Forough Rafii

Nurses' influence on health policy protects the quality of care by access to required recourses and opportunities. This is a new and important concept for nursing; however, research studies on policy influence of nurses in health care sector are lacking a basic conceptual understanding of what this concept represents. The aim of this paper is to clarify the concept of nurses' policy influence and to propose the definition of this concept, considering the context of Iran. The eight stages of Walker and Avant approach was used to guide this concept analysis. Various databases and internet engines were searched to find all related information about the concept. Textbooks were also searched manually. English language literature reports published between 1990 and 2012 were reviewed. Based on the analysis undertaken, nurses' policy influence is nurses' ability in influencing decisions and affairs related to health through political knowledge, effective communication, and c...

This study aimed to provide an understanding of the relationship between the ethical climate at the workplace and job satisfaction among nurses. 210 nurses working in selected wards in the Tehran University of Medical Sciences were asked to fill out questionnaires on their work environment and level of job satisfaction. The data collection tools included a questionnaire to obtain demographic data, the Olson moral climate questionnaire and Minnesota job satisfaction questionnaire. The data were analysed using SPSS software version 14. We found a significant positive relationship between the ethical climate and the level of job satisfaction among the nurses. Among the demographic variables, the working shift, income level and type of duties allocated had a significant relationship with job satisfaction. Hospital managements should pay attention to the factors influencing job motivation among nurses, including the ethical climate of the work environment.

The quality of life (QoL) of end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients is a frequently overlooked yet critical consideration when evaluating the overall medical care of patients. There are a variety of measures used to assess the QoL of ESRD patients. Some of the more frequently used tools include the single-question QoL questionnaire, the 36 Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Kidney Disease Quality of Life (KDQoL) questionnaire. The best intervention to improve the QoL of ESRD patients is renal transplantation. The role of erythropoietin and intensification of dialysis dose in improving patients' QoL is undergoing review. We have previously shown relationships between patients' perception of quality of life and depressive affect, perception of burden of illness (IEQ), social support (MSP), pain and sleep disturbances. Further studies should focus on interventions that modify patients' perceptions of these psychosocial parameters with the goal of improving thei...

Professional commitment has been widely discussed during the last decade. There is no comprehensive definition about "professional commitment in Iranian nurses." Hence, this study was conducted with the aim of analyzing the concept of professional commitment in Iranian nurses. Hybrid model was used in three phases. Firstly, in the theoretical phase, data were retrieved from the CINHAl, MEDLINE, PubMed, OVID, Google scholar, and SID databases. The literature search used the keywords "professional commitment" and "nursing." The final sample included 27 papers published in English between 2001 and 2011.Secondly, in the fieldwork phase, deep interviews with five clinical nurses were carried out, and thirdly, in the final analytical phase, the obtained data from theoretical and fieldwork phases were combined and a comprehensive analysis was conducted. Loyalty and tendency to remain in the profession and responsibility to the professional issues were extracte...