Inner Voice of Pregnant Women: A Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: Spirituality becomes more significant and evident during crises like pregnancy; therefore, it is crucial for healthcare providers to be supportive during pregnancy through exploring and understanding the meaning of spirituality for pregnant women. This study aimed to discover the experiences of Iranian pregnant women regarding spirituality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This qualitative, inductive, content analysis study was performed in 11 pregnant women (28-36 weeks' gestation) who attended the healthcare centers of Karaj, Iran. The subjects were selected by purposive sampling and invited to participate in the study. The data were collected through semi-structured, face-to-face, and in-depth interviews and were analyzed using the inductive content analysis approach. RESULTS: Three major themes emerged during data analysis: "permeable transcendence," including "spiritual awareness of mother," "spiritual light of baby," and "personal transformation and improvement." "Doubled responsibility" comprised two subthemes of "spiritual nourishment for mother" and "spiritual nourishment for child," and "spiritual circumstance" consisted of two subthemes of "religious background" and "spirituality of healthcare provider." CONCLUSIONS: Considering the importance of spirituality and religion in gestational health promotion, the results of this study can assist healthcare providers in recognizing the women's spiritual needs and valuing the protective role of religious/spiritual well-being during pregnancy.

Probing concept of critical thinking in nursing education in Iran: a concept analysis.

PURPOSE: Given the wide disagreement over the definition of critical thinking in different disciplines, defining and standardizing the concept according to the discipline of nursing is essential. Moreover, there is limited scientific evidence regarding critical thinking in the context of nursing in Iran. The aim of this study was to analyze and clarify the concept of critical thinking in nursing education in Iran. METHODS: We employed the hybrid model to define the concept of critical thinking. The hybrid model has three interconnected phases--the theoretical phase, the fieldwork phase, and the final analytic phase. In the theoretical phase, we searched the online scientific databases (such as Elsevier, Wiley, CINAHL, Proquest, Ovid, and Springer as well as Iranian databases such as SID, Magiran, and Iranmedex). In the fieldwork phase, a purposive sample of 17 nursing faculties, PhD students, clinical instructors, and clinical nurses was recruited. Participants were interviewed by using an interview guide. In the analytical phase we compared the data from the theoretical and the fieldwork phases. RESULTS: The concept of critical thinking had many different antecedents, attributes, and consequences. Antecedents, attributes, and consequences of critical thinking concept identified in the theoretical phase were in some ways different and in some way similar to antecedents, attributes, and consequences identified in the fieldwork phase. Finally critical thinking in nursing education in Iran was clarified. CONCLUSION: Critical thinking is a logical, situational, purposive, and outcome-oriented thinking process. It is an acquired and evolving ability which develops individually. Such thinking process could lead to the professional accountability, personal development, God's consent, conscience appeasement, and personality development.

Experiences of pregnancy among Iranian adolescents: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy rate among Iranian adolescents below 20 years of age is increasing. Pregnancy during adolescence is considered a social issue associated with medical, emotional, and social outcomes for the mother, child, and family. The current research examines the experience of pregnancy among Iranian adolescents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The qualitative content analysis method was used. A purposive sample of 14 pregnant adolescents was enrolled in the study. Deep interviews were carried out with them. RESULTS: Three themes were came up after analyzing the interviews: 1. Psychological reactions including three subthemes of feelings, concerns, and fears; 2. physical reactions including the subthemes of symptoms and feelings; and 3. spiritual reactions including religious beliefs and faith. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that for the purpose of assessing pregnancy in adolescents, one should consider the context and culture in which the adolescent lives. This is because factors such as preplanned or unwanted pregnancy and imposed or consensual marriage within or outside the family may draw different reactions from adolescents. Hence, all those factors need to be considered in order to plan health education during pregnancy for this age group.

Critical thinking dispositions of nursing students in Asian and non-Asian countries: a literature review.

Critical thinking disposition represents an inclination of a person to use possessed skills in relation to critical thinking. The trend of critical thinking has been described as inner motivation to solve problems and make decisions by thinking. In nursing as a practical profession, the concept of critical thinking dispositions is important component in helping to manage complex health situations and to deal with patient issues effectively. Willingness to think critically is a prerequisite for safe and subtly performance. The results of studies show critical thinking dispositions of nursing students in Asian countries are different from non-Asian countries. Aim of this literature review was to compare critical thinking dispositions of nursing students in Asian and non-Asian countries. Literature review was done in English and Persian databases. The results showed of the 795 articles published in English and Persian language that studied critical thinking, 73 ones studied critical thinking skills and dispositions in nursing education, and relationship between teaching methods and critical thinking skills and dispositions in nursing education of different countries. Fifteen of seventy three articles assessed critical thinking dispositions in nursing students. Limited studies showed that the Asian nursing students had mostly undermining score of the critical thinking dispositions, while non-Asian countries tend to positive scores. The reasons for these differences could be due to issues such as environmental, educational methods and cultural differences. However, future studies should measure critical thinking disposition by discipline-based tools.