Comparative study of self-compassion and sense of coherence in nurses of psychiatric hospitals

Objective:Nurses,due to the nature of their job,are subjected to various forms of stress and physical and psychological injuries.Self-compassion and a sense of coherence have attracted much attention in research in recent years as having high potential for improving the health and performance of people in the workplace.The present study aimed to compare self-compassion and the sense of coherence in nurses working in psychiatric hospitals and other hospitals of Kerman University of Medical Sciences.Methods:The present study was a descriptive-comparative study of applied type conducted on 100 nurses of Shahid Beheshti Psychiatric Hospital in Kerman by the census method and 100 nurses of other hospitals of Kerman University of Medical Sciences by the stratified random sampling method.The instruments included the self-compassion questionnaire and the sense of coherence questionnaire.Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software.Results:The results of the present study showed that self-compassion and sense of coherence were higher in psychiatric nurses(39.35±7.7 and 53.02±8.01)than among other nurses(36.03±5.81 and 49.76±6.30).There was a direct and moderate relationship between a sense of coherence and self-compassion(P-value<0.005).The higher the score of compassion for oneself,the higher was the score of sense of coherence.Furthermore,the sense of coherence had a direct and weak relationship with all dimensions of self-compassion,except for the extreme imitation dimension,which showed a direct and moderate relationship to other dimensions(P-value<0.001).Conclusions:Self-compassion and a sense of coherence,as a form of self-communication,increase nurses’satisfaction and reduce nurses’job stress and,as a result,job performance is improved.

Post-traumatic stress disorder among paramedic and hospital emergency personnel in south-east Iran

BACKGROUND:Paramedic and emergency personnel may encounter directly many events that threat their own wellbeing during their daily work.This study was conducted to examine the prevalence rate of post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) among two groups of paramedic and emergency personnel in south-east Iran.METHODS:The study employed a descriptive design and was conducted in four hospital emergency wards and a pre-hospital emergency base supervised by Kerman Medical University.Using Mississippi PTSD,we assessed the prevalence rate in paramedics(n=150) and emergency personnel(n=250).RESULTS:The two groups had different levels of education,marital status,experience of traumatic events,work hours per month,and gender.Most(94%) of paramedic and hospital emergency personnel reported moderate PTSD.The two groups had significant different levels of PTSD in all subscale.CONCLUSION:The study suggests that health care managers should organize systematic and dynamic policies and procedures in dealing with PTSD to assist both groups of personnel.

Critical care nurses＇ attitude towards life-sustaining treatments in South East Iran

BACKGROUND:Life-sustaining treatments(LSTs)may prolong life but greatly decrease the quality of death.One factor influencing decision-making about withholding and withdrawing these treatments is the attitude of nurses.This study aimed to evaluate the attitude of critical care nurses towards life-sustaining treatments in South East Iran.METHODS:In this cross-sectional study,"Ethnicity and Attitudes towards Advance Care Directives Questionnaire"was used to investigate the attitude of 104 critical care nurses towards lifesustaining treatments in three hospitals affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences.RESULTS:The findings of this study indicated that although a majority of critical care nurses(77%)did not have personal desire for use of LSTs including CPR and mechanical ventilation,they had moderately negative to neutral attitude towards general use of LSTs(2.95 of 5).CONCLUSIONS:These findings suggest that nurses'attitude towards LSTs can be changed by inclusion of specific courses about death,palliative care and life-sustaining treatments in undergraduate and postgraduate nursing curricula.Educating Muslim nurses about religious aspects of LSTs may also improve their attitudes.