Psychometric Validation and Setting Cutoff Point for the Persian Version of Mindful Self-Care Scale (MSCS) Among Older Adults.

Mindful self-care is a valuable activity that contributes to old people's independence and self-control and its development is in line with the duties of social workers. This study aimed to validate the mindful self-care scale (MSCS) for Iranian old people and was performed on old people living in the community of Shiraz, Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted on old people living in the community who met the inclusion criteria in Shiraz, Iran. After linguistic validation of the Persian version of MSCS with 36 items, face, and content validity were determined. Then the first part of construct validity was conducted using a kurtosis test, and exploratory factor analysis with the first sample (n = 250). After selecting the appropriate items, confirmatory factor analysis was assessed with the second sample (n = 250). Scale reliability was also evaluated. The optimal cut-off points were obtained by calculating the area under the curve (AUC). SPSS version 23 was used for further data analysis, while confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using AMOS version 24. Exploratory factor analysis loaded only 24 items with four factors. The modified second-order confirmatory factor analysis model displayed a good fit (RMSEA = 0.04; CFI = 0.90; GFI = 0.90). Cronbach's alpha coefficient of MSCS with 24 items was .94. The cut-off points were 38, 11, 23, and 17 for factors of resilience, goal achievement, supportive relationship, and self-care respectively, and 90 for the whole instrument. The study found that the MSCS short form with 24 items is valid and reliable in the Iranian elderly population, making it an effective tool for mental self-care screening and a practical tool for social workers. However, the study recommends repeating the study in other cities of Iran to generalize the findings.

Nursing Coaching Can Improve the Quality of Life and Immune-Endocrine Condition in Hospitalized Cancer Patients.

INTRODUCTION: Any cancer diagnosis induces fear and shocking emotional experiences accompanied by anxiety, depression, unpredictability, and distress. The emotional effect of a cancer diagnosis and the rigidity of cancer treatment negatively impact the quality of life (QoL) of patients, and this may continue after treatment. Additionally, emotional distress induces neuroendocrine stress activation systems and raises stress hormone secretion by causing immunological dysfunctions. The present narrative review aims to describe nursing coaching approaches that improve QoL perceptions among cancer patients during their hospitalization. METHODS: This review was carried out using the PRISMA methodology until the end of November 2023 through PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL databases. Researchers systematically collected all the currently available literature. The search terms and boolean operators used to combine keywords were: "QoL" AND "hospitalization" AND "cancer patients" AND "nursing coaching". RESULTS: Four manuscripts were selected in the present review. One manuscript belonged to the British Nursing Database and was a mixed-block-randomized study; one belonged to Scopus, which was also in the PubMed, WoS, and Medline and was a study protocol for an RCT and two manuscripts belonged to the PubMed database and were all RCTs. CONCLUSION: Nursing coaching improved QoL perceptions in cancer patients during their hospitalization. Patients were found to prefer in-person interventions to nurse-led ones, which improved QoL perceptions. However, further interventional studies need to be performed in order to better address coaching nursing interventions during the hospitalization of cancer patients.

Exploring coping strategies of emergency medical technicians against COVID-19 stress: a qualitative study.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has been shown to cause enormous psychological burden among health care workers, including first responders. However, the psychological well-being of first responders, essential in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, has often been ignored. This qualitative study aimed to explore the coping strategies used by EMTs to manage stress during the pandemic. Methods: The research was designed as a qualitative study, utilizing a thematic analysis framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 EMTs from a single geographic area between September 2022 and December 2022. The data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke analytic techniques, and this study used Lincoln and Guba's to assess the reliability of the data. Results: Four main coping strategies emerged from the data: seeking social support, practicing self-care, utilizing coping mechanisms, and finding meaning and purpose in work. EMTs sought support from both professional and personal sources, engaged in physical and emotional self-care, used humor and distraction as coping mechanisms, and found meaning and purpose in helping others and growing as professionals. Conclusion: Based on the extracted results from the study on EMTs in Iran, it can be concluded that the importance of social support cannot be overstated, as it serves as a crucial buffer against the negative effects of stress and trauma. The findings suggest that addressing the social and emotional needs of EMTs is important for promoting their mental health and well-being during the pandemic.

Nurses' perception of emergency department overcrowding: A qualitative study.

INTRODUCTION: One of the most important wards of the hospital is the emergency department (ED). Due to the increasing number of referrals, overcrowding has become a significant problem. It means an increase in patients' referrals and swarms at the ED, limiting their medical staff access. This study investigates the nurses' experiences and perceptions about the reasons for ED overcrowding. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve emergency nurses were purposefully selected to take part in this study. Data collection was through face-to-face semi-structured interviews until data saturation was finalized. Data analysis was conducted using Graneheim and Lundman's conventional content analysis. RESULTS: Nurses' experiences with the reasons for ED overcrowding came into two main categories. The first was "increased referral to the emergency department," which had three subcategories: "increased referral due to health system reform plan," "increased referral due to corona pandemic," and "improper triage." The second was "increased patients' length of stay at the ED" with seven subcategories including "shortage of bed," "shortage of nursing staff," "lack of physical space," "turtle para-clinic," "on-call specialists' delay," "timely medical record documentation requirements," and "delaying in patients' transfer from the ED to the ward." CONCLUSION: The results showed ED overcrowding is inevitable. Intentional or unintentional changes in the health system, such as implementing the health system reform plan or the corona pandemic, can also increase overcrowding. Findings showed ED overcrowding increased referrals and patients' length of stay. This study suggests the health system authorities pay more attention to this phenomenon and look for solutions.

Workplace interpersonal conflict in prehospital emergency: Concept analysis.

BACKGROUND: In the turbulent and stressful work environment of prehospital emergencies, the conflict among emergency medical technicians (EMT) and other health-care providers is inevitable. This study aims to examine the concept of workplace interpersonal conflict (WIC) in prehospital emergencies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The eight-step Walker and Avant's concept analysis approach was adopted to define the concept. Iranmedex, SID, Magiran, ISC, PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science searched with keywords such as WIC and hospital emergencies. After an extensive review of online national and international databases, one dictionary, nine books, and 25 articles in English and Persian were retrieved for the purposes of the study. RESULTS: The antecedents, attributes, and consequences of the concept identified. EMT must learn how to eliminate their destructive effects while enhancing constructive effects. CONCLUSION: Conflict is an inevitable part of life, and EMT must learn how to reduce their destructive effects while increasing constructive results.

Emergency Medical Technicians' Experiences of the Challenges of Prehospital Care Delivery During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.

Background: Exploring emergency medical technicians' (EMTs) experiences of COVID-19 epidemic, help to identify the challenges they face in their daily work and develop strategies that address these challenges. This study aimed to explore EMTs' experiences of the challenges of prehospital care delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in March-July 2020 using conventional content analysis approach. Fifteen EMTs were purposively selected from the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Center in Qom, Iran. For data collection, semi-structured interviews were conducted until data saturation was reached. Results: EMTs' experiences of the challenges of prehospital care delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic were classified into three main categories including "restless society", "difficult care delivery conditions", and "unprepared organization". The emergent subcategories were "need for information", "limited perception of the COVID-19 risk", "obsessive use of disinfectants", "fear over the transmission of COVID-19 to self and others", "burnout due to heavy workload", "altered communication with hospital staff", "ethical conflicts", "lack of a definite treatment plan", "lack of protective equipment", "staff shortage due to the affliction of EMTs by COVID-19", and "inadequate support by authorities". Conclusion: During COVID-19 pandemics, EMTs face many challenges including emotional and occupational stress, social strains, risk of affliction by infections, heavy workload, and ethical conflicts and hence, experience difficulties in quality care delivery. Developing appropriate strategies, guidelines, and policies are needed to effectively manage these challenges and improve the quality of prehospital care delivery in COVID-19 epidemic.

Evaluation of Bacterial Contamination on Prehospital Ambulances Before and After Disinfection.

BACKGROUND: The contamination of the environment, ambulance equipment, and staff hands consequently are major factors which create nosocomial infections in emergency patients. The contamination of equipment and devices plays an important role in nosocomial infections. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a disinfectant on the rate of microbial contamination of ambulances in Qom Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Qom, Iran. METHODS: This is a quasi-experimental study with a before-after design in order to determine microbial contaminations at the rear and front cabin of ambulances, as well as medical equipment being utilized in Qom EMS. Saya sept-HP-2% solution was used for disinfection. Bacteriological standard methods were used to identify the contaminations. RESULTS: The contamination rates before and after use of disinfection solution were 52% and eight percent, respectively. Coagulase-negative staphylococci were the most commonly isolated bacterial agent from the equipment (53%). In all equipment, the contamination level has shown a significant reduction after applying disinfectant. CONCLUSIONS: In spite of the fact that the rate of infection from ambulance equipment is high, the results showed that the use of the suitable disinfectant had an effective role in the reduction of bacteria. FarhadlooR, Goodarzi FarJ, AzadehMR, ShamsS, Parvaresh-MasoudM. Evaluation of bacterial contamination on prehospital ambulances before and after disinfection. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(6):602-606.

Bus Crashes in Iran.

Parvaresh-Masoud M , Asayesh H . Bus crashes in Iran. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(2):227-227.