Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has severely influenced various aspects of human life, particularly education. This study aimed to explain the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nursing education from administrators, educators, and students’ perspectives.Methods: This qualitative study with a conventional content analysis approach was conducted from June to October 2020 at a nursing school in Tehran. Thirteen participants were enrolled using purposive sampling. Data collection was through in-depth and semi-structured interviews and continued until reaching data saturation. Nursing administrators, educators, and students constructed interviews to understand nursing education changes during the pandemic. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, reviewed, coded, and analyzed using the Graneheim and Lundman methods.Results: Interviewed respondents included administrators and professors (n = 6) and nursing students (n = 7). The respondents reported five main topic areas: (1) safe management in ambiguous situations; (2) perceived situations; (3) adaptive coping; (4) educational facilitators and challenges, and (5) continuing education in an uncertain context. The central theme was “close conflict of education with COVID-19”.Conclusions: The current study noted instability and challenges placed on nursing education during the pandemic. Opportunities were addressed during the pandemic to improve the nursing training process using planning, scientific management, emerging technology, innovative educational opportunities, and comprehensive support from institutional stakeholders. Clear guidelines and recommendations are needed to ensure medical education safety during the pandemic.

Background: Iran’s nursing education has undergone significant modifications in the last decades, especially following the Islamic revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. This review outlined changing trends in Iran’s nursing education and evaluate its status compared to other developing and developed countries. Methods: Six international and two national electronic data sources were searched up to May 2021, using relevant keywords and terms. The studies were included if they addressed history, development, or evolutionary aspects of Iran’s nursing education or evaluated its status by comparing it with developing or developed countries, using Bereday's model. To obtain more relevant information, the organizational documents of the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education and the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Higher Education were searched. Of 753 evidence found in the initial search, 73 were considered eligible for this review. A systematic and unbiased data synthesis was performed and a narrative and tabulated summary was presented. Results: The evolution in Iran’s nursing education has resulted in the establishment of Bachelor, Master, and Ph.D. programs. Iran’s nursing education system plays an important role in fulfilling the healthcare system’s mission, and it does not hold a dissatisfactory position in comparison with other developed and developing countries. However, this system is expected to be more versatile for the upcoming changes and advancements. Conclusion: Iran’s nursing education has a moderate rating despite recent changes. Hence, this system has to be modified in some aspects by adopting experiences of other countries, with an appropriate and successful education system, to prepare future highly competent nurses.

Background: Numerous factors are likely to result in poor treatment adherence, which is one of the important factors contributing to increased complications and the low efficacy of hemodialysis (HD), particularly inadequate knowledge of patients. This study aimed to compare the effects of a mobile health (mHealth) app (the Di Care app) use and face-to-face training on the clinical and laboratory parameters of dietary and fluid intake adherence in patients undergoing HD.Methods: This single-blinded, two-stage/two-group randomized clinical trial was fulfilled in 2021-22 in Iran. Seventy HD patients were recruited, using the convenience sampling method, and were then randomized into two groups: mHealth (n = 35) and face-to-face training (n = 35). ​ The patients in both groups received the same educational materials via the Di Care app and face-to-face training for one month. Before and 12 weeks after the intervention, the mean interdialytic weight gain (IDWG), potassium (K), phosphorus (P), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), albumin (AL), and ferritin (FER) levels were measured and compared. The data were analyzed using the SPSS via descriptive statistics (mean, SD, frequency, and percentage) and analytical tests (independent-samplest-test, paired-samplest-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test, and Fisher’s exact test).Results: ​Prior to the intervention, the mean IDWG and the K, P, TC, TG, AL, and FER levels, were not significantly different in both groups (p > 0.05). The mean IDWG (p < 0.0001), and the K (p = 0.001), P (p = 0.003), TC/TG (p < 0.0001), and FER (p = 0.038) levels in the HD patients in the mHealth group decreased. ​As well, the mean IDWG (p < 0.0001), and the K (p < 0.0001) and AL (p < 0.0001) levels showed a descending trend in the face-to-face group. The fall in the mean IDWG (p = 0.001) and the TG level (p = 0.034) in the patients in the mHealth group was significantly greater than that in the face-to-face group.Conclusions: The Di Care app use and the face-to-face training could improve dietary and fluid intake adherence in patients. However, mHealth could have more effect on the laboratory parameters than face-to-face training, largely reducing the IDWG.Trial registration: This study was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (No. ID IRCT20171216037895N5).

Background: Depression and anxiety are among the most common mental disorders before and after surgery. Aromatherapy is a treatment that has grown substantially in recent years in comparison with other complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) to relieve anxiety. Objectives: This study investigated the effect of inhaling lavender essence on the physiological and psychological status of patients who are candidates for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Methods: This randomized clinical trial was performed on 60 patients who were undergoing CABG surgery at the hospitals of Artesh Jomhory Eslami (AJA) University of Medical Sciences in Iran. Patients who met specific inclusion criteria were selected and randomly allocated into two groups: a control group that inhaled room air and an experimental group that inhaled from a piece of cotton impregnated with two drops of lavender essence. This intervention was done on the morning of surgery. To evaluate these measures, a Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) questionnaire was filled out by the patient before and after the intervention. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive and analytic statistics. Results: After the intervention, the study results showed statistically significant differences between the two study groups in heart rate (mean = 78.83, P = 0.02) and anxiety level (mean = 6.63, P = 0.02). However, the differences between the two groups were not significant regarding stress level (mean = 8.63, P = 0.55) and other physiological variables. Conclusions: Inhalation aromatherapy is an effective method for reducing the heart rate and the level of anxiety in patients before CABG surgery. Given that the physiological and psychological health of patients are important responsibilities for nurses, aromatherapy can be considered a safe and effective relaxation method before invasive interventions. Learning this method is recommended for students and nurses. Keywords: Aromatherapy; Anxiety; CABG; Stress

Family caregivers are considered as hidden patients experiencing physical and mental disorders. This affects the quality of not only their lives but also the health care provided to patients.This study aimed to investigate the quality of life (QOL) and its related factors among the caregivers of patients undergoing hemodialysis. This systematic review was conducted based on the eight-step guidelines presented by the York University. The databases relevant to the medical field including Nursing and Allied Health, Web of Science, Scopus, Pubmed, Embase, PsycINFO and Psychology Library were used. Finally, 12 articles observing the inclusion criteria and with regard to the research questions were found. The data obtained from these articles were summarized, classified, and analyzed. QOL among Family Caregivers of Patients on Hemodialysis is low, compared to the general population; however, their QOL is higher than the patients under their care. Factors relevant to the QOL for caregivers including age, gender, perceived social support, perceived burden of care, affliction with other diseases (lupus, hypertension, hypothyroidism and depression), intellectual understanding of the limitations of the patient’s disease in their daily life, employment of adaptation strategies, better marital relationships, accepting self and family relationship with the patient (mother and wife). Furthermore, the factors associated with care takers affecting the quality of caregivers’ lives were age, QOL and the type of treatment. Caregivers of patients undergoing hemodialysis enjoyed low QOL. Since there is a direct relationship between family caregivers’ quality and patients’ QOL, health care system and health policy makers should pay more attention to family caregivers.

Introduction: Nurses in intensive care units (ICUs) face high stress and anxiety, impacting their well-being and productivity. Addressing this, this study evaluated the impact of resilience training via a mHealth application based on micro-learning on ICU nurses’ stress and anxiety levels.Materials and methods: This study, a single-blind randomized controlled trial conducted in 2022-23, involved sixty ICU nurses from two Tehran hospitals. Nurses were chosen through purposive sampling and divided into intervention and control groups by simple randomization. The intervention group was taught resilience via an educational mHealth application based on micro-learning, with data collected using the anxiety and stress subscales of DASS-21.Results: Before the intervention, there were no significant differences in stress and anxiety scores between the intervention and control groups (P > 0.05). Upon utilizing the mHealth application, the intervention group exhibited significant reductions in stress, from 10.77 ± 3.33 to 9.00 ± 1.66 (P = 0.001), and in anxiety, from 9.43 ± 3.35 to 7.93 ± 0.98 (P < 0.001). In contrast, the control group experienced a slight increase in stress levels, from 10.10 ± 2.19 to 10.73 ± 2.15 (P = 0.002), and in anxiety levels, from 9.10 ± 1.63 to 10.23 ± 1.65 (P < 0.0001).Conclusions: The micro-learning-based mHealth application for resilience training significantly reduced ICU nurses’ stress and anxiety, recommending its adoption as an innovative educational method.Trial registration: The study has been registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (No. IRCT20221225056916N1, Date: 04/29/2023).