satisfaction to support nurses’ mental health

The relationship between professional autonomy and job performance among Iranian ICU nurses: the mediating effect of job satisfaction and organizational commitment

Abstract Background Although previous studies have linked professional autonomy to nurses’ job performance, research lacks how job satisfaction and organizational commitment mediate this relationship. Addressing this gap is essential for improving nursing practice outcomes. This study aims to determine the mediating effect of job satisfaction and organizational commitment in this relationship among Iranian nurses. Methods This descriptive-correlational study was conducted in Urmia teaching hospitals from October 2022 to June 2023. Four hundred twenty nurses were recruited using quota sampling. Eligible participants were selected non-randomly from predetermined numbers at four hospitals, and recruitment continued until the required sample size was achieved. Data were collected using demographic questionnaires, the Varjus Professional Autonomy Scale, the Porter Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Paterson Job Performance Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 23 and SmartPLS ver. 3. Results Professional autonomy had a positive, direct, and strong effect on nurses’ job performance (β = 0.708, t-value = 9.867, p < 0.001). Professional autonomy had a positive, direct, strong impact on job satisfaction (β = 0.854, t-value = 39.736, p < 0.001) and a positive, minor, and direct effect on organizational commitment (β = 0.199, t-value = 3.150, p = 0.000). Professional autonomy positively affects job performance through job satisfaction (β = 0.4016, 95% CI: 0.3280, 0.4736) and organizational commitment (β = 0.7582, 95% CI: 0.6088, 0.9086). Conclusions Healthcare managers should promote nurses’ autonomy and job satisfaction to enhance their performance. They can improve working conditions by offering competitive salaries, simplifying promotion processes, and involving nurses in decisions related to patient care. Additionally, essential steps to consider are supporting nursing autonomy, organizing educational classes, and implementing strategies such as stress reduction programs, reducing workloads, addressing nursing shortages, and decreasing working hours

Examining the ethical competence (ec) of nursing students

Introduction: Ethical care in nursing services is very important and professional EC in nursing ethics means nursing care based on bioethics standards. However, so far, some important questions have remained unanswered in the area of ethical care and ECs in nursing students. Nursing ethics seems to need more studies and efforts in the field of teaching this issue to achieve this. In this paper, we have tried to examine the importance and status of training nursing ECs and the barriers to their acquisition among nursing students so as to identify the challenges and needs of ethical care education to enhance the ECs of future nurses and pave the ground for further studies in this regard.  Methodology: this study used thematic qualitative content analysis.  We selected 15 nursing experts and teachers and 35 nursing students as the participants by targeted sampling method and used structured interviews to collect data.Results: The results of the study were divided into four areas after analysis including clinical environment, curriculum, teachers having scientific competence in the field of professional ethics, and motivation and interest of students in nursing profession.Conclusion: the results showed that both background and individuals are effective in developing ECs of nursing students. Thus, the barriers to obtaining ECs should be sought in various aspects

The Effect of Outcome-Based Education on Nursing Students\' Clinical Competency

Introduction: Despite global acceptance of outcome-based education, few investigations are available about its effects on clinical competencies (cognitive and behavioral skills) of nursing students. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of outcome-based education on clinical competencies of nursing students compared to traditional education. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study using two groups design with pre and post-tests, 26 nursing students were selected through census and divided randomly into two control and experiment groups. Each group included 6 to 7 persons. After completing the pre-test of cognitive skills, the control group received clinical education through traditional method and the experiment group through outcome-based education, for 9 days. Then, students' cognitive skills were measured by post-test and their behavioral skills were observed via checklist. Data was analyzed by SPSS software using Wilcoxon, Mann Whitney, and Fisher exact tests. Results: Outcome-based education was effective in promoting students' cognitive and behavioral skills. The mean of cognitive and behavioral skills of the experiment group in post-test were significantly higher than that of the control group in all cases and in total. Also, students' clinical competency in the experiment group was significantly higher than control group. Conclusion: Outcome-based education leads to developing nursing students' competencies more than traditional method. It is recommended to employ this method more in clinical education

Effectiveness of small group training on behavioral skills of icu nurses

Aim and background: Numerous errors can occur during administration of nutrient-medication orders through feeding tubes. Proper performance of the nurses can enhance the patients’ safety and prevent from the future complications. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of training in small groups on the performance of nurses in administration of nutrient-medication orders.Materials and methods: This is an experimental study conducted in Imam Khomeini Hospital of Urmia. 80 nurses were entered to the study by census sampling method. Their knowledge and performance in terms of medication administration were evaluated before and one month after the training program.Findings: It was observed that before training, the knowledge of the nurses in control group (90.6%) and intervention group (80%) was in weak level. After training, the knowledge state of 97.1% of intervention group’s nurses improved to good level. Before training, most of the nurses of both groups showed improper performance. However, training program improved the performance of the nurses in intervention group.Discussion and conclusion: Some errors may happen during medication administration by feeding tubes which could result in undesirable complications. In this regard, improvement and application of correct medication administration techniques can result in increase of drugs’ and diets’ effectiveness, patients’ safety and reduction of feeding tubes blockage

On the impact of oil compounds on emulsion behavior under different thermodynamic conditions

Abstract Asphaltene instability in oil causes severe problems such as deposition and more stable emulsions. Formation and stability of W/O emulsions based on location in which they are formed can either be helpful or detrimental for enhanced oil recovery. Changes in oil composition (saturate, aromatic, resin, and asphaltene) can also render the stability of asphaltene. In this study, the formation and staility of emulsions are investigated using changes in the colloidal instability index (CII) at ambient and reservoir conditions. Experiments were conducted for crude oil samples from various reservoirs which showed that when CII is greater than 1.059, due to the excessive instability of asphaltene and its movement toward the water–oil interface, the formed emulsion would be more stable. When CII was below 1.059 though, the asphaltene became stable hence did not tend to be placed at the water–oil interface, thus less stable emulsion was expected. Higher pressures led to an increase in the stability of the emulsion. These changes in the process of emulsion stability are related to two mechanisms of asphaltene absorption and greater shear stresses