Sharareh Khosravi

Effect of spiritual counseling on spiritual well-being in Iranian women with cancer: A randomized clinical trial

OBJECTIVES This study examined the effect of spiritual counseling on the spiritual well-being of Iranian women with cancer. DESIGN AND SETTING a randomized clinical trial was conducted on 42 female cancer patients who were randomized to either an 8-week spiritual counseling intervention (n = 21) or a control group that received routine education/care (n = 21). Spiritual well-being (SWB) was assessed before and after the 8-week spiritual counseling program using Paloutzian and Ellisons (1983) Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS). RESULTS There were no significant differences on SWBS and its two subscales scores (RWB and EWB) between intervention and control groups at baseline (p > .05). After intervention, there was a significant mean difference in SWB (p = .001), RWB (p = .013) and EWB (p = .001) in two groups. CONCLUSIONS Spiritual counseling is associated with significant improvements in SWB in Iranian women with cancer. Interventions that acknowledge the spiritual needs of these patients should be incorporated into conventional treatments.

The effect of the facilitated tucking position on pain intensity during heel stick blood sampling in premature infants: a surprising result

Abstract Background: According to research findings, pain experience in neonatal period leads to short- and long-term complications that could be prevented by means of neonatal pain relief. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of facilitated tucking position on neonatal pain during heel prick blood sampling. Methods: This is a cross over clinical trial was done on 40 premature neonates. During blood sampling, neonates were put in either facilitated tucking or routine positions randomly and Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP) was completed for each neonate. In the next sampling time, positions were changed and the process repeated. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, repeated measure ANOVA, and independent t-test. Results: Results showed that the mean pain intensity in each position was increased during sampling (p = .0001) and after that was decreased significantly (p = .001), but before, during, and after sampling there was no significant difference between the two positions (p > .05). Conclusions: Overall findings showed that comparing neonates in the two positions; there was no significant difference in their pain intensity. These results are almost in contrast with many researches findings in this area. It seems there is a need to further investigation regarding this subject.

Benson's relaxation effect in comparing to systematic desensitization on anxiety of female nurses: A randomized clinical trial

Introduction: Nursing staffs expose to a high level of anxiety. This study aimed to compare the effect of Bensons relaxation and systematic desensitization methods for decreasing the anxiety score of nurses. Materials and Methods: In a randomized clinical trial, 72 female nurses were assigned randomly to three different groups. Bensons relaxation and systematic desensitization were used as intervention beside control group. After intervention, the Spielberger state-trait anxiety inventory was used for measuring the anxiety score. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), Tukey test, and paired t-test were applied for comparing three group scores. Results: The ANOVA test showed that a significant difference among three groups regarding scores of posttrait and poststate anxiety (P < 0.05). The Tukey test showed that both Bensons relaxation and systematic desensitization methods were effective in decreasing of the anxiety score of nurses. Moreover, the mean change in trait and state anxiety scores at Bensons relaxation and systematic desensitization groups was more than control group, respectively, and was statistically significant. Conclusion: Both Bensons relaxation and systematic desensitization methods are effective in improvement of the state and trait dimensions of anxiety. However, these methods could be applied in stressful situation among medical staffs of students.