Background & objectives: Confrontation with the phenomenon of patient death is an inevitable part of work in therapeutic professions, especially for nursing staff. In many cases, the nurse is the only person at the time of patient death and the attitude toward death is an important factor that may affect the behaviors of health care professionals. This study aimed to evaluate the attitudes of nurses in hospitals affiliated to Social Security Organization in the Province of Golestan towards patient death.Methods: In this cross-sectional and descriptive study, 106 nurses working in the hospitals of social security organization in Golestan province were selected to participate in the study through the consensus sampling method. Demographic caracteristic form and the revised standard scale of attitude toward death (DAP-R) were used for data gathering. Descriptive (frequency, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (t student, ANOVA, Tukey& Shefeh test, Pearson) were used to analyze data in SPSS v.16.Results: The results showed the mean and standard deviation of attitudes towards death was above the standard average (150.23±14.48). Multivariate regression analysis showed a significant correlation between attitudes toward death and work experience of nurses (p<0.007). So, with each year of work experience, negative attitude towards death was decreased by 5 times. Also there was significant correlation between attitude to death and education (p<0.003). The nurses who had passed courses or workshops about care of deceased patients had better attitudes.Conclusion: This study showed that nurses almost had a positive attitude towards death. They spend longtime and closer relationship with patients and their families or relatives.Positive perspective of nurses regarding death care can be effective in supporting of patients and their family members.

Death is a pervasive phenomenon and one of the main concerns and anxieties for all human beings. Besides, thoughts and concerns about death are constructed in a social context and religious traditions are one of the main sources for answering the question of death and overcoming unpleasant experiences associated with it. Additionally, with the growth of non-religious sensemaking systems in the modern world, this question is brought up that how people in non-religious sensemaking systems encounter with the problems of death and obsessions related to it. This article studies the attitudes of students toward death according to their religiosity status. Research data were collected through purposive and theoretical sampling and also through open-end and in-depth interview. For analyzing obtained information grounded theory is used. The results of study are formed in eight categories. “Death attitude engrossed to life” is brought up central category and students’ attitude towards death have been compared in two attitudes, religious and secular.

Objectives: Depending on different circumstances, religious variables may reduce or stimulate pathological attitudes towards death. The present study was carried out with the aim of investigating the relationships between death obsession, religious coping, acting on religious beliefs and attachment to God.Method: In a correlational study, a sample of 300 participants was selected using stratified sampling method. Participants responded to Death Obsession, Acting on Religious Beliefs, Religious coping, and Attachment to God Scales. Data were analyzed using stepwise multiple regression analysis. Results: Among religious variables, insecure attachment to God and negative religious coping had greater contribution in predicting death obsession.Conclusion: Those whose beliefs about God are a source of punishment rather than love, and those who are doubtful and anxious in accepting God as a secure base may experience more death obsession.

Improving teaching and assessment practice requires a change in the attitudes of both teachers and learners towards the new trends introduced in the field of testing. The reason for this is that no educational change can be effectively and efficiently implemented unless teachers are not only convinced but also willing to implement the new achievements. The present study aims to investigate one aspect of teacher attitudes toward self-assessment in which learners take the responsibility of assessing their own language performance. A qualitative research was launched by -using an attitude questionnaire. Thirty-two staff members and part time language teachers from different departments of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures took part in this study and answered the questionnaire. The results of this study confirmed the directional hypothesis assumed by the researcher that Iranian language teachers at the University of Tehran hold a negative attitude towards alternative assessment in general and self-assessment in particular. It was observed that years of experience also created a kind of fixation on the traditional methods of teaching as well as assessment these teachers used in their classes. It was also shown that unfamiliarity with the new trends in language assessment was generally shared by experienced ones while the novice teachers enjoyed the advantage of familiarity with them. This familiarity did not eventually lead to the use of the new methods due to the existence of several factors. The main one is the resistance these teachers usually hold about change in general. Another reason for the teachers' negative attitude towards the use of self-assessment can be that teachers believe that by using self-assessment they are relinquishing the power and authority in class to the learners.