The Implementation of a Discharge Planning to Improve Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Background: Breast surgery for women newly diagnosed with breast cancer is associated with poor postoperative quality of life (QOL). The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a programmed discharge planning in improving overall QOL and its physical, emotional, social, and spiritual domains. Method: In this quasi-experimental study, we evaluated the newly diagnosed breast cancer women undergoing breast-conserving therapy in two groups, an experimental group (n = 35) and a control group (n = 34). The experimental group received programmed discharge planning at the time of hospital admission until six weeks after discharge. The control group received routine hospital care. Participants completed the QOL questionnaires before and after the intervention. The data were analyzed using the independent-samples t test, Fisher exact test, and Mann-Whitney U. Results: Before the intervention, there were no significant differences between the control and experimental groups in overall QOL or its physical, emotional, social, and spiritual domains. The data analysis after intervention showed significant improvement in QOL in the experimental group as compared with the control group. The changes in the scores of various domains of QOL were statistically significant (P < 0.01). Conclusion: This study emphasizes that programmed discharge planning is useful for improving QOL after breast-conserving surgery. Our finding could be applied to breast cancer patients with radiation therapy or chemotherapy.

The lived experiences of clinical nurse managers regarding moral distress

Ethical management with minimum moral distress is one of the main duties of nurse managers. There is no doubt that a better understanding of the experiences of nurse managers in morally challenging situations could have an effective role in improving health care systems. The present study aimed to investigate the lived experiences of clinical nurse managers regarding moral distress. This hermeneutic phenomenological qualitative research involved the use of semi-structured interviews with nurse managers. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed by the Diekelman, Allen and Tanner approach. For this purpose, a total of 14 Iranian nurse managers with at least five years of experience in nursing management in hospitals were purposefully selected. The findings related to nurse managers' experiences of moral distress contained two main themes (psycho-emotional trauma and professional desperation syndrome) and four sub-themes (shame, emotional dissociation, helplessness, impaired professional identity). The findings of the study indicated that in order to understand the phenomenon of moral distress among nurse managers, it is essential to investigate the moral distress experienced by them. We also found that although they experience moral distress in their daily decisions repeatedly, they are not fully aware of this phenomenon According to the results, for clinical nurse managers, moral distress is an ambiguous situation like suspension along with uncertainty, fear and so on. They believed that experiencing this kind of conscious mistake is the reason for the occurrence of professional desperation syndrome and psycho-emotional trauma.

Reliability and validity of the Persian version of the spinal cord injury lifestyle scale and the health behavior questionnaire in persons with spinal cord injury

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional psychometric study.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the reliability and validity of a spinal cord injury lifestyle scale (SCILS) and Health Behavior Questionnaire (HBQ) in the Persian language for persons with spinal cord injury (SCI).

SETTING

Participants were selected among those referred to health centers and the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Center.

METHOD

In accordance with standard procedure for translation, two questionnaires, the SCILS and HBQ, were translated using a forward and backward translation approach by professional translators. Face validity of the questionnaires was assessed by ten persons with SCI and content validity was agreed upon by 12 professors from health care teaching universities. To test the final versions of both questionnaires, 97 persons with SCI were included using a consecutive sampling method. Other questionnaires were used to assess concurrent validity (secondary impairment checklist, as well as SCILS and HBQ) and convergent validity (impact of event scale revised, brief symptom inventory, beck depression inventory, and functional independence measure).

RESULTS

Internal consistency of SCILS and HBQ, assessed by Cronbach's alpha, was 0.75 for SCILS and 0.85 for HBQ. Test-retest reliability intraclass correlations were 0.86 and 0.92 for SCILS and HBQ, respectively. The number of current secondary impairments had a significant and negative correlation with SCILS (r = -0.22, P < 0.001), but it was not correlated with HBQ. SCILS had a significant and strong correlation with HBQ (r = 0.65, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

SCILS and HBQ can be used for measuring the health behavior of persons with SCI in Iran.

A Cry for Help and Protest: Self-Immolation in Young Kurdish Iraqi Women -A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND

Suicide is a major psychiatric emergency that has always been a topic of great interest to researchers. Self-immolation is a heinous suicide method that is common in Eastern societies. The present study was conducted to explore probable issues which might lead to self-immolation in young Kurdish Iraqi women.

METHODS

The present qualitative study was conducted in Soran, Erbil Governorate in Iraq, and the surrounding villages of Soran District (March 2015 to May 2016). Using purposive sampling, we conducted 24 in-depth interviews with women who had done self-immolation. The obtained data were analyzed using conventional content analysis.

RESULTS

The analysis of the data obtained from the interviews led to the extraction of five categories which seems to be related to self-immolation attempts, including not having control over personal life, marital conflicts, seeking attention, instilling guilt in the family members, and resentment towards male dominant community.

CONCLUSION

Self-immolation is a multidimensional phenomenon that has not come to exist overnight and is rooted in various factors that join to encourage self-immolation attempts by women in critical situations. Comprehensive preventive strategies, such as cultural changes, along with education are required to help lower the rate of self-immolation.

Exploration of the administrative aspects of the delivery of home health care services: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Because of the variety of services and resources offered in the delivery of home health care, its management is a challenging and difficult task.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to explore the administrative aspects of the delivery of home health care services.

METHODS

This qualitative study was conducted based on the traditional content analysis approach in 2015 in Iran. The participants were selected using the purposeful sampling method and data were collected through in-depth semi-structured personal interviews and from discussions in a focus group. The collected data were analyzed using the Lundman and Graneheim method.

RESULTS

23 individuals participated in individual interviews, and the collected data were categorized into the two main themes of policymaking and infrastructures, each of which consisted of some subcategories.

CONCLUSION

Health policymakers could utilize the results of this study as baseline information in making decisions about the delivery of home health care services, taking into account the contextual dimensions of home care services, leading to improvements in home health care services.

Relationship Between Sleep Quality, Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Sleepiness During Day With Related Factors in Professional Drivers

One of the important reasons for accidents is sleepiness.With this description, the sleep disorders are associated with health and mortality, and not only affect the person but also the family and the whole society. Aim of this study was assessing of relationship between Sleep Quality, Obstructive sleep Apnea and Sleepiness during day with related factors in professional drivers. This was a cross-sectional study measuring correlation between sleep quality questionnaire (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index or PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and Stop Bang questionnaire (STOP BANG).the appropriate sample size to achieve a 95% confidence level was 943 people. The study population was chosen among qualified drivers using a convenience sampling method that took place over 12 months duration. Exclusion criterion consisted of the presence of a physical or mental disability. Data analyzed by software SPSS, version 15. In this study, all drivers were men with mean of age 36±9/5 year (minimum 22 year and maximum 72 year), 799 (84.7%) were married, 535 (56.7%) had high school education. Also, 96.4 % of drivers had undesirable sleep quality, 25.8% obstructive sleep apnea and 6.8% abnormal sleepiness during day. Multiple linear regression test showed, Score of STOP-Bang was correlated with smoking (OR (β)=0/2, P=0.006) and history of hurt disease (OR (β)=0.95, P=0.003), shift work (OR (β)=0.19, P=0.006) more probability. Moreover, PSQI was statistically significant with shift work (OR (β)=0.44, P=0.02), smoking (OR (β)=0.98, P=0.001), history of pulmonary disease (OR (β)=3.58, P=0.009) more probability , and ESS was statistically significant with smoking (OR (β)=0.64, P=0.007) and history of pulmonary disease(OR (β)=2.82, P=0.006), shift work (OR (β)=0.59, P=0.008) more probability. In our study, according to the results, it should be planning to reduce the driving time in day and night and also it are recommended short breaks during driving. It is suggested the more widespread and prospective studies, as well as informing the drivers about the benefits of proper sleep and annual checkup drivers of health.

Family Stigma Associated With Epilepsy: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: Harmful nature of epilepsy can affect the patient and their parent. Stigma, arising from it, affects the patient and their family. To relieve it understanding the experiences of the parent are useful. This study was aimed at understanding the experiences of parent of child with epilepsy in Iran.

Methods: In this interpretative phenomenological study, 10 parents who took care of their child with epilepsy were participated. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. After transcription, data were analyzed using Van Manen’s method.

Results: Family stigma emerged as a main theme in data analysis with three subthemes including becoming verbally abusive, a dull and heavy shadowed look, and associates interference.

Conclusion: Family stigma is a major challenge for parents of child with epilepsy need to special attention by health system. Nurses, as a big part of the system, can play an important role to manage this problem.

Marital satisfaction through the lens of Iranian women: a qualitative study

Introduction

One of the common concepts to show the happiness and stability of marriage is the concept of marital satisfaction. Marital satisfaction plays an important role in the stability of marriage. This study was conducted to explain the perception of marital satisfaction among Iranian women.

Methods

This study was conducted between March and September 2015 by common qualitative content analysis approach through semi-structured interviews and 19 participants were selected by purposive sampling.

Results

With the analysis of data two themes: (maturity of personality) which included a sub-theme of blossoming of feelings, and (romantic interaction) consisted of three sub-themes of; mutual support, sense of peace and joyful dependence emerged.

Conclusion

Marital life can lead to the development of people and lovely interaction between them. Surely it needs to passing of time and self-knowing and couple-knowing of each other. Family consultants need the perception of how couple's interaction is, also they need to understand about couples who can communicate well to each other so they can overcome many life's other deficiencies.

Meanings of Health for Iranian Diabetic Patients: A qualitative study

INTRODUCTION

Health is an exclusive and subjective phenomenon, and one of the most important situations with regard to perception of health, arises when patients suffer from a chronic disease. This study was conducted within the qualitative research framework and aimed to explore the meanings of health as perceived by a group of Iranian diabetic patients.

METHODS

A descriptive qualitative analysis design was used. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 participants among diabetic patients, who were admitted to the diabetes care centre of Tohid Hospital of the Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran during a ten-month period in 2014. Interviews were transcribed and analysed through conventional content analysis.

RESULTS

Based on the findings of the study, three major health-related themes emerged: 1) the syndrome of the healthy body and the happy heart (physical well-being vivacity, satisfaction, and calmness of the mind), 2) life without compulsory limitations (lack of dietary limitations, No activity limitations, lack of social limitations), and 3) exalted spirituality (satisfying self and others, trusting God, remembering God).

CONCLUSION

Health care providers should consider the meaning of health in special groups, chiefly in patients with chronic diseases. It facilitates the development of appropriate programmes to improve desirable health levels among diabetic patients.

Expectation of fairness: a turning point in the professional satisfaction of Iranian nurses

Introduction

The professional satisfaction of staff is one of the most challenging organizational concepts that can enhance the efficiency level of organizations. In a similar vein, the professional satisfaction of nurses is of considerable importance, in that, professional dissatisfaction among nurses could result in emotional detachment, depression, anger, evasion from work, and inefficacy and would negatively impact the organization’s work rate. The aim of this study was to understand Iranian nurses’ experiences of the concept of professional satisfaction.

Methods

This was a qualitative study conducted with a targeted sampling of 10 nurses (4 men and 6 women) in 2015. The data were collected through conducting in-depth interviews, and textual data were analyzed subsequently using the Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) method.

Results

The findings of this study pointed to “fair conduct,” which was comprised of three sub-categories, i.e., expectation of fairness in social-professional settings, expectation of fairness in receiving professional benefits, and expectation of fairness in the area of professional interactions.

Conclusions

There are various ups and downs in nursing due to the challenging nature of the profession, from the initial education at the university until retirement. According to the findings of this study, a lack of fairness in social-professional settings, a lack of fairness in receiving professional benefits, and a lack of fairness in the area of professional interactions were among the factors that have great impacts on the degree of professional dissatisfaction among nurses.

Altruism the Essense of the Iranian Nurses' Job Satisfaction: A Qualitative Study

Skillful and efficient human resource is one of the most important tools for reaching the organizational targets and it is almost impossible to reach the predetermined goals and success without having skillful human resources. Therefore, having a study on the personnel's job satisfaction is recommended for all of the organizations. Since the health organizations are among the most important organizations of any country, paying attention to the nurses' job satisfaction as the main providers of the health care services gets very important. In fact, their attempts guarantee the efficient human resources' health in the society. Understanding the Iranian nurses' experiences of their job satisfaction. The present paper studies the implicit and explicit aspects of the clinical nurses' job satisfaction. The needed information is collected via interviews, and then the participants' contextual data is analyzed by the qualitative content analysis. The research results introduce the altruism as the foundation for the nurses' job satisfaction. Altruism is composed of three categories of the patient advocacy, spiritual job satisfaction, and professional commitment. Altruism has made the nurses deliver the required health cares to the patients with all their love, while their profession has many difficulties. Job satisfaction resulted from altruism is experienced as a pleasant feeling along with enjoyment resulted from addressing the needs of a patient who looks forward to the nurse's advocacy. According to this kind of job satisfaction, the nurse's professional commitment is to advocate for the patient. Also, the research results show that spirituality is the inseparable component of altruism and it has a vital role in the nurses' job satisfaction. The spirituality helps the nurses to deliver targeted acts and interventions.

Exploration of the barriers of reporting nursing errors in intensive care units: A qualitative study

AIM

The aim of this study was to explore the barriers to reporting nursing errors in intensive care units in Iranian hospitals.

METHODS

A descriptive qualitative analysis design was used. The data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 16 nurses working in four general intensive care units in Kurdistan province, Iran. Interviews were transcribed and finally analysed through conventional content analysis.

RESULTS

There are four major barriers to the reporting of errors by nurses working in Iranian critical care units: (a) saving professional reputation and preventing stigma; (b) fear of consequences - punishment, legal problems and organisational misconduct; (c) feelings of insecurity - pointing a finger at nurses and lack of managerial support and (d) not investigating the root cause of error.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings revealed the need to support and provide security to nurses and to consider and find the cause of error occurrence. Managers must provide the required personal, professional and legal support for nurses to encourage them to effectively report errors, discover the root cause of errors and take measures to prevent them.

The Effects of Family-Centered Problem-Solving Education on Relapse Rate, Self Efficacy and Self Esteem Among Substance Abusers

Background:

The success of drug abuse treatment and relapse prevention methods depends widely on not only pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical therapies but also self efficacy and self esteem promotion.

Objectives:

The current study attempted to clarify the effects of Problem Solving Education (PSE) on relapse rate, self efficacy and self esteem among drug abusers.

Patients and Methods:

This non-controlled clinical trial (quasi-experimental) assessed 60 opium and heroin abusers who were willing to quit and were referred to the Mehr Center of Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation Facility. The patients were allocated to two groups of 30 (intervention and control groups). While both groups received the routine care of the clinic, the intervention group also attended eight 45-minute family-centered PSE sessions. The Coopersmith Self esteem Inventory and Quit Addiction Self efficacy Questionnaire were filled out for all subjects before and after the intervention. Drug relapse was investigated four times with two-week intervals. The two groups were compared using chi-square and Student’s-t tests. Logistic regression analysis was applied to determine factors affecting drug relapse.

Results:

A total of 45 individuals (21 and 24 in the intervention and control groups, respectively) completed the study. At baseline, the two groups had no significant difference regarding their mean scores of self esteem and self efficacy (P = 0.692 and 0.329, respectively). After the intervention, however, the mean changes of self esteem scores were 20.10 ± 3.75 for the intervention group and 4.50 for the control group (P < 0.001). The mean changes of self efficacy scores in the mentioned groups were 34 34.17 ± 5.19 and 9.03± 2.04, respectively (P < 0.001). Drug relapse after two weeks was correlated with age (OR = 1.216; P = 0.026; 95% CI: 1.024-1.445) and implementation of the intervention (OR = 0.036; P = 0.003; 95% CI: 0.004-0.322).

Conclusions:

According to our findings, supplementing drug abuse treatment with cognitive behavior therapy, particularly PSE, can reduce relapse rate and enhance self efficacy and self esteem among patients.

Exploring the Barriers of Home Care Services in Iran: A Qualitative Study

With increasing chronic diseases, the use of home care is rising in the world. Home care in Iran has many challenges and to improve that, we should identify the challenges and barriers of home care. The aim of this study was to identify and explore the barriers of home care in Iran. This is a qualitative study with content analysis approach that was conducted in Iran in 2015. Fourteen key informants comprising health policymakers, faculty members, nurses, and physicians as well as patients and families engaged in home care purposefully participated in this study. Data was obtained using face-to-face semistructured interviews. A focus group discussion was also used to complete the findings. Graneheim and Lundman's approach was used for analysis of data and Lincoln and Guba's criteria were used to confirm the trustworthiness of study's findings. The data were divided into three main categories and eight subcategories. Main categories included treatment-based approach in the healthcare system, cultural dimensions, and the lack of adequate infrastructure. A position for home care in the healthcare system, considering cultural dimensions in Iranian society and providing an appropriate infrastructure, can be beneficial to improve the situation of home care services in Iran.

Are andropause symptoms related to depression?

BACKGROUND

Andropause is a middle-age condition in which men experience changes in their physical, spiritual and emotional health. The association between andropause and psychological symptoms such as depression are not very clear yet.

AIMS

The objective of this study was therefore to determine the association between the 'Aging Males Symptoms Scale' (AMS) and depression.

METHODS

A cross sectional study was conducted among 521 old men. To collect data, the AMS and the Patient Health Questionnaires 2 and 9 were used to screen depression, in addition to questions on background and fertility. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess the association between andropause symptoms and depression.

RESULTS

Based on our results and the AMS score, 51.5% of the study population had clinical symptoms of androgen disorder, 3.7% of which had severe symptoms. There was a strong correlation between the AMS score and depression. Depression, diabetes, cigarette smoking and spousal age retained their significant associations even after entering the relevant demographic, anthropometric, smoking and disease variables in the multivariable model. As a positive predictive factor, depression had the strongest association with AMS.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on our results, there is a direct association between andropause symptoms and depression, where the increasing AMS score corresponds with the severity of depression.

DISCUSSION

Our results show the need of screening for depression when evaluating andropause symptoms.

End-of-life care provision: experiences of intensive care nurses in Iraq

BACKGROUND

Nurses play a key role in providing care for the critically ill in the intensive care unit (ICU). The physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual intimate care given by Kurdish nurses allows them to develop a therapeutic relationship with terminally ill patients in the ICU.

AIMS

This study sought to explore the meaning of caring for terminally ill patients from the perspective of Kurdish ICU nurses.

DESIGN

Van Manen's (1990) hermeneutic phenomenological design was adopted.

METHOD

The data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 10 nurses working in ICUs. Interviews were transcribed and finally analysed according to Van Manen's method.

RESULTS

Four major themes including emotional labour, death as a positive dimension, optimistic rather than futile care and working within constraints emerged.

CONCLUSIONS

Kurdish nurses in their caring encounters with terminally ill patients experienced a range of feelings from emotional strain to being optimistic while working within limited resources in the ICU. Further research is needed to explore the experiences of nurses with other cultures of caring for terminally ill patients in ICUs.

RELEVANCE TO PRACTICE

End-of-life care in ICU is emotionally challenging, therefore, nurses in this setting require psychological and spiritual support to ensure optimal care provision.

A New Horizon in Life: Experiences of Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

INTRODUCTION

The treatment quality of diseases can affect the patient's experience. Due to its different complications among cancer patients, the experience of chemotherapy is unique. The present study was conducted to explore the lived experience among cancer patients who had received chemotherapy.

METHODS

The study was conducted by a qualitative approach and a phenomenological method. In so doing, 12 cancer patients who had received chemotherapy were purposefully selected were interviewed using an in-depth method. After the required data were collected, they were analyzed by Tanner, Allen, Diekelmann method.

RESULTS

Analysis of the collected data indicated that the experience of chemotherapy appeared as "a new horizon in life" for the patients. Secondary themes of the new horizon in life included rebirth, understanding of life values, dependence, and need.

CONCLUSION

According to the results of the study, it was concluded that in addition to taking into providing mental-spiritual support and reducing the complications of the treatment, nurses in chemotherapy wards should pay attention to the experiences of the patients receiving chemotherapy and enhance hope and positive attitude among them.

Experience of Spiritual Care in Cardiac Rehabilitation: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

The aim of the study was to explore the experience of spiritual care among a cardiac rehabilitation team. Spiritual care is an important dimension of providing comprehensive care, and understanding the views of health professionals is pivotal to making recommendations for caring. This study used an interpretive phenomenological approach. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 13 cardiac rehabilitation professionals. Seven persons participated in individual interviews and six in focus group discussions. Data were analyzed using Smith and Osborn’s interpretative phenomenological analysis method. Study data were categorized into more than 150 initial themes, 12 clustered and four superordinate themes, included: ‘Helping patients to obtain a meaningful sense of being’, ‘Providing religious/spiritual focused care’, ‘holistic approach to rehabilitation is needed’ and ‘spirituality as a neglected aspect of rehabilitation’. Participants described that they did not have sufficient training in providing spiritual care. Nurses’ awareness of spiritual care meaning among a cardiac rehabilitation team is helping to respond to rehabilitation care in a holistic approach. Helping patients to get a meaningful sense of being is an important part of assisting in recovery and adjustment following an acute cardiac event. Providing clear guidelines and support for providing spiritual care in cardiac rehabilitation is required.

Passion for Life: Lived Experiences of Patients after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft

BACKGROUND

Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) improves the quality of life, increases survival, and influences the patient's mental and emotional aspects. Little information is available on the lived experience of Iranian patients after this surgery. Understanding the lived experiences of patients will help health professionals with better provision of high quality care.

METHODS

This hermeneutic phenomenological study aimed to understand the lived experience of patients after CABG. Van Manen's method was used to conduct the study. A semi-structured, face-to-face interview technique was employed to explore the experiences of the patients following surgery. Seven men and 4 women between 49 and 80 years old were interviewed.

RESULTS

Passion for life was the main theme extracted from the participants' interviews. This theme comprised the three sub-themes of receiving attention from family, being hopeful, and being spiritually oriented.

CONCLUSION

The results showed that the participants experienced passion for life after their surgery. This finding reveals that patients tend to find a new perspective on life and their health after surgery.

The Hurt of Judgment in Excessive Weight Women: A Hermeneutic Study

Excess weight is one of the increasing problems of the present society and one of the threatening health conditions around the world. Despite many efforts for prevention and treatment or even surgery, the process of excess weight is not decreased in the world. While most of the studies conducted on excess weight concentrated on the issues why people get excess weight or how the prevention and treatment of excess weight must be performed, there is lake of knowledge about what excessive weight people really experience in their daily life. Understanding the lived experience of excess weight in women is linked with their health and society's health while it indirectly develops the nursing knowledge to improve the quality and access to holistic health care in excessive weight women. The aim of study was to describe with a deeper understanding, the lived experience of excess weight in women. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach and a van-manen analysis methods, in depth semi- structured interviews were conducted with twelve women who had lived experience of excess weight. The hurt of Judgment was the main theme that emerged in the process of data analysis. This theme was derived from three sub-themes including social judgment, being different and being seen. These findings can prove helpful in promoting the nursing knowledge concerning a holistic approach in communicating to excessive weight people.

Patients' lived experiences regarding maintaining dignity

Preservation of dignity is frequently emphasized as a basic patient's right in national and international nursing codes of ethics and is indeed the essence and core of nursing care. It is therefore essential to explore the concept based on patients' lived experiences in order to maintain and respect their dignity and consequently improve the quality of health services and patient satisfaction. The present study aimed to discover the lived experiences of Iranian patients regarding maintaining their dignity at the bedside. This qualitative study was conducted using an interpretive phenomenological approach. A total of 14 participants (9 women and 5 men) were purposefully selected, and data were collected through individual, semi-structured and deep interviews. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed by the Diekelman, Allen and Tanner approach. The findings of this study revealed three main themes and related subthemes regarding the meaning of preserving patients' dignity. The first main theme was "exigency of preserving the innate human dignity" and comprised two subthemes: "respect for the intrinsic equality of all humans" and "treating the patient as a valued person, not an object". The second theme was "service based on love and kindness" and included two subthemes: 'being with the patient" and "inspiring the sense of being accepted and loved". The third main theme emerged as "dignifying and transcendental professional service" and consisted of two subthemes: "professional commitment to uphold patients' rights" and "enlightened practice". This study revealed that the concept of maintaining patients' dignity is related to health providers' duty to preserve patients' dignity and also their moral obligation to manifest the human love that is in their own as well as their patients' nature. In conclusion, if nurses reflect on the transcendental nature of nursing care, they will value and prize their everyday bedside nursing practice and will utilize their capacities to be more human as well.