Aim: The global outbreak of coronavirus in 2020 was considered as a serious risk for healthcare providers, especially nurses. This study aimed to investigate nurses’ perceptions and experiences of COVID‐19 outbreak in Iran.Design: This thematic analysis study was conducted in March 2020.Method: Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 24 nurses in Qazvin, Arak, Shiraz and Kashan cities of Iran.Results: It was found out that all the participants had faced a mysterious world created by the virus. No one had clear understanding of the new virus and knew how to tackle with such a virus. In this case, the main experiences were related to defected preparedness, the worst perceived risk, family protection, social stigma and sacrificial commitment. Urgent preparedness of facilities in such outbreaks is inevitable. Accordingly, psycho‐social support of nurses and their families and strengthening their sacrificial commitments are proposed in these conditions.

Keywords Resilience Psychological Sociology Coronavirus Outbreak Vulnerable

Background: Food supply chain companies are major link for safe food production and distribution. Food safety ensures reduced food losses and, therefore, contributes to food security. Although there have been extensive studies on the food industry with different perspectives, no study has so far been conducted on the challenges in terms of the food security. The present study is a qualitative one conducted in 2019 in one of the largest agricultural production chain companies in Khorasan Razavi province, Iran. Results: The research method was based on the conventional content analysis. Triangulation method was used for the data collection being a combination of the participant observations, focus group discussions (17 managers) and semi-structured interviews with the president of the company. Participants believed that their company plays an important role and has a prestigious position in the food security of Iran. However, the main challenges of the company are regulatory system, food safety risks, market unpredictability, traditional management and sanctions. Conclusions: The company is highly resilient to all these challenges; however, the traditional management is still a serious disadvantage. This leads to the managers’ burnout along with the company survival problem, removing unfair sanctions and protecting agricultural development in developing countries is a necessity. In general, paying attention to the modern organizational management of these companies and their survival is an essential policy. For this reason, it is suggested that trust must be established between policymakers and companies on one hand and relationship between the academia and such companies to promote the organizational management on the other hand.

Background. Nursing managers have a critical role at the hospitals. The current study aims to investigate different experiences of nursing managers. Method. This is a qualitative study that investigates the experiences of 11 nursing managers in Shiraz, Iran. Semistructured interviews and thematic analysis were, respectively, applied for data collection and analysis. Results. It could be found from the current investigation that nursing managers have a critical role at the hospitals, and their creativities have more impacts on procedures compared to organizational orders. There are four major challenges faced by nursing managers including nursing shortage, structural deficiencies, lack of authorities, and burnout. Although shortage is considered as the most important challenge, there are more emphasizes on the improvement of their controlling power in order to prevent their fatigue and burnout. Conclusion. This study showed that creativity of nursing managers is the most important factor of system management; also, shortage and deficiencies are recognized as the most significant challenges faced by them. According to the current study, the shortage of nursing staff is the central issue that has to be considered.

Background: The government is the main body in charge of controlling epidemics; hence, expectations from the intention and capacities of the government would affect the flexibility and behaviors of citizens. Given the severity of COVID-19 pandemic and the urgent need for cooperation of people in the prevention and combat processes, understanding the public perspectives would be crucial and instructive. This study aimed to explore such perspectives towards the current pandemic among the Iranian. Indeed, we sought to provide a favorable platform for effective policies in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic through recognizing public expectations. Methods: This cross-sectional survey used an open-ended online questionnaire to investigate the common perspectives of the Iranian towards the response of government to COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were selected using snowball and convenient sampling techniques across the country. The collected data were analyzed and described using a thematic analysis. Results: In general, 2547 participants agreed to participate in this study and completed the online questionnaire. According to the findings, the Iranian exhibited several expectations regarding the response of the government to COVID-19 pandemic. Three main themes were extracted based on these expectations: (1) health-related expectations, (2) policy-related expectations, and (3) Information-related expectations. In this study, a majority of participants highlighted the need to consider and follow-up the patients and their families, providing the financial and hygiene support during the pandemic, applying strict restrictions, and using close monitoring and controlling procedures. Furthermore, they mentioned that authorities and news agencies should observe the principals honesty and transparency. Conclusions: Our findings revealed that people expect the government and other responsible institutions to minimize the burden of this pandemic through adopting effective policies. Also, they could help policy-makers become aware of the expectations of people and develop better strategies.

Background: The burnout phenomenon is a complex and multidimensional reality and also a common metaphor for a state of extreme psychophysical exhaustion that is usually related to work. Objectives: The goal of this study was to evaluate nursing burnout in 371 registered nurses at both governmental and private hospitals in Shiraz, Iran. Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that evaluated nursing burnout using the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Independent sample T-test and one-way analysis of variance were performed to determine the association between demographic factors, the nurses’ working environment, and nurse burnout. Results: The results of this study showed that nurses in internal medicine wards, at staff positions, and on rotating shifts in governmental hospitals have a high rate of total burnout (P < 0.05). In contrast, nurses with less than five years of work experience have a high rate of reduced personal accomplishment (P < 0.05). Also, nurses with 6 - 15 years of work experience reported the highest incidence of emotional exhaustion (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Burnout is associated with some specific demographic and environmental features. To reduce and prevent burnout, nursing leadership should focus on personal accomplishments in nurses with little work experience, especially for nurses in internal medicine wards, on rotating shifts, and on staff wards. In addition, policy makers at higher levels should also consider nursing burnout in governmental hospitals. Keywords: Nursing Burnout; Staff, Internal Medicine Wards; Governmental Hospitals