ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Clinical trials concerning the effect of supplements or multivitamin on improving the quality of life have proven different results. The present study was conducted to examine the effect of multivitamin supplement on quality of life of the elderly. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-four old people over 65 years of age in Kermanshah Elderly Care Center participated in this randomized trial. The samples were first selected using the convenience sampling and then were randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. The intervention group received one multivitamin mineral (MVM) supplement capsule every day for 3 months with no intervention for the control group. Standard quality of life questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 22. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 70.77 ± 8.29 years. The results of intra-group evaluation of the aspects of quality of life of the elderly show the lack of significant changes in the mean scores of physical health and environmental health of the elderly in the intervention group (P > 0.05) and the significant reduction of these aspects in the control group (P < 0.05) after intervention. The mean score of mental health scores in the intervention group significantly increased (P = 0.01), but there are no significant changes in the control group (P = 0.273). The mean scores of social relationships as well as the overall score of quality of life in the intervention and control groups showed no significant changes (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The present study showed that the consumption of MVM supplements can have a positive effect on increasing the quality of life of the elderly, but it is recommended to be done in the long term along diet. Moreover, considering the fact that no change was observed in the other aspects of the quality of life, attentions should be paid to the environmental and social factors such as social supports and empowerment of the old people in the future studies.
ABSTRACT
Background: Quality of work-life is an important factor in the recruitment and retention of the nursing workforce and their work productivity. Aims: This study aimed to identify factors that affect the quality of work-life of nurses. Methods: In this correlational study, 239 nurses employed in a tertiary teaching hospital in Iran completed the study questionnaires, including the quality of work-life questionnaire. The associations between potential independent variables and quality of work-life were examined using multivariate regression analysis. Results: Participants were mostly women (80.33%) and within the age range of 30-45 years (71.54%). Working in other hospitals, having a second job and health information-seeking behaviours were significant predictors of quality of work-life, explaining 28.68% of the total variance in quality of work-life of nurses. Conclusions: Improving working standards may prevent nurses from working extra hours or in different occupations. This, along with facilitating the health information-seeking behaviours of nurses, may help improve their quality of work-life by maintaining a better work-life balance and acquiring knowledge and skills that can help with effective management of work and life commitments.
ABSTRACT
AIM: To determine the prevalence of, and reasons for, missed care by nurses and the factors associated with it in Iranian hospitals. BACKGROUND: Despite providing high-quality patient care in hospitals, nurses often fail to deliver optimum care, which jeopardizes the safety of patients and increases health care costs. Therefore, identifying missed nursing care is essential if the quality of health services is to be improved. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 215 nurses working in the medical-surgical wards of eight public and private hospitals in Tabriz, Iran. The 'MISSCARE' survey tool was used to collect data in relation to the extent of missed care and the related reasons. Logistic regression models were used to assess the association between factors and missed nursing care. RESULTS: Results showed that the mean score of overall missed nursing care was 2.57 and 72.1% of the nurses reported that they missed at least one nursing care item on their last shift. 'Patient discharge planning and teaching', 'emotional support to patient and/or family' and 'attend interdisciplinary care conferences whenever held' were the most common missed items by nurses in Iran. In a 5-point Likert scale, the most important reasons identified by nurses for missed care were 'human resources', 3.11 (95% CI: 3.03-3.19); 'material resources', 2.7 (95% CI: 2.6-2.8); and 'communication', 2.4 (95% CI: 2.3-2.5), respectively. Missed nursing care was associated with sex (OR for males = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.01-7.89), age (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.01-1.33) and the number of patients under care (OR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.01-1.22). A reverse association was found with the number of patients discharged (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.82-0.96) and satisfaction with teamwork (OR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.41-0.89). CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to identify the factors contributing to the incidence of missed nursing care in hospitals and to develop strategies to address these. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: The results of this study highlighted the importance of addressing missed nursing care in Iranian public and private hospitals. Nursing management should consider improving communication between team members and units. Changes are required regarding task division and payments to the nursing staff. Further research is required to understand the reasons behind missed nursing care, and the development of appropriate policies to address better nursing care in hospitals is recommended.
