Comparing the effects of aromatherapy massage and inhalation aromatherapy on anxiety and pain in burn patients: A single-blind randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety and pain are recognized as major problems of burn patients; because pharmaceutical treatments for controlling anxiety and pain symptoms lead to complications and an increase in health costs, nonpharmacological nursing interventions were considered for this group of patients. This led to the present study aimed at comparing the effect of aromatherapy massage with inhalation aromatherapy for anxiety and pain in burn patients. METHODS: This single-blind clinical trial was carried out on 90 patients with burns <20%. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups, namely aromatherapy massage, inhalation aromatherapy, and control group. The patients assigned to the aromatherapy massage group received a massage for half an hour using a blend of lavender and almond oils, while a blend of rose and lavender aroma was used for the inhalation aromatherapy group. Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory was used for measuring anxiety and the visual analog scale (VAS) scale was used for measuring pain. RESULTS: The results showed that three groups were equal in terms of demographics, disease characteristics, and scores of anxiety and pain at the baseline. The mean decreases of anxiety scores were -0.04±5.08, 6.33±12.55, and 6.43±10.60 in the control group, aromatherapy massage group, and inhalation group, respectively (p=0.007). The mean decrease of pain scores were -0.10±0.96, 1.70±1.84, and 0.97±1.56 in the control group, aromatherapy massage group, and inhalation group, respectively (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The study results showed the positive effect of aromatherapy massage and inhalation aromatherapy compared with the control group in reducing both anxiety and pain of burn patients. Therefore, both interventions, which are inexpensive, and noninvasive nursing tasks can be proposed for alleviating anxiety and pain of burn patients.

Nurses' knowledge regarding hand hygiene and its individual and organizational predictors.

INTRODUCTION: Based on recommendations from World Health Organization, hand hygiene is the most important way to control the hospital infections. Due to the critical role of nurses in patient care, they should have essential and updated information regarding hand hygiene. So this study aims at determining the knowledge of hand hygiene and its individual and organizational predictors among nurses in neonatal units. METHODS: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in neonatal units in the hospitals affiliated to Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. The participants surveyed in this study were 150 nurses who were invited by census sampling method. A researcher prepared questionnaire that investigated the knowledge of participants about hand hygiene and was used after approving its validity and reliability. The quantitative analysis of this study used Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS version 13 by descriptive statistics and pearson correlation test, independent samples t-test, One-way ANOVA. For multivariable explanation of nurses' knowledge based on independent variables multiple linear regressions was used. RESULTS: Most of participants have an acceptable level of knowledge regarding hand hygiene. The highest score was for infection control domain and the lowest score was for definition of hand hygiene domain. Multivariable analysis showed that work experience and history of previous training were the most important predictors of participants' knowledge about hand hygiene. CONCLUSION: It is recommended that infection control committees should revise their educational methods and give more emphasis on update guidelines regarding hand hygiene. Also, more experienced nurses should be employed in neonatal units.

Patients' Point of View about Nurses' Support of Individualized Nursing Care in Training Hospitals Affiliated with Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.

INTRODUCTION: Individualized nursing care is the key element in quality of nursing care. In fact, it changes all standardized nursing procedures and activities. In addition, it tailored nursing activities with unique peculiarity of each patient. Focusing on patient during care process is one main reason for supporting individualized care. Individual differences among patients in terms of their health, illness and needs which emphasize on providing individualized care. This research aimed to demonstrate patients' point of view about nurses' support of individualized care. METHODS: A descriptive study conducted with participation of 400 being discharged patients from internal and surgical units in teaching hospitals of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Proportional stratified random sampling method was used. Data was collected by interviewing with patients using Suhonen Individualized Care Scale, after assessing its content validity and reliability with Chronbach's alpha method. Data analysis were done by using SPSS ver. 13. RESULTS: The mean of patients' point of view about nurses' support of individualized care was 2.60 (1.14). The results showed the mean of support for clinical situation 2.61 (1.27), support for personal life situation 2.36 (1.28), and support for decisional control over care 2.77 (1.17). Comparing aspects of support showed that support for decisional control over care was the highest and the lowest was support for personal life situation. CONCLUSION: According to results of the study and comparison with other researches in other countries, it is recommended that nursing care planners pay more attention to the aspects of nursing support based on individuals.