[Correlation between nurses' communication skills and inpatient service quality in the hospitals of Kashan University of Medical Sciences]

Introduction: Today studies have shown that communication between the physician/or the nurse with the patient treated as a clinical skill and considered as one of the main effective factors in improving both client's satisfaction and health care outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between nurses' communication skills and inpatient service quality in the hospitals of Kashan University of Medical Sciences, 2011

Methods and Materials: In this correlation study using a stratified sampling, 384 patients from hospitals of Kashan University of Medical Sciences were selected. A three-section questionnaire for assessing respectively demographic characteristics, nurse's communication skill, and inpatient service quality was used to collect the data. For communication skills, instrument validity and reliability were tested by content validity method and Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.92, respectively on 20 patients in the hospitals under study. In measuring the service quality, SERVQUAL Scale was used. With regard to analyzing the data, Freedman's statistical test was applied to study the service quality dimensions versus inpatient service quality. Also Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was applied to detect the type and level of relationship among the nurses' communication skills

Findings: Results showed that there was a significant correlation between communication skills and inpatient service quality in the hospitals [P-value=0.001 and R=0.782]. The patients noticed a positive and significant correlation between communication skills and service quality dimensions. The intensity of the relationship between the two variables from the highest to the lowest is 0.708, 0.689, 0.637, 0.552, and 0.514, respectively for the assurance, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, and tangibles

Conclusion: Consequently, improving the communication skills for the hospital personnel can improve the service quality contribution of hospitals

[Patient safety climate in medical centers of Kashan]

Introduction: The issue of patient safety is today of much importance for the medical community and the World Health Organization in the developing and developed countries. Medical errors are serious threats to the public health and patient safety. The aim of this study was to determine nursing staff's viewpoints about patient safety climate in medical centers of Kashan

Methods and Materials: In this descriptive study 218 nurses working in the medical centers of Kashan were participated. Data were collected by questionnaire included two parts, demographic and 'Safety Climate Questionnaire Patient' with seven dimensions that covered by the questionnaire were: educational opportunities, reporting, refreshment, head nurses' viewpoints, nursing condition, relation with physician, and nurses' inter-relations. Content validity method and Cronbach's alpha coefficient [0.89] were used for confirming validity and reliability of the questionnaire, respectively. Data were evaluated using the SPSS [v.11]

Findings: The results showed that mean age of the nurses participated in the study was 32.63 +/- 6.85 years, of them 85.8% were female. The mean of patient safety climate score in all seven aspects were significantly different. Except for the refreshment aspect, other aspects had different mean scores in different centers [p=0.001]. Highest and lowest mean scores were related to the nurses' inter-relations [3.24 +/- 0.67] and head nurses' attitudes [2.47 +/- 0.71], respectively

Conclusion: Patient safety climate in the centers under the current study was not in a good condition. This does motivate the managers of the health sector in the city to adopt an appropriate approach to patient safety climate in health care centers

[Study on performance of infectious waste sterilizing set in Kashan Shahid Beheshti hospital and determination of its optimum operating condition]

Autoclaving is one of the methods which sterilizes infectious solid wastes. Since variety of parameters such as temperature, time, and pressure influence autoclave performance, this study was carried out to evaluate the parameters and set optimum condition for the autoclave apparatus applied in Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan. In this descriptive-analytical study, the performance of subjected autoclave was surveyed based on biological index and through setting 144 tests. Variables were packaging type in two groups [open and wrapped], loading type in three groups [light, medium and heavy], and four temperature-time features in fixed pressure equal to 101 kpa. Biological index was ATCC 7953 which contained Stearotermophilus Geobacillus spores. Finally obtained results were analyzed by Chi-Square test. The results of statistical test showed that there isn't any meaningful relation between packaging type of waste, system loading, and efficiency of sterilization[P>0.05],while meaningful relation was found between system performance and variety states of temperature-time feature[P<0.05], illustrating temperature and time effects in fixed pressure on sterilization of solid waste. Based on the results, the best autoclave operational condition for sterilizing infectious solid wastes are: temperature-time equal to 10 min-140[degree sign] C and 15 min-134[degree sign] C in fixed pressure of 101 kpa, respectively. It was also revealed that temperature-time condition suggested by manufactory, i.e. 20min-121[degree sign] C, is not sufficient for complete sterilization of solid waste

Wound myiasis due to musca domestica [diptera: muscidae] in persian horned viper, pseudocerastes persicus [squamata: viperidae]

A case of myiasis due to Musca domestica describes in Pseudocerastes persicus for the first time. The snake was found in Bari Karafs, Kashan, Iran, with a lesion on its body. Fourteen live larvae of M. domestica removed from its wound. This is the first report of a new larval habitat of M. domestica

[Prevalence of postpartum depression and its relation to some psychosocial factors in mothers referred to health centers of Kashan during 2007-8]

Postpartum depression is a serious problem that may have negative effects on mother and family mental health. Considering that several theories have been proposed to explain the epidemiologic and demographic factors associated with the postpartum depression, the aim of this study was to identify the factors related to postpartum depression in Kashan. In this cross-sectional study, 50% of all health centers in Kashan were randomly selected during 2007-8. All of 204 mothers referred during 2-3 months of postpartum with minimum literacy [primary education] showed willingness to complete the questionnaire which included two parts: demographic and psychosocial questions and BDI [Beck Depression Inventory]. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test, CI, OR, and logistic regression. Seventy-seven [37.7%] out of 204 mothers referred to Kashan health centers experienced postpartum depression [0.31-0.44]. There was a statistically significant relationship between seven demographic and psychosocial factors and postpartum depression, in logistic regression [P<0.001], three factors [husband's appropriate behavior, intimate relationship with family, and no prior history of depression] were remained in the model. The findings indicated that the mentioned factors can reduce the incidence of postpartum depression. According to the results, factors including husband's appropriate behavior, intimate relationship with family and no prior history of depression may reduce the incidence of postpartum depression