Factors Contributing to Grief Experience Among Oncology Nurses: A Qualitative Study.

OBJECTIVES: Care provision to patients with cancer can cause varying levels of grief for oncology nurses. Grief in turn significantly affects nurses' personal and professional life. However, there is limited information about the contributing factors to grief experience among oncology nurses. The aim of this study was to explore the contributing factors to grief experience among oncology nurses. DATA SOURCES: This qualitative study was conducted in Iran from May 2020 to October 2021. Participants were 18 oncology nurses purposively selected from several hospitals in Iran. Data were gathered via in-depth semistructured interviews and analyzed via the conventional content analysis method proposed by Graneheim and Lundman. Lincoln and Guba's criteria were used to ensure trustworthiness. CONCLUSION: The four categories of the contributing factors to oncology nurses' grief experience were exposure to patients' painful death, depressing work atmosphere, knowing the heavy financial burden of cancer for patients, and patients' helplessness in the healthcare system. Oncology nurses experience deep grief due to a wide range of personal, professional, environmental, and sociocultural factors. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: The findings of this study can be used to better understand the contributing factors to grief experience among oncology nurses, determine their needs, and develop strategies to strongly support them.

Religion, Spirituality and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Matched Case-Control Study and Meta-Analysis.

Although the association between religion/spirituality (R/S) and psychological outcomes is well established, current understanding of the association with cardiovascular disease remains limited. We sought to investigate the association between Islamic R/S and coronary heart disease (CHD), and place these findings in light of a meta-analysis. In this case-control study, 190 cases with non-fatal CHD were identified and individually matched with 383 hospital-based controls. R/S was measured by self-administered 102 items questionnaire. A tabular meta-analysis was performed of observational studies on R/S (high level versus low level) and CHD. In addition, a dose-response meta-analysis was conducted using generalized least-squares regression. Participants in the top quartile had decreased odds of CHD comparing to participants in the lowest quartile of religious belief (OR 0.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.06-0.59), religious commitment (OR 0.36, CI 95% 0.13-0.99), religious emotions (OR 0.39, CI 95% 0.18-0.87), and total R/S score (OR 0.30, CI 95% 0.13-0.67). The meta-analysis study showed a significant relative risk of 0.88 (CI 95% 0.77-1.00) comparing individuals in high level versus low level of R/S. In dose-response meta-analysis, comparing people with no religious services attendance, the relative risks of CHD were 0.77 (CI 95% 0.65-0.91) for one times attendance and 0.27 (CI 95% 0.11-0.65) for five times attendance per month. R/S was associated with a significantly decreased risk of CHD. The possible causal nature of the observed associations warrants randomized clinical trial with large sample size.