Political Efficacy and Health Policy Advocacy among nurses as mediated by Political Astuteness

INTRODUCTION@#Nurses' expertise and recommendations from nurses are essential sources of opinions and recommendations for policy development. Nurses must be actively involved in politics, and nursing could play an essential role in shaping health policy. However, the influence of political efficacy, political astuteness, and health policy advocacy exposes a gap in the current knowledge.@*DESIGN AND METHODS@#The study utilized descriptive correlational design and mediating analysis. Purposive sampling was used to select six hospitals in Ghana, and simple random sampling was used to select five hundred and seventy-nine nurses. The study used the Political Efficacy Scale, Social Justice Advocacy Scale, and the Political Astuteness Inventory. The data were analyzed by mean and Standard deviation, Pearson coefficient, ANOVA, and GLS mediation.@*RESULTS@#Nurses in Ghana had a low political efficacy and health policy advocacy. Moreover, political astuteness had moderate astuteness. A Pearson Correlation coefficient showed a moderately significant positive relationship between political efficacy and health policy advocacy. Furthermore, political astuteness and health policy advocacy showed a statistically significant low positive relationship. There was no significant difference in political efficacy and health policy advocacy when age, academic qualification, nurses' rank, and years of professional experience were considered. Political astuteness partially mediated the relationship between political efficacy and health policy advocacy.@*CONCLUSION@#Nurses in Ghana have limited belief in their ability to understand and affect politics and have limited participation in healthcare advocacy initiatives. Furthermore, nurse respondents have the adequate ability of a nurse to understand political knowledge, political participation, and legislative understanding to advocate health policies.

Compassion fatigue among nurses assigned to COVID-19 facilities: A constructivist grounded theory

Background@#The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic significantly disrupted regular health care services, mainly in the hospitals. Nurses soldiering on the battlefront of care of disaster response in the Philippines during the disease outbreak are at high risk of developing rapid-onset compassion fatigue. Notably, research is still needed to investigate the impact of compassion fatigue on various clinical areas and further develop a theory of compassion fatigue within the nursing context. @*Objectives@#The study explored the concept of compassion as experienced by nurses directly caring for COVID-19 patients. The study further explored the experiences of nurses on compassion fatigue. @*Methods@#This study employed qualitative methodology, specifically the constructivist grounded theory. @*Results@#Thirty-four participants were included in the study. The narratives and voices of the nurses unfolded the following themes: (1) Acts of Compassion, (2) COVID-19 Pandemic: Nursing Challenges and Detours, (3) Nurses’ Compassion Fatigue, (4) Narratives of Opportunities: Thriving at the outset of COVID-19. All four concepts are linked to the multidimensional concept of compassion fatigue. A substantive theory, “Remon’s CF Theory in Nursing," is proposed based on the grounded experiences of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients related to compassion fatigue. @*Conclusion@#Compassion Fatigue (CF) is a psycho-social phenomenon and occupational hazard affecting nurses directly caring for or in contact with COVID-19 patients. CF is a process that develops over time brought by prolonged enactment of compassion, the experience of empathic distress, and concurrence of organizational, contextual, and psychosocial factors. Nurses' CF can potentially affect safety and lead to poor nursing care, compromised work relations, and burnout. Nurse leaders' organizational and leadership commitment and support through up-to-date policies and continuous research on the topic are necessary to regain compassion among nurses. Likewise, reframing nurse compassion fatigue as an organizational and collective problem provides the larger perspective to further improve clinical practice and nurses’ welfare. @*Recommendations@#Nurse leaders, hospital and COVID-19 facility administrators must ensure specific policies and priorities that address issues causing and fueling nurse compassion fatigue, including frequency of exposure to traumatic events, lack of resources, and inadequate support system. The study further suggests conducting quantitative research to test the proposed theory and explore the relationship between organizational, psychosocial, and environmental context, compassion fatigue, and compassion-driven factors.

Compassion fatigue among nurses assigned to COVID-19 facilities: A constructivist grounded theory

Background@#The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic significantly disrupted regular health care services, mainly in the hospitals. Nurses soldiering on the battlefront of care of disaster response in the Philippines during the disease outbreak are at high risk of developing rapid-onset compassion fatigue. Notably, research is still needed to investigate the impact of compassion fatigue on various clinical areas and further develop a theory of compassion fatigue within the nursing context. @*Objectives@#The study explored the concept of compassion as experienced by nurses directly caring for COVID-19 patients. The study further explored the experiences of nurses on compassion fatigue. @*Methods@#This study employed qualitative methodology, specifically the constructivist grounded theory. @*Results@#Thirty-four participants were included in the study. The narratives and voices of the nurses unfolded the following themes: (1) Acts of Compassion, (2) COVID-19 Pandemic: Nursing Challenges and Detours, (3) Nurses’ Compassion Fatigue, (4) Narratives of Opportunities: Thriving at the outset of COVID-19. All four concepts are linked to the multidimensional concept of compassion fatigue. A substantive theory, “Remon’s CF Theory in Nursing," is proposed based on the grounded experiences of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients related to compassion fatigue. @*Conclusion@#Compassion Fatigue (CF) is a psycho-social phenomenon and occupational hazard affecting nurses directly caring for or in contact with COVID-19 patients. CF is a process that develops over time brought by prolonged enactment of compassion, the experience of empathic distress, and concurrence of organizational, contextual, and psychosocial factors. Nurses' CF can potentially affect safety and lead to poor nursing care, compromised work relations, and burnout. Nurse leaders' organizational and leadership commitment and support through up-to-date policies and continuous research on the topic are necessary to regain compassion among nurses. Likewise, reframing nurse compassion fatigue as an organizational and collective problem provides the larger perspective to further improve clinical practice and nurses’ welfare. @*Recommendations@#Nurse leaders, hospital and COVID-19 facility administrators must ensure specific policies and priorities that address issues causing and fueling nurse compassion fatigue, including frequency of exposure to traumatic events, lack of resources, and inadequate support system. The study further suggests conducting quantitative research to test the proposed theory and explore the relationship between organizational, psychosocial, and environmental context, compassion fatigue, and compassion-driven factors.