M. Nasiri

Enhancing ethical competence in nursing has become a crucial educational focus due to growing ethical challenges in clinical settings. However, systematic knowledge about the design and impact of relevant educational programs remains limited. This scoping review seeks to address that gap by examining the scope, variety, and characteristics of such programs, highlighting their educational strategies and content, and proposing directions for future research to inform more effective ethical competence development in nursing. The review was conducted using the Arksey and O’Malley framework and reported in accordance with PRISMA-ScR guidelines. A systematic search was performed across five international databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Google Scholar between 2000 and 2024. Of 25,868 initial sources, 35 studies were selected for final analysis. The findings revealed four main educational approaches utilized: e-learning, simulation and role-playing, group discussions, and traditional lectures. Ethical content focused on fundamental ethical principles, professional codes, ethical reasoning, and ethical challenges. Although most studies reported improvements in ethical sensitivity or ethical decision-making, significant gaps persist in the design, implementation, and evaluation of the effectiveness of these programs. While ethics education can facilitate ethical development in nurses, the absence of standardized evaluations and evidence-based frameworks limits the generalizability of findings. This review outlines the current state of ethics education in nursing, highlighting the crucial need for future research to develop robust, culturally appropriate, and evidence-based programs that truly enhance nurses’ ethical competence. All stages of this review adhered to valid scientific research principles.

What does it really mean to be human? In this context, “real” refers to the most precise comprehension of human experience from a subjective and phenomenological perspective. When exploring human nature in the realm of philosophy of mind, we confront not only the mind-body problem (a fundamental challenge in substance dualism) and the hard problem of consciousness (a hurdle for eliminativism) but also the explanatory gaps that stem from an objective and partitive interpretation of human nature. What if we were to shift this perspective to one that is the aspective-holistic and subjective viewpoint? The principal aim of this paper is to argue that subjectivism requires a holistic perspective to effectively confront eliminativism. The authors propose a shift in perspective, labeling it “Subjective Holism,” which is not a definitive solution to the issues at hand; rather, it serves as a framework for understanding human nature. This approach aligns with our intuition–considering oneself subjectively as a whole–and possesses enhanced explanatory power by treating humans as integrated complex systems. It clarifies how mental and physical states emerge as properties within this system. Through a holistic-subjective approach, the query about human nature evolves into: How do I, as a unified whole with various aspects, possess qualia such as insideness and uniqueness, which are exclusive to the subject’s conscious experiences? As a human being, I exist as a complex system (whole) with real conscious experience as my high-level and emergent property.

How does unconscious matter become conscious? How does our physical part, which lacks consciousness, have such a subjective quality? This is the explanatory gap in the problem of consciousness or the hard problem of consciousness which comes from a physicalist (eliminativist physicalism) point of view. From the opposite point of view, i.e. dualism, the mind-body problem has led to the problem of consciousness and the explanation of how our unconscious physical (matter) part (substance) is related to our conscious mental part (substance). If the problem of consciousness is the result of such views (eliminativism and dualism), is it possible to adopt a different perspective so that the problem does not arise at all? Or find a solution for it (maximum answer) or at least determine the right way to solve the problem (minimum answer)? The current research goes to this issue by adopting subjectivism and holism to make its subjective holism theory. Therefore, it gives a positive (maximum and minimum) answer to the above questions.

Background and Objectives: The pain and anxiety experienced by burn patients during dressing change cannot be thoroughly controlled by painkillers and anxiolytics. Evidence has documented that reciting the name of God can positively impact the reduction of pain and anxiety caused by aggressive procedures. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of reciting the name of God on the pain and anxiety caused by dressing change in patients with burn injuries. Methods: The present clinical trial study was performed on 71 patients admitted to the burn ward of Nekouei-Hedayati-Forghani Hospital affiliated to Qom University of Medical Sciences in 2017. Patients were selected by the convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups using the stratified randomization method. Thereafter, 10 min before dressing change, the patients in the experimental group were asked to recite the name of God, while the cases in the control group received the routine care. Patients' pain intensity was measured before mentioning the name of God and immediately after dressing change. Anxiety caused by burn pain was measured before mentioning the name of God, before dressing change, immediately after dressing change, and 15 min later. Data were analyzed in SPSS software using descriptive and analytical statistics. Results: The mean age of participants was reported as 44.59±9.13. The result of the independent t-test showed that the mean score of pain immediately after dressing change was found to be lower in the intervention group, compared to the control group. Moreover, the result of pair t-test in the intervention group demonstrated that the mean score of pain-induced anxiety was lower immediately after dressing change, in comparison with the time before reciting the name Of God. Conclusion: As evidenced by the obtained results, reciting the name of God can reduce the anxiety and pain associated with wound dressing changes in burn patients. Therefore, it is suggested that the name of God be used along with pharmaceutical interventions to control pain and anxiety experienced at dressing change.

Background and Objectives: The religious needs of hospitalized patients are reportedly not appropriately met. The purpose of this study was to explain the experiences of nurses about the barriers to providing religious care for hospitalized patients. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted on 21 nurses working in a hospital affiliated with Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran, in 2017, using the conventional content analysis. Data collection was performed using semi-structured interviews lasting about 60-95 min. Results: The barriers related to the nursing staff included efforts to meet the patient’s physical needs, not giving priority to religious care, lack of knowledge and skills, ambiguity in religious care, poor motivation for nursing, routine work, belief that religious care provision is apart from nursing duty, inability in communicating with the patient, lack of holistic care, and belief that religion is personal. In addition, the barriers related to the patient entailed the lack of patient's request for religious care, lack of knowledge about religious care as a part of nursing care, and physical condition. Finally, the management-related barriers pertained to the lack of facilities, including insufficient space, lack of religious books in the departments, lack of sand for Tayammum, lack of a prayer room, not facing the patients toward Qiblah, high workload, crowded wards, and nursing staff shortage. Conclusion: Nurses should consider religious care in hospitals as an important aspect of nursing care and receive necessary instruction on holistic care. Furthermore, nurses interested in this domain should receive support for the delivery of religious care.

The Arguments in favor of the necessity of Imamat are generally divided to two types: traditional and rational. Some rational arguments are more important than the others; like: the verdict of reason upon the necessity of the guidance of people, explaining and preserving the religion, and the continuance of the Divine grace. After a brief theological explanation of these reasons, we will offer their mystical origins. From the mystical point of view the problem of Imamat ant its necessity is basically a mystical problem and its philosophical explanation is also backed by mystical teachings. In Islamic tradition, the knowledge of Tawhid is bound to the knowledge of Muwahhid, a perfect man that by a kind of closeness to God gained by spontaneous acts of devotion has reached to the stage of annihilation in the Divine unity and hence God has become his eyes, ears, and all his existence; and by a kind of closeness to God gained by doing obligations has reached to the stage of survival after annihilation and spiritual sobriety after self-effacement/obliteration and under the direct sovereignty of God he has possessed the place of velayat and absolute lordship by which he can govern over visible and invisible worlds. Such a person as the caliph of God and the mediator of God’s grace in the descending arc has to undertake the governance and leadership of people in the ascending arc constantly.

Historical terminology, the same as human history, has encountered many ups and downs during its time, and consequently has acquired its own meaning and position in any specific field. Most of these terminologies occupy their social and meaningful positions in socio-political domains, and make the body of the administrative and secretarial terms of different historical ages in Iran. The focus of the present article is on showing the urgent need for gathering explanations of administrative terms in different historical ages. It also surveys the changes of meaning of these terms and codifies the thesauruses in this field.

Contrary to what has been stated in most accounts that Hume intends to make arguments against the existence of God, he aims to attack the claim that religious propositions can be argued; not completely reject these propositions. He considers these propositions epistemologically outside of human knowledge but ontologically accepts the existence of God. With such a view, we can dismiss atheistic-agnostic interpretations and relate him to a kind of mysticism. The key to deciding whether or not Hume is a mystic is to determine what criteria we have to consider someone a mystic. Two very influential components here are (1)the belief in the existence of God; (2) the belief that the existence of God is far from our usual reasoning (antirational or irrational).And the second component is enough to call someone like Wittgenstein a fideist. We claim that there is clear evidence of these components in Hume’s works; therefore, what reason do we have to remove Hume from the circle of fideism and mysticism? In this study, after an introduction to the concept and types of fideism, we show that Hume, based on his works, surpasses skepticism and manifests a special kind of fideism.While there is an emphasis on the mystery of the proposition that God exists, he combines Christian faith, in aform that is inseparable from illogical and mysterious propositions such as the incarnation of God. Thus, Hume can be called a Christian mystic.

One of the fundamental issues in the field of Quranic sciences, interpretation and, especially, in mysticism is the possibility of grasping the esoteric meaning of the Quran. There are some hadiths narrated from Infallible Imams about the esoteric commentary and expounding the inner meaning of some Quranic verses, but these verses are very few. So the question is whether we can grasp the esoteric interpretation and meaning of those Quranic verses with no valid narrated hadiths to discover their inner signification, with regard to the fact that there are limited hadiths on esoteric meaning and only about very few verses. The present paper seeks to prove the possibility and elaborate on how the language of the Quran is expansible. To this end, intellectual and transmitted foundations are provided while referring to the significance of the issue, particularly in present time, and to the role that authentic Islamic mysticism can play in confronting with newly-founded religious and spiritual movements.

Muslim scholars have had different approaches toward modern technologies. Defining the situation in various Islamic countries is dependent on knowing the approaches adopted by their scholars. These approaches create norms which can shed light on the reasons for the success and failure of access to technology and its transference. The present article sets out to analyze the views of the Qom seminary scholars in Iran about the development of modern technologies within the framework of the development sociology using the qualitative methodology of grounded theory. To this end, such techniques as conducting interviews and investigating documents have been used to gather the data. The authors find four paradigm models regarding modern technologies among the Qom seminary scholars. These models are classified into two general categories: optimistic and pessimistic. In the end, an “appropriate technology” approach is introduced as an approach singled out by the researchers.

John Cottingham, a contemporary English philosopher, considers the best way to understand religious beliefs to be an empathic understanding. He calls his theory “the epistemology of involvement”. Based on this theory, in order to understand religious beliefs, one should put aside the detachment approach and by entering the life of faith, provide the conditions for the realization of the religious experiences of the believers, and at the same time, maintain the critical opinion in this sympathetic participation in religion. He considers such an approach to be a middle way between Kierkegaard's irrationalism and Plantinga's relativism and considers it generalizable to other philosophical fields. This approach faces criticism. First, before entering a religious life, it is necessary to evaluate its worldview, and this evaluation precedes the practical system and literary and emotional texts of that religion. Second, there is no connection between an empathetic understanding of religion and entering into a life of faith, and thirdly, by entering into a life of faith, the acceptance of a belief will be involuntary, and after the realization of such a belief, it is not possible to criticize it.

Background: The nature of children’s cancer comes with lots of ethical issues. Nurses are encouraged to adhere to ethical codes in their practice. Objectives: This study aimed to compare the perspectives of nurses and mothers of children with cancer regarding the adherence of nurses to ethical codes. Research design: In this descriptive-comparative study, a researcher-made questionnaire was used to assess the amount of adherence to Iranian nurses’ code of ethics in perspectives of pediatric oncology nurses and mothers. As a convention, the total scores were categorized as optimal, average, and low adherence. Participants and context: A total of 200 mothers and 60 nurses in pediatric oncology wards of five major hospitals in Tehran, Iran, participated in 2016. Ethical considerations: Organizational approval by the university and informed consent were ensured before conducting the research. The principles of voluntariness, confidentiality, and anonymity were respected during the research process. Findings: Results showed the mean score of the adherence to ethical codes by nurses, as per the nurses is 86.71 (12.57) and as per the mothers is 78.67 (16.09). The highest frequency for “Low adherence” and “Optimal adherence” to code of ethics by nurses were “Respect for individual autonomy and decision-making” (mothers, 72% and nurses, 70%) and “Commitment to confidentiality” (mothers, 64% and nurses, 74%), respectively. This revealed a significant difference between the responses of the nurses and the mothers (p = 0.001). Discussion: The results support the other studies in Iran about the difference between the perspectives of patients and nurses about adherence of nurses to ethical codes. Conclusion: Integration of family-centered and conventional care in addition to more attention to the education of professional ethical principles could be helpful to improve the ethical performance of nurses in oncology pediatric wards.

Phenomenal Conservatism is an approach to epistemological justification that, based on "appearances" and "seemings" and in line with the theory of common sense epistemology, attempt to set up an internal and non-inferential justification, at least for some kind of beliefs. According to this view, justification and non-justification have a direct relationship with the mental state of the agent. Based on this assumption that “Things are as they seem”, phenomenal conservatism offers its central idea that if, for an agent, something seems to be true -and there is no defeater for that until doubting in - that agent thereby has at least some justification for believing that. In this article, we will interpret this new approach with an empathetic attitude and, in addition to explaining its main components, we will effort to answer the most important objections of phenomenal conservatism and show that this view is a significant approach to the justification and rationality of human beliefs.

BackgroundMeasuring the outcomes of palliative care plays an important role to improve the quality, efficiency, and availability of these services in patients with cancer. Using valid, reliable, and culturally appropriate tools has a considerable role to measure these outcomes. This study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the translated version of the Palliative care Outcome Scale.MethodsThis methodological study was conducted in two outpatient clinics related to Shohada Tajrish and Baqiyatallah hospitals in Tehran in 2019–2020. The translation was done using the Forward-Backward approach after gaining permission from the developer. Face validity was tested with 10 patients with cancer through cognitive interviewing, as well as content validity with four experts. Construct validity was performed by exploratory factor analysis and confirmation. To assess the reliability, internal consistency was assessed by using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, and relative stability was assessed using the interclass correlation coefficient. Furthermore, interpretability and ceiling and floor effects were assessed.ResultsA total of 353 patients with cancer under palliative care were included in the study. Then, three psychological, physical, and social factors with a cumulative variance of 54.34% were extracted in exploratory factor analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model has a good fit of information. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for scale was 0.719. Furthermore, the ICC was 0.812. The scale was interpretable, and ceiling and floor effects were 0%.ConclusionPersian version of the POS was evaluated as a valid and reliable tool. Therefore, it can be used by the clinician to monitor the consequences of palliative care in Iranian cancer patients.