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This study explores the perception of nurses working in critical care units about the patient-centered care, which is a crucial factor in attaining quality in nursing care. A qualitative exploratory study with conventional content analysis was used. Three main themes were extracted from the data: from accepting to understanding the patient; improved care as the result of skill and expertise; and adherence to patients' rights charter.

Rationale, Aims and Objectives: Understanding sources of knowledge used in everyday practice is very helpful in improving the quality of health care services. There is a consensus in the literature that nurses mostly relied in their practice on experiential knowledge gained through their interactions with other members of health care professionals and patients. The general aim of this study is to explore the sources of knowledge Jordanian registered nurses use during their practice., Method: A descriptive correlational design was used to collect data from 539 Jordanian registered nurses from 10 hospitals using a self-administered questionnaire., Results: The mean year of experience of the sample was 7.08 years. Of the 615 questionnaires distributed, 555 were returned. This yields a response rate of 87.6%. Results revealed that the top five ranked sources used by Jordanian registered nurses include: the information that nurses learned during nursing education, personal experience in nursing over time, what was learned through providing care to patients, information gained through discussion between physicians and nurses about patients, and information from policy and procedure manuals., Conclusion: Jordanian registered nurses recognize the value of research and that research utilization (RU) is an important issue and must not be ignored. The study has many implications for practice, education and research. Health care managers and decision makers need to play a more visible and instrumental role in encouraging RU to improve patients' quality of life., (© 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Aim: This paper is a report of a qualitative descriptive study of nurses' experiences of uncertainty in clinical practice., Background: Uncertainty as a complex phenomenon is inherent in many nursing and medical encounters and can vary along different dimensions. Despite the existence of studies on the theoretical definitions of uncertainty, few studies have been conducted to explore nurses' experiences in this regard and strategies employed by them to encounter situations of uncertainty in nursing practice., Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2009 with 18 female bachelor's degree nurses working in a teaching hospital in an urban area of Iran. Content analysis was used to identify themes., Findings: The data analysis resulted in three main themes: 'unclear domain of practice', 'compatibility with uncertainty', 'psychological reactions to uncertainty'. The second theme consisted of two categories: 'losing sensitivity' and 'avoiding trouble'. The themes were not mutually exclusive or independent, but rather overlapping and intertwined. The themes and their related categories summarized the nurses' experiences of uncertain situations and the way they used to present efficacious care and meet patients' needs in spite of being immersed in uncertainty., Conclusion: Enhanced awareness and increased understanding about uncertainty can be important factors in improving nursing work environment and the quality of care presented to patients. The findings will be helpful for nurse managers to educate and prepare nurses in order to encounter uncertain situations in practice., (© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

Aim: The focus of the study is the identification of barriers to and facilitators of research utilization in nursing practice from the perspective of Iranian nurses., Background: In Iran, research utilization is a new phenomenon thus our knowledge with regard to those factors that promote or discourage research use is limited. No overall picture of the state of research utilization in Iran therefore exists., Method: A descriptive design is used. The questionnaire was distributed to 410 nurses from educational hospitals and nursing schools affiliated with Tehran Medical Sciences University in Iran., Results: The major barriers to research utilization were that the nurses do not have time to read research; facilities are inadequate for implementation; and nurses do not feel they have enough authority to change patient care procedures. Findings revealed a number of facilitators which were categorised into two main groups of human resources and individual/organisational factors., Conclusion: The healthcare system in Iran does not provide the incentive for nurses to engage in research or to avail themselves of research findings. Also, time is the major issue owing to a nursing shortage. If research utilization is to increase in Iran, therefore, the most important organisational change that needs to occur is the provision of available facilities for nurses to use research evidence., Relevance to Clinical Practice: Key factors that need attention in implementing research results into practice are suggested. Clearly, identification of barriers and facilitators is useful potentially to overcome barriers and enforce facilitators and this could ultimately improve nursing practice.

As the biggest proportion of hospital personnel, Iranian nurses have a major role in providing quality care to patients. Nursing managers and nurses no longer feel that nurses' work is valued and they are concerned about their productivity. Nurses' views about productivity and management factors affecting it have been identified as the most important aspects affecting productivity. Thus, this study assesses productivity from the nurse's view. A grounded theory approach was used for this research. Purposive sampling and semistructured interviews were used. The data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis. Most participants felt that the qualitative nature (effectiveness) of productivity is very important. Also, participants indicated that management is the most important factor that can promote or impede their productivity. They suggested that managers' performance and their skill level are the factors influencing productivity. Effective management can improve nurses' productivity and the quality of care that nurses provide.

Background: While the Iranian nursing profession tries to reach to its full capacity for participating in the maintenance of public health, its desire to develop is strongly influenced by cultural, economic, and religious factors. The concept of empowerment is frequently used in nursing and the health services, particularly in relation to the quality of care, since the mission of nursing is to provide safe and quality nursing care thereby enabling patients to achieve their maximum level of wellness. When considering the importance of nursing services in any health system, the 54th World Health Assembly recommended that programs be designed to strengthen and promote the nursing profession. Since empowerment is crucial to the role of nurses, a qualitative study was conducted and aimed at designing a model for empowering nurses in Iran., Methods: A grounded theory approach was used for analyzing the participants' experiences, their perceptions and the strategies affecting empowerment. Data collection was done through Semi-structured interviews and participant observation. Forty-four participants were interviewed and 12 sessions of observation were carried out., Results: Three main categories emerged from the data collected; these are "personal empowerment", "collective empowerment", and "the culture and structure of the organization." From the participants' perspective, empowerment is a dynamic process that results from mutual interaction between personal and collective traits of nurses as well as the culture and the structure of the organization. Impediments, such as power dynamics within the health care system hinder nurses from demonstrating that they possess the essential ingredients of empowerment., Conclusion: A model was designed for empowering the nursing profession in Iran. Implementing this model will not only define nursing roles, identify territories in the national healthcare system, but it will restructure nursing systems, sub-systems, and services. Currently no such model exists; therefore, restructuring of the nursing system, including its services, education and research subsystems is recommended.