The framework for developing nursing specialist roles in the health care system of Iran.

BACKGROUND: A key step to the development of a roadmap for developing nursing specialist roles is to create its framework based on the immediate context. PURPOSE: This study aimed to create the framework for developing nursing specialist roles in the health care system of Iran. METHODS: This was a descriptive qualitative study. A purposeful sample of 81 nursing and nonnursing experts was recruited. The directed content analysis approach was used for data analysis. FINDINGS: The framework for developing nursing specialist roles in the health care system include eight main categories. These categories are role titles, prioritization of the necessary specialties, the necessary competencies of nurses at specialist level, the scope of nursing specialist practice, expected authorizations, requirements for role development, and its barriers and facilitators. DISCUSSION: Creating a context-based framework for nursing specialist role development based on the characteristics of each country is recommended.

Nurses' consultative role to health promotion in patients with chronic diseases.

AIMS: Although chronic diseases are the most common and expensive health problems, they are preventable too. Nurses play a key role in the care of these patients. One of the important roles of nurses is consultation role. Due to the high impact of nurse consultant role on health promotion and also the fact that this role is not fully understood in Iran, this study aims at clarifying the role of nurse consultant. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a qualitative study with content analysis approach conducted through semi-structured interviews in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences from April to December 2017. A total of 35 participants (11 patients, 9 nurses, 6 faculty members, 4 postgraduate students, and 5 nursing managers) were included in the study. Sampling was done based on purposive sampling method, and participants were asked to express their opinions about nurse consultant. RESULTS: In this article, we discussed the following three categories and seven subcategories: (1) nursing consultation as a treatment facilitator (nursing consultation as a way to reduce the treatment course, nursing consultation as a way to reduce complications, and nursing consultation as a way to reduce costs); (2) professional performance in nursing consultation (nursing consultation based on problem-solving and evidence-based practice and management and teamwork in nursing consultation); and (3) prerequisites for the nursing consultation role (supporting nurses and introducing the role in decision-making units and creating demand). CONCLUSION: Nursing consultation has an essential role in patient health promotion. Therefore, it is better that nurses and other health-care team should be familiar with this vital role.

The Role of Nursing Consultant in Iran: A Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: Nursing consultation is one of the important roles of nurses and is very effective in improving care results. But this role is unknown in Iran and there are no respective organizational positions. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors affecting the position of this role. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study, as a qualitative research was conducted from April to December 2017 using content analysis approach. We performed semi-structured in-depth interviews with 23 participants who were selected using purposeful sampling and were asked to describe the factors affecting the organizational position of nurse consultant. RESULTS: The mean (standard deviation) age of the participants was 44.5 years (10.68). 279 meaning units, 39 codes, 6 subcategories and two categories were obtained in this essay. The two main categories include necessity for nursing consultation role with two subcategories (nursing consultation role as one of the main roles in nursing, and the need for nursing consultation in healthcare system in Iran), and the obstacles of nursing consultation role with four subcategories (healthcare system problems, problems associated with physicians, problems associated with nurses and problems associated with patients' culture). CONCLUSIONS: Considering the importance of nursing consultation role in improving the health of the patients, the policymakers should take into account the consultant role of nurses and they should understand the importance of and the need for this role. As such, we hope that managers and policymakers create a role position by removing the obstacles and considering the necessity of this role.

Relationship between Awareness of Disease and Adherence to Therapeutic Regimen among Cardiac Patients.

BACKGROUND: Adherence to prescribed therapeutic regimen is an important element of self-care behaviors in cardiac patients. Awareness of disease may play an important role in patient adherence. Thus, this study was conducted to examine the relationship between awareness of the disease and adherence to therapeutic regimen among cardiac patients admitted to selected hospitals in Mashhad, Iran. METHODS: Using a descriptive correlational design, 340 patients with heart disease were selected using convenience sampling from five hospitals in Mashhad during December 2009 to May 2010. Data were collected using three questionnaires including demographic information, awareness of disease and treatment adherence (including medication, diet and physical activity). Validity and reliability of the questionnaires were examined by content validity and test-retest, respectively. Also, inter-rater reliability was examined for two data raters. Data were analyzed by SPSS software, using Spearman and Kruskal-Wallis tests. RESULTS: The results showed that only 15 percent of the study subjects had a good awareness of their disease. The majority of patients followed a good medication adherence (79 %), good diet adherence (60%), and weak physical activity adherence (61%). A significant correlation was found between knowledge and adherence to therapeutic regimen (P=0.001, rp=0.32). CONCLUSION: This study showed that awareness of disease and adherence to physical activity was low in the majority of patients. It is recommended that studies should be conducted to explore effective educational programs and strategies to improve adherence to therapeutic regimen among cardiac patients.