Association between quality of sleep and screen time during the COVID-19 outbreak among adolescents in the United Arab Emirates.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on people of all ages. Adolescents' exposure to online learning is linked to excessive screen time on digital devices, which leads to poor sleep quality. This study aimed to investigate the association between screen time on different electronic devices and sleep quality among adolescents in the United Arab Emirates. This study was based on a self-reported questionnaire, which was administered online to school-aged adolescents (aged 12-19 years). The multicomponent questionnaire collected information on sociodemographic characteristics, sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and screen time (minutes) on TV, TV-connected devices, laptops, smartphones, and tablets on weekdays, weeknight, and weekends using the Screen Time Questionnaire (STQ). Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify factors correlated with poor sleep quality. A total of 1720 adolescents were recruited from private and public schools (mean age 14.6 ± 1.97 years). The mean PSQI score was 8.09 ± 3.37, and 74.3% of participants reported poor sleep (cutoff score >5). Mean scores were highest for the sleep latency (1.85 ± 0.97) and sleep disturbance (1.56 ± 0.62) domains. The highest STQ score was observed for smartphones, with a median screen time of 420 min on weekdays and 300 min on weekends. Screen time related to smartphones on weekends (p = 0.003) and increased screen time in bed (p < 0.001) were significantly associated with poor sleep. Our results confirmed the correlation between sleep and screen time in adolescents. The results may inform educational polices that target screen time and sleep among adolescents during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Managing during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study of health care workers' perceived organizational support and its consequences on their compassion, resilience and turnover intention.

AIM: The aim of this study is to evaluate health care professionals' perceived organizational support and its effect on their compassion, resilience and turnover intention in the United Arab Emirates. BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic exerted unprecedented pressure on health care systems, professionals and management systems. Health care organizations begin to explore their roles and function in relation to risks and resilience, in addition to ascertain what level of organization support they are providing to their workers. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a questionnaire administered to 538 health care workers, to examine their personal resources and organizational support during the pandemic. RESULTS: A total of 37.7% of nurses were found to have a moderate level of resilience, logistic regression showed that being married is a protective factor against resigning from the profession (OR = 0.462, P = .012, 95% CI: 0.254-0.842), and health care workers who perceived higher organizational support were approximately 50% less likely to have a turnover intention (OR = 0.506, P = .009, 95% CI: 0.303-0.845). Multiple linear regression model indicated significantly higher resilience among physicians (ß = 0.12, P < .05) and allied health care practitioners (ß = 0.12, P = .022). Organizational support had a significant positive relationship with resilience scores (ß = 0.20, P < .001); adequate training was significantly related to higher compassion levels (ß = 0.11, P < .05) and high organizational support scores were associated with increased compassion scores (ß = 0.27, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Front-line health care workers reported moderate organizational support during the pandemic, commensurately reflected in moderate levels of personal resilience and self-compassion. Continued and better support is vital for employee sustainability and the increased health system performance, including quality of care and patient outcomes. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nurse managers should help health care workers improve self-care strategies by strengthening personal resources, including shortened duty hours, offering adequate break time, providing a safe work climate and purveying adequate personal protective equipment and supplies to combat infections. They should build an empathetic work environment through understanding the needs of staff, helping tackle their work stress and sustaining cultures of compassion through promoting rewarding and flexibility strategies. Moreover, policymakers and nurse mangers should create a rewarding culture for nurses and other health care workers to increase their commitment to their jobs.

Posttraumatic stress disorders and influencing factors during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study of frontline nurses.

AIMS: To assess the extent of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and severity, factors motivating work continuation, and factors influencing PTSD development among frontline nurses caring for patients with COVID-19. BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has an emotional toll on nurses. Exposure to traumatic events associated with the pandemic places frontline nurses at risk for developing PTSD. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Frontline nurses (n = 370) who cared for COVID-19 patients in three governmental hospitals in the United Arab Emirates were recruited from November 2020 to January 2021. The self-reported Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) was used to assess PTSD. The motivational factors for work continuation explored were: work-related factors (e.g., availability of personal protective equipment and management recognition), family support, and obligation to care. We used correlation and multiple regression analyses to investigate factors that influenced PDS score, including sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., gender, age, exercising status, and general health status), work factors (e.g., hospital type [COVID vs non-COVID], prior work experience, and encountering deaths), and factors motivating work continuation. The reporting of this study was consistent with STROBE guidelines. RESULTS: In total, 36.2% participants had a probable PTSD diagnosis (PDS score ≥28) with most reporting unwanted memories. Family support (95.9%) and management recognition (90.8%) were the most frequently reported motivating factors. Factors significantly associated with higher PDS score were smoking, lack of management recognition, not exercising, and encountering COVID-19 deaths; the correlation and regression coefficients (b) were significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING/HEALTH POLICY: Policy makers must expand healthcare policies to address frontline nurses' mental health as a priority during the pandemic. Nurse leaders must be involved in health policy development to protect nurses in anticipation of and during global health emergencies.

Self-Report Assessment of Nurses' Risk for Infection After Exposure to Patients With Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in the United Arab Emirates.

PURPOSE: Nurses have an increased risk for acquiring COVID-19 infection. This study assessed levels of risk for exposure to COVID-19 among nurses, and determined those at the greatest risk. DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was used to assess risk for exposure to COVID-19 in nurses from five randomly selected governmental hospitals in the United Arab Emirates. Participants completed an online survey (including the World Health Organization survey) to assess their risk for exposure to COVID-19. Descriptive statistics were used to describe classes of risk for exposure, and logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with greater risk. FINDINGS: Of the 552 participants, 284 nurses (51.4%) were classified at high risk for COVID-19 exposure as they did not report adherence to infection control and prevention (ICP) guidelines at all times during healthcare interactions and when performing aerosol procedures, or had accidental exposure to biological fluid and respiratory secretions. Compared with adherence to wearing medical masks, gloves, and hand hygiene practices, adherence to wearing face shields or goggles and disposable gowns and decontaminating high-touch surfaces was less frequent. Shifting to work in critical care units, not having adequate critical care experience, and reporting a need for training in ICP practices were factors that contributed to high-risk exposure (p values for Ex (Bs) = 2.60, 2.16, 1.75, ≤ 0.05, consecutively). CONCLUSIONS: A considerable number of nurses were classified at high risk for COVID-19 exposure. Critical care work experience and adequate evidence-based training in ICP practices related to COVID-19 must be considered to mitigate the risk for exposure to COVID-19 in nurses. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study provided a strong message regarding protecting nurses at high risk for exposure to COVID-19. Clinical leaders must stay vigilant to ensure nurses' adherence to ICP practices in the context of COVID-19, and to proactively address any related deficits.