[Nursing student's attitude and motivation towards work in cancer settings]

Introduction: One of the main goals of bachelor's degree program in nursing produce graduates to meet the needs of the community and employment in various settings of health and medical care while after graduation in Iran recruitment of nurses in cancer nursing is difficult. It is important to understand why working in cancer areas is not popular. The aim of this study identifies Iranian undergraduate nursing students' attitude and motivation toward employment in cancer settings after graduation

Method: A cross sectional study 2010 was carried out in three nursing schools. The participants were 469 nursing student who were in third and fourth year of their nursing education. Data was collected using self-completed questionnaires that their validity was substantiated by the results of the research from the perspective of experts in nursing and the reliability was measured through Cronbach Alpha Coefficient, the alpha coefficient of which was equal to 81% and then was analyzed by SPSS and by means of descriptive and inferential statistical methods

Results: Statistically significant difference was detected between gender, academic year, and clinical experience with cancer patient, and passing theory credit of cancer before practice. The independent Test also showed significant differences between the two academic years [P<0.05]. The fourth year students had higher grades in the parts of emotion, feeling, behavior, and total score of attitude and motivation questionnaires than the other. Students who had not passed the cancer theory credit had higher grades in parts of behavior, attitude and motivational factors which with use of the independent t-test a statistically significant difference was seen [P<0.05]

Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that nursing students have negative attitude towards working in cancer wards. The highest rank among motivational factors was the unusable theory trainings and the lowest rank was the disproportionate cancer theoretical course content with the real needs in the cancer ward. Changing these attitudes presents a significant challenge. Curricula need to be reviewed, and revise the content. Nursing schools and nursing educators must reconsider their performance and hospital managers must improve environment and working conditions of cancer settings

effect of organized auditory stimulations on the consciousness level of comatose patients

High frequency of traumatic and non-traumatic brain injuries in one hand and improvement of the health care condition to restore patient's life in the other hand has increased the frequency of comatose patients in ICU. These patients often experience physical, cognitive, behavior or sensory defects, and the sensory input reduction in intensive care units expose them to cognition disorders. It seems that using sensory stimulation programs may be effective in preventing from sensory deprivation and facilitating recovery process. In this quasi-experimental study, 30 comatose patients who were hospitalized in ICU in Shariati and Sina hospitals were sought to be studied. The subjects were selected randomly using matching that was placed in case and control group. In the intervention group, patients received an auditory stimulation for 2 weeks, 6 days of a week, 2 times a day. The auditory stimulator was a recorded tape [5-10 minutes] of a familiar voice for 30 minutes. The Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] was used for measuring the level of consciousness [LOC]. LOC was measured before and after each intervention 4 times a day. The control group LOC was measured in a similar manner to the case group. At the same time, homodynamic symptoms [blood pressure, pulse rate, and mean arterial pressure] were measured. Non-parametric test was used for analyzing data. The data was analyzed through SPSS V.11.5 computer software. The findings indicated that there was a significant difference in LOC of the intervention group at the first day and after fourteen days of the intervention [P<0.001], but not in the control group [P=0.769]. Although 2 groups were similar in LOC of the first day [P=0.605] but there were a significant difference between their LOC at the fourteenth day [P=0.001]. The results showed that the auditory stimulations with familiar voice were effective in increasing LOC in the comatose patients. It is suggested that nurses expose comatose patients with auditory stimulations using a recorded tape of familiar voice in ICU

Effect of nurse-led telephone follow ups [Tele-Nursing] on diet adherence among type 2 diabetic patients

Diabetes education does not assure adherence to diabetic regimen. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of nurse-led telephone follow ups [Tele-Nursing] program on adherence to diabetic diet among type 2 diabetic patients. This was a quasi experimental study. Sixty patients who were registered at Iranian Diabetes Society were selected using convenience sampling method. Data gathering instruments included a data sheet to record glycosylated hemoglobin and a questionnaire. Data were gathered at baseline and 12 weeks after the intervention. First, all participants attended in a three-day self-care education and dietary consultation program at Iranian Diabetes Society. Then, they were randomly assigned to the experiment and control groups. Telephone follow ups were applied in experiment group for 3 months, twice a week for the first month and then weekly for the second and third months. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 13. Results showed that there were significant statistical differences between control and experiment groups in adherence to diabetic diet [P=0.035]. There were significant differences in glycosylated hemoglobin between control and experiment groups after the intervention [P<0.000]. According to the results of the study, it is concluded that the nurse-led telephone follow ups can improve HbA[1c] and diet adherence in type 2 diabetic patients