Journal of Occupational

Background: Determining quality requirements and quality dimensions is one of the most reliable ways of providing high quality services. The objective of the present study was to investigate the association between quality requirements and quality dimensions according to the points of view of physicians, nurses, and patients.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was carried out in hospitals under supervision of Medical Sciences Universities, in 4 provinces of Tehran, Fars, Lorestan, and Yazd (Iran). A group of 432 physicians and nurses answered the Quality Requirements Questionnaire which includes the 4 components of competitive, ethical, professional, and accountability requirements. Furthermore, 500 patients answered the Quality Dimensions Questionnaire, including the 11 dimensions of security (safety), professionalism, empathy (friendship), politeness, reliability, accountability, working speed, competency, accessibility, flexibility, and tangibles. The Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression method were used to analyze the data in SPSS software.

Results: The mean quality requirements and quality dimensions scores in the studied hospitals were, respectively, 3.75 and 3.61, both of which were at a higher than medium level. Moreover, the results of Pearson correlation coefficient suggested that the competitive, professional, and ethical components of quality requirement had a significant and direct association with quality dimensions. However, there was no significant association between the accountability component and quality dimensions variables. Furthermore, based on the results of multiple regression and the determination coefficient, it is possible to claim that approximately 13% of variance in quality dimensions depend upon the mean of components of quality requirements.

Conclusions: It can be concluded that work commitment, attention to work, respect for ethical principles, and fair competition at the work place between physicians and nurses lead to the provision of safe and high quality services in hospitals.

Background: Emergency operators are responsible for determining the nature of callers' problems, responding to them, and dispatching an appropriate rescue team. In addition, they provide instructions on cardiopulmonary resuscitation, bleeding control, airway management, and other life-saving procedures. Emergency operators are often faced with difficult situations. This study aims to highlight novel aspects of emergency operators' professional life and to achieve a deep understanding of their experiences of difficult conditions as well as the way they manage them.
Materials and Methods: This qualitative study was carried out using a phenomenological method. Purposeful sampling was used to select 12 individuals of 1-1-5 emergency operators in Kerman in 2019. Data were collected using in-depth and semi-structured interviews.
Results: The participants were 8 males and 4 females who had been working as a dispatcher for 3-17 years. As many as 13 subthemes were elicited and categorized into 3 themes. The main themes were uncertain conditions, caller communication problems, and organizational constraints. Coping skills and communication skills were found out to be effective in managing such problems.
Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, 1-1-5 emergency operators in Kerman, with the responsibility of saving patient life, try to solve problems in the best way. Governmental officials are expected to provide service trainings to increase operators' theoretical and practical knowledge and to harness their communication skills so as to provide more efficient services to patients.

Background: Occupational accidents cause death and disabilities among millions of workers around the world. The mining industry is among the riskiest occupations in this respect. This study aims to investigate interventions made and challenges faced by the health system in response to the Zemestan-Yurt Mine explosion in the Golestan Province, Iran, 2017.
Materials and Methods: In this article, being a field report, data were collected through direct observations and interviews with first responders involved in the response process, and by checking national and local reports from other organizations.
Result: On Wednesday, May 4, 2017, at 11:58 AM, an explosion occurred in the Yurt coal mine, Golestan Province, in which 126 people were affected directly or indirectly. In fact, 43 workers were killed immediately after the explosion of a coal wagon, 55 were dispatched to hospitals, and 28 received outpatient health services. In this incident, more than 100 teams from various organizations, including the health system, arrived at the scene and carried out relief and rescue operations.
Conclusions: The results of the current study indicate that the health system does not have specific instructions, training plans, as well as well-trained and prepared personnel for managing mine-related accidents. Besides, interactions are not integrated and coordinated among disaster management response teams. Therefore, developing preparedness instructions for responding to disasters, forming rapid response teams and training them for industrial accidents, as well as performing joint exercises and drills with responsible organizations can be effective in improving responses to such accidents.