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OBJECTIVE: Standardization of hospital resources and physical space can be an important strategy to increase productivity and effectiveness of services. The study was conducted with the aim of comparative accreditation of human resources and physical space in Mazandaran heart centre compared with the standards. METHOD: This comparative descriptive study was carried out in Sari city (centre of Mazandaran province) during 2016-2017. The data collection tool consists of two checklists for investigating the physical space and human resources of the hospital. To evaluate the quality of the content, a checklist was distributed to 5 experts from Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. After corrections the checklist was applied. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16 and descriptive statistics. FINDINGS: The total number of nurses in this hospital was 288 and the total number of beds was 171. The human resources in the nursing, nutrition, operating room, anaesthesia departments were not standard. The ratio of total human resource to the number of beds was also estimated as 4.04. Results showed that the physical conditions in the hospital were moderately standard. The physical conditions of the hospital in most dimensions based on checklist, except the physical location of hospital and the features of its doors, were in accordance with the standard requirements. CONCLUSION: Considering the inappropriate distribution of human resource in the hospital and the non-standard design of physical space for providing services with better quality and increasing patients' satisfaction, it is recommended that experts control more carefully standard requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: Influenza is a respiratory infection that annually affects 5-15% of the global population. Influenza A/H1N1 is the most virulent human pathogens that results in a more severe disease and was first reported in 2009. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiology of influenza A/H1N1 in patients referring to several hospitals in North of Iran during 2009-2011. Materials and methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was done on patients with symptoms of influenza using Real-Time PCR analysis. Results: The patients included 572 (41.97%) male and 791 (58.03%) female. The prevalence of influenza A/H1N1 was seen more in patients aged 21-30 (25%) years. In this study, 205 patients (15.4%) were diagnosed with influenza A/H1N1 including 94 (54.85%) male and 111 (54.15%) female. Influenza A/H1N1-associated death was seen in five patients (2.44%). Conclusion: Influenza A viruses are constantly evolving by mutation or by reassortment. The influenza virus evolves rapidly, and new strains quickly replace the older once, therefore, new vaccines should be developed for immunization against new strains of influenza. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]