code of ethics for nurses

Nurses are ever-increasingly confronted with complex concerns in their practice. Codes of ethics are fundamental guidance for nursing as many other professions. Although there are authentic international codes of ethics for nurses, the national code would be the additional assistance provided for clinical nurses in their complex roles in care of patients, education, research and management of some parts of health care system in the country. A national code can provide nurses with culturally-adapted guidance and help them to make ethical decisions more closely to the Iranian-Islamic background. Given the general acknowledgement of the need, the National Code of Ethics for Nurses was compiled as a joint project [2009-2011]. The Code was approved by the Health Policy Council of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and communicated to all universities, healthcare centers, hospitals and research centers early in 2011. The focus of this article is on the course of action through which the Code was compiled, amended and approved. The main concepts of the code will be also presented here. No doubt, development of the codes should be considered as an ongoing process. This is an overall responsibility to keep the codes current, updated with the new progresses of science and emerging challenges, and pertinent to the nursing practice

[Pharmaceutical care: a concept analysis using Rodgers' evolutionary method]

The concept of pharmaceutical care has been used and discussed with multiple definitions in the literature related to health care sciences and especially in pharmacology and pharmacotherapy. However, the use of this concept is not common in the nursing literature and it has not currently been used. This study has been done to analysis the concept of pharmaceutical care in order to clarify areas of agreement of this concept in nursing and pharmacology disciplines and identifying its attributes, antecedents and consequences. Rodgers' evolutionary method of concept analysis was used to clarify the meaning of Pharmaceutical care. Data bases of Sciencedirect, Springer and google scholar were searched to retrieve the related literature. The main criteria for entry were, the literature published in English language in the disciplines of nursing and health care sciences. Literature search was limited to 1990-2011 with the keywords of "Pharmaceutical care" and "Pharmaceutical service" in the title of texts. The initial search resulted in 932 texts, 197 of them deemed relevant to our analysis. Then 40 texts [20 percent of those] were selected and reviewed. In this study, the attributes of pharmaceutical care were identified in two categories of specialized skills and communication skills. Specialized skills included five attributes including the identification of drug problems, resolving the drug problems, treatment and palliative care, monitoring short-term results of treatment and reviewing proportionality of prescription for each patient. The communication skills included four attributes of consultation with the patient, emotional commitment to the welfare of patients, collaboration with the health care team and attention to the patient's medical condition. The antecedents included professional and organizational factors, and the consequences were health care, economic, informational and qualitative outcomes. The findings show that in spite of failure to use the concept of pharmaceutical care in nursing literature independently, it is a significant aspect of clinical practice and overall patient care

[Association between perceived social support and quality of life in patients with heart failure]

Patient with heart failure have a low quality of life because of experiencing emotional, financial, and physical pressures. Perceived social support plays an important role in health maintenance and reducing negative effects of environmental and social related stressors. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the association between perceived social support and quality of life in patients with heart failure. It was cross- sectional, correlational study. The study sample consisted of heart failure patients admitted to Hamedan city educational heart centers from 2008. Sixty patients were recruited by purposeful sampling. Data was collected by Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire [MLHFQ] and perceived social support in heart failure questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS-PC [v.13]. The finding indicated that%46.7 of the patients have enjoyed moderate levels of quality of life and%61.7 have enjoyed low levels of perceived social support. There was a significant relationship between perceived social support and quality of life [r=0.721, p=0.00]. The results reveals the importance of health sector professionals' attention to perceived social support. Therefore nurses should pay more attention to designing supportive and effective care programs to help to promote the quality of life of these patients

[CPCR education workshop effect on nurses' knowledge based on AHA [2010] guideline]

Cardio-Pulmonary Cerebral Resuscitation [CPCR] is a systematic and purposeful series of action has been using by nurses for restoring the vital function of central body organs such as heart, lung and brain. Apply of teaching is a numerous recommended method for improving nurses knowledge and skill related to PCPR in majority of published papers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assessment of CPCR educational workshops effect on nurses knowledge based on American Heart Association [AHA] guideline that has been done in 2010. Using a quasi-experimental study, the knowledge level of 130 nurses of Tehran university medical sciences was assessed in three steps including before, after, and 2 months later of holding the teaching workshop. Using a 20-item questionnaire on basic, advanced cardiac life support and CPCR according to AHA 2010 guideline, data were gathered. The method of teaching workshop was two integrated sections including lecturing and practical demonstration on basic and advanced CPCR concept during two days [16 hr]. Using SPSS, the data were analyzed by applying descriptive and analytical statistical tests. The discrepancy of average knowledge scores related to basic and advanced before teaching workshop [8.6], after [14.9], and 2 month later to the workshop [13.2] indicated the effect of teaching workshop. Comparing the means of the pre-test, post-test and test after 2 months was statistically significant. Nevertheless, in some parts such as on time applying of defibrillation and do the first step in patient with cardio respiratory arrest had the minimal effect from teaching workshop. Since the results indicated that the teaching workshop on basic and advanced CPCR can improve nursing related knowledge; therefore, holding the similar means as theoretical and practical courses in a regular base is recommended