Background & Aims After a cancer diagnosis and the initiation of the treatment process, family members often take the responsibility to care for their patients. During this process, they may experience anticipatory grief, which can negatively impact their mental health and predispose them to negative emotions. Accordingly, the present study aimed to assess the extent of anticipatory grief in caregivers of patients with cancer admitted to adult oncology wards in Yazd, Iran. Materials & Methods In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 160 caregivers of patients with cancer hospitalized in the adult oncology ward of Shahid Sadiughi Hospital in Yazd, Iran, were recruited using a convenience sampling method. The participants completed a demographic form and the anticipatory grief scale (AGS). Data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 21, employing descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (t-test, analysis of variance). Results Among participants, 83.1% were female, and 38.8% were the patients’ children. The mean age of caregivers was 39.96±10.54 years. The mean AGS score was 44.82±11.52. This score showed significant differences by gender (P=0.007) and caregiving duration (P=0.006). However, no significant differences were observed by age, economic status, educational level, or relationship with the patient (P>0.05). Conclusion The level of anticipatory grief among caregivers of hospitalized patients with cancer in Yazd is higher than the average level. It is higher in females with longer caregiving durations. Therefore, implementing interventions to reduce their anticipatory grief, with a focus on the identified key effective factors, is recommended.
Background & Aims Nurses often face long work shifts and mandatory overtime imposed by hospitals, violating productivity laws. This treatment leads to a sense of being viewed as mere tools, contributing to organizational dehumanization (ODH), where employees feel objectified and easily replaceable by their organization. The present study aims to review studies on nurses’ ODH to examine how nurses perceive the contributing factors and consequences of this phenomenon. Materials & Methods This is a comprehensive systematic review that involved searching relevant articles published in Persian or English from 2012 to 2024 using keywords such as Dehumanization, Nursing management, Nurse, and Organization and Boolean operators (OR and AND) in national and international databases including Magiran, IranMedex, Scientific Information Database (SID), IranDoc, PubMed, ProQuest, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science. Results The initial search yielded 73 articles. After carefully screening titles and abstracts, ensuring access to full texts, and removing duplicates, 6 articles in English were selected for review. No relevant articles in Persian were identified. There were five quantitative studies and one review study. The ODH of nurses leads to low job satisfaction, emotional fatigue, psychological stress, decreased organizational commitment, and increased intention to leave. It also reduces work engagement, which is vital for work-life balance, psychological well-being, and burnout prevention. Conclusion The factors that cause ODH in nurses include organizational characteristics, interpersonal factors, the organization’s ability to perceive dehumanization, social factors, environmental factors, occupational characteristics, and individual factors. Since ODH negatively affects nurses’ mental health, it needs immediate attention by nursing managers; they should identify factors that contribute to or protect against ODH, and promptly develop treatment and prevention policies.
Background & Aims Burn injuries can disrupt a person’s daily life and require immediate and special treatment and care. In addition to the individual, their family caregivers are also affected. This study aimed to determine the effect of family-centered education on the caregiving burden of family caregivers of burn victims. Materials & Methods This quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2024 on 80 caregivers of burn victims admitted to Shahid Motahari Hospital in Tehran, Iran, who were selected using a continuous sampling method. They were divided into two groups of intervention and control (40 in each group). Data collection tools included a demographic form and the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), 2-3 days after admission and one month after discharge. The intervention groups received family-centered training in subgroups of 5-10 at 4 sessions, in a lecture or question-and-answer format, each session lasting 45-60 minutes. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software, version 16 using descriptive and inferential statistics (Fisher’s exact test, Chi-square test, independent t-test, paired t-test). Results After the intervention, the mean ZBI score overall and in its domains were significantly different between the two groups, such that the score of the intervention group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05). In the intervention group, the ZBI score, both overall and in its dimensions, decreased significantly after the intervention compared with pre-intervention (P<0.001), whereas this difference was not significant in the control group. Conclusion Family-centered education can lead to a reduction in caregiving burden and its domains in family caregivers of burn victims.
Background & Aims The image of nursing portrayed in social media plays a crucial role in shaping nurses’ professional identity, public trust in the healthcare system, and recruitment in the nursing profession. This study aimed to review how nursing is portrayed in social media platforms. Materials & Methods This is a narrative review. Relevant articles published between 2019 and 2025 were searched in national (MagIran, SID) and international (Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science) databases using Persian and English keywords (nursing, nurses, social media). After removing duplicates and irrelevant studies and assessing their quality, 12 articles were finally included in the review. Results The findings revealed diverse and sometimes contradictory portrayals of nursing in social media. Positive images included “hero,” “angel,” and “jack-of-all-trades,” while negative images included “victim” and “error maker.” These images were portrayed in platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, newspapers, and films. Conclusion Stereotypical and sometimes inaccurate portrayals of nursing in the media can negatively affect the professional identity and job satisfaction of nurses and public trust in nurses. Therefore, it is essential for the media to adopt a scientific, accurate, and responsible approach in representing the image of nursing to help promote the professional status of nurses.
Background & Aims Overqualification refers to a situation in which an individual’s skills, education, and experience exceed their job requirements. This phenomenon has significant implications for the nursing profession, given nurses’ critical role in the healthcare system. This study aimed to investigate the psychological, occupational, and organizational consequences of overqualification in nurses. Materials & Methods This is a systematic review of quantitative studies related to the outcomes of overqualification in nurses. The search was conducted in SID, IranMedex, MagIran, Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases with no language or time restrictions using keywords such as nurse, nursing, overqualification, and skill mismatch in English and Persian, along with the Boolean operators. A total of 39 articles were identified by the initial search. After screening the titles and abstracts, 8 articles were selected for full-text review. Of these, 6 articles fully met the inclusion criteria and study objectives and were included in the final analysis. Results All included studies were cross-sectional. Three studies were conducted in China, two in Greece, and one in Jordan. The results showed that perceived overqualification among nurses had a significant negative correlation with job engagement (r=-0.562, P=0.05) and job satisfaction (r=-0.674) and a significant positive correlation with job boredom (β=0.44, P<0.001) and job burnout (r=0.12, P<0.05). Furthermore, it was positively associated with nurses’ silence on patient safety concerns (β=0.18, P<0.01), knowledge hoarding (r=0.32), knowledge hiding (r=0.49), and obsessive passion (r=0.087, P<0.001), and a significant negative correlations with harmonious passion (r=-0.076, P<0.001) and affective and normative commitment (r=0.087, P=0.001) Conclusion Perceived overqualification, as an occupational risk factor, is associated with decreased job engagement and satisfaction, as well as increased behaviors such as silence on patient safety concerns and knowledge hiding among nurses. Accordingly, it is recommended that nursing managers implement interventions such as coping and resilience training, task redistribution based on nurses’ competencies, and enhanced nurse participation in decision-making processes to prevent the complications of overqualification in nursing settings.
