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Background & Aim: Concerns over limited equipment and resources particularly in the intensive care units have raised the issues of medical futility, futile treatment, and futile care. Considering that there is no consensus in the definition of the concept of futile care, this study aimed to explore the concept of futile care, especially in terms of clarifying it with the concept of futile treatment.
Methods & Materials: This is a qualitative study conducted using the conventional content analysis approach. In this study, 22 nurses, eight medical specialists, four medical ethics specialists, and one sharia specialist, were purposively recruited with the consideration of maximum variation. Data were collected using individual, in-depth, semi-structured interviews.
Results: The main theme of the study was “care is never futile: care as goal”. This theme is consisted of four main categories including: 1. care as an indispensable service; 2. care as an ongoing process focused on human existence; 3. care as a sacred and essential process in Islam; 4. the necessity for differentiating between care and cure: futile treatment instead of futile care.
Conclusion: Although, in some cases, and depending on the circumstances, medical interventions may be futile, care is never futile. According to the findings of this study, the terms medical futility and futile care cannot be used interchangeably because interchangeable use of these terms can devalue the nature of care. Thus, it is necessary to use the term of “futile treatment” instead of “futile care”.
 

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Background & Aim: Pre-hospital emergency staff, as the first responder group at the scene of emergencies and disasters, should be able to cope with, and maintain their physical and mental health. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between resilience and self-efficacy of pre-hospital emergency staff with their professional quality of life.
Methods & Materials: The present study is a cross-sectional, descriptive study that was conducted in 2019. A total of 200 pre-hospital emergency operational staff from Alborz province participated in the study using proportional and convenience sampling. Data collection tools were a demographic form and three standardized questionnaires including the emergency medical services resilience scale, the Schwartz and Jerusalem self-efficacy scale, and the Stamm professional quality of life scale. Data were analyzed through the SPSS software version 20 using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and analytical statistics (Spearman correlation, one-way ANOVA and linear regression) at the significance level of P less than 0.05.
Results: The mean and standard deviation of self-efficacy (29.67±5.82), resilience (123.14±17.07), compassion satisfaction (39.81±8.09), burnout (12.06±4.76), and secondary traumatic stress (23.61±7.27). There was a significant correlation between self-efficacy and three components of professional quality of life (P<0.05). Self-efficacy was positively related to compassion satisfaction and negatively related to burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Self-efficacy and resilience were also predictors of compassion satisfaction and burnout (P<0.05). The effect of self-efficacy and resilience on compassion satisfaction was positive. The results of stepwise multiple linear regression analysis showed that five components of resilience including self-management, stress outcomes, communication challenges, maintaining peace of mind and job motivation had an effect on compassion satisfaction (P<0.05). The effect of all resilience components on compassion satisfaction was positive.
Conclusion: Alborz pre-hospital emergency operational staff were at an acceptable level in terms of resilience, self-efficacy and professional quality of life.