Spiritual well-being of Filipino patients with cancer

@#Cancer is a serious disease that leads to physical, psychosocial, and spiritual difficulties. Filipinos' high reverence to God can affect their health-related behaviors and responses to illnesses like cancer. Though studies have shown the association of spirituality and quality of life, very few have been conducted in Filipino cancer patients. This study aimed to describe their spiritual well-being in terms of the personal, communal, environmental, and transcendental domains; and compare spiritual well-being across different patient characteristics (i.e. type of cancer, stage of cancer, type of treatment, and the period since first symptoms are felt) as input to determining patients at risk for spiritual distress. A descriptive cross-sectional design was utilized with 87 conveniently sampled respondents. A researcher-developed questionnaire and the Spiritual Health and Well-being Measure© (SHALOM) instrument were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Kruskal Wallis H Test. Majority of the respondents were below 50 years old, female, married or with a common-law partner, had at least a high school education, unemployed, did not have enough income to support basic needs, Catholic, and an active member in the church. Most of them had colorectal cancer, were in Stage III, first felt symptoms 6 months to 1 year prior to the conduct of the study, and received a combination of treatments. In terms of personal state, the patients had the highest spiritual well-being in the Transcendental Domain which describes one’s relationship with God. The second-highest spiritual well-being level was found to be the communal domain followed by personal, and environmental domains. Significant differences were found in the spiritual well-being scores in the 4 domains across the types of cancer, with the lowest scores among those with head and neck cancer. Filipino patients in the study had high spiritual well-being despite the presence of cancer. Patient characteristics, especially their illness profile, should be considered in developing nursing interventions that may improve their spiritual well-being.

Nursing workforce in the Philippines: Data and issues

@#<p style="text-align: justify;">This study was conducted to: (1) determine the profile of nurses in various work settings based on available databases; (2) describe the current nursing education and programs in the Philippines; and (3) identify national key issues affecting the nursing workforce. The study utilized descriptive, cross-sectional research design; and employed institutional survey, Delphi survey, and round table discussions. Results showed that the Department of Health has the current number of nurses working in hospitals and communities in the different regions, including information on age and sex distribution, employment characteristics, and type of hospital affiliations. The Professional Regulations Commission Board of Nursing has the results of the national licensure examinations. Commission on Higher Education has information on BSN curriculum and schools. Priority key issues identified are: (1) nursing leadership and nursing role clarity, (2) workplace safety and violence, and (3) shortage of nurses, (4) unjust compensation, and (5) skills mix and geographic maldistribution. PNA is thought to have a big role in helping address these key issues. </p>

Blood pressure measurement training program and adherence of public health nurses to BP measurement guidelines

@#<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>OBJECTIVE:</strong> To compare the level of adherence of public health nurses to BP measurement guidelines based on their knowledge of the guidelines and skills in BP measurement before and after Blood Pressure Measurement Training Program (BPMTP).</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>METHODS:</strong> An experimental pre- and post-test design using twostaged cluster randomization was conducted. 118 PHNs (mean age ± 38.45 years, mean years of experience ± 13.45 years; 84.1% women) from six districts in Manila were equally assigned to either the BPMTP group or control group. Structured instruments were used.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>RESULTS:</strong> Demographic characteristics, current BP measurement practices, and level of adherence to BP measurement guidelines based on knowledge of the guidelines and skills in BP measurement were equivalent in both groups at baseline.Nurses in the BPMTP group showed improved adherence (p=<0.05) compared to nurses in the control group. Both groups did not show significant change in their skill on recording, interpretation, and referral (p=1.000).</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CONCLUSION:</strong> This study showed that Blood Pressure Measurement Training Package is feasible in improving adherence of nurses based on their increased knowledge of the BP measurement guidelines and skills in BP measurement. A larger-scale study is warranted to show that BPMTP can potentially improve clinical management of hypertension in public health clinics globally.</p>

Work environment of nurses in the Philippines: A preliminary study

@#<p style="text-align: justify;">Work environment has been described as an important factor in the job satisfaction of nurses and their quality of service provided. However, little is known of the present work environment of Filipino nurses in the country. This study used a cross-sectional design to describe work environment variables affecting Filipino nurses; determine the degree of nurses' job satisfaction;, and determine their intention to remain in their present work environment. A self-administered survey was developed by the study team and was distributed during the PNA national conference   through the Chapter Presidents. This   study discovered   that the lowest positive responses were in the Physiologic  and  Safety  Needs  but  despite  this  result,  nurses  reported  high  job satisfaction and intend to remain in their present work environment.</p>