Background:One of the main causes of stress in the lives of people is their jobs. Occupational stress is causing a wide range of significant issues in health and community services. Nursing is the most stressful profession in the health services. Massage therapy is one way of coping with stress. This study was conducted to determine the effect of massage therapy on stress in nurses.Materials and Methods:This study was a clinical trial on 66 male and female nurses working in intensive care units (dialysis, ICU, and CCU) of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in 2013. Participants were selected according to the aims and inclusion criteria of the study. Then, they were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI) (Osipow and Spokane, 1987) was completed by participants of the two groups before, immediately after, and 2 weeks after the intervention. General Swedish massage was performed on participants of the experimental group for 25 min in each session, twice a week for 4 weeks. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics [Chi-square, t-test, and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA)] using SPSS software.Results:Results showed that the difference in overall mean occupation stress scores between experimental and control groups 2 weeks after the intervention was significant (P < 0.001).Conclusions:According to the results, it is recommended that massage, as a valuable noninvasive method, be used for nurses in intensive care units to reduce their stress, promote mental health, and prevent the decrease in quality of nursing work life.

The results showed that both interventions are effective on relieving pain in women with MS; however, it appears that the effect of reflexology on pain reduction is greater than that of relaxation. Hence, these two methods can be recommended as effective techniques.

Lifestyle habits, including rest and sleep, diet and drug usage, are important factors in migraine attacks. It is important to emphasize changing habits, such as improper use of analgesics, to decrease side effects in migraine victims. The health centers should consider promoting healthy habits and behaviors as a priority in their services.

No abstract

Background:Identifying and correcting the modifiable risk factors reduces the prevalence of coronary artery disorders (CAD). Nurses, with regards to their employment conditions, can be prone to cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study aimed to determine the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among nurses.Materials and Methods:In this cross-sectional study, census sampling was conducted among nurses of Jahrom, Iran, in 2014. Data were collected through interviews, blood pressure measurement, anthropometric parameters, and blood sample collection. To analyze the data, descriptive statistical analysis, and comparative (independent t-test) and correlation (Pearson) tests were used; the significance level was considered to be P < 0.05.Results:In this study, 263 (89.76%) nurses participated, 79.8% of whom were women. The mean age of the participants was 31.04 (6.97). In terms of body mass index, 41.7% was the waist-to-hip ratio, 16.7% was the waist-to-height ratio, and 63.1% were in the range of obesity. In addition, 5.7% had abnormal triglyceride, 4.9% had high cholesterol, and 15.1% had high blood pressure. The mean percentage of the Framingham risk score of the participants was 1.07 (1.84).Conclusions:In this study, the total mean percentage of the Framingham risk score of the nurses was 1.07, which showed a low risk of CAD in the study population over the next decade.