Heidar Ali Abedi

Spiritual needs as experienced by Muslim patients in Iran: a qualitative study

Background Until the last 2 decades, spiritual care was a vital, but invisible, aspect of nursing care. Spirituality and spiritual care have entered the mainstream, and the literature in this area has burgeoned. In addition, there is minimal information in the literature documenting the expressed spiritual needs of patients in general and specific subgroups of patients in particular, thus this article aimed to present spiritual needs of Iranian Muslim patients. Therefore, this study is of significance to nursing in general and to transcultural nursing in particular because of the high priority associated with increasing the nursing knowledge through research that investigates and describes care practices in diverse cultures.

Power resources of older people in Iran

BACKGROUND Maximising the clients power resources facilitates their ability to cope with chronic illness. Nurses must be well informed about power resources and feelings of empowerment among older people. AIM This article reports on a study exploring power resources in daily life from the perspective of older people in Iran. DESIGN A qualitative content analysis study was conducted. The participants were selected from older community dwellers in Iran using in-depth, semi-structured interviews to understand their experiences with power resources. RESULTS Power in older people in Iran is represented by four dimensions: spiritual, intellectual, social and physical. Each power dimension can be divided into intrinsic and extrinsic modes. CONCLUSION By maximising older peoples power in intellectual, social and especially in spiritual resources, the effect of the loss of physical power, with its deteriorative or depressogenic effect on older peoples sense of power and well-being can be compensated for. It is recommended that nurses should plan their interventions to enhance older peoples power, especially their spiritual power. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Different models of empowering older people should be explored in Iranian nursing care delivery.

The emotional experiences of elderly people living in nursing homes

Address: 1Lorestan Medical Sciences University, Lorestan, Iran, 2Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, Islamic Azad University, Khorasgan Branch And Medical Education Research Centre (MERC) of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, 3School of Nursing and midwifery, Esfahan Medical Sciences University, Iran and 4School of Nursing and midwifery, Ardabil Medical Sciences University, Iran * Corresponding author

The Burden of Care: Experiences of Parents of Children with Thalassemia

Introduction: Parents who care for Thalassemia children tolerate a great burden. Understanding these sufferings seems necessary in order to provide appropriate care. This study was aimed to explore the experiences of parents who have children with thalassemia. Method: A qualitative approach was used to obtain rich data. Twenty-two parents were recruited purposefully from one charity clinic in South East of Iran. Semi-structured interviews were used. Data were analyzed by Lundman and Granheims content analysis method. Results: Data analysis led to form one main theme including “Parents’ Burden of care”. Within this theme the following categories created: immersion in suffering, stigma and social death, uncertainty about future, and absence of a support network. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that Caring for children with thalassemia have a significant impact on the lives of caregivers and alleviating caregivers’ burden is critical to managing parents. This research may be useful in terms of increasing information about thalassemia and raising consciousness of nurses and other health care providers.