Middle East Nurses Turnover Intention and its Correlates Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review.

Global nursing scarcity was more evident during COVID-19. This study investigated the rates and contributing factors of turnover intention in the middle east through meta-analysis. Medline EMCARE, Cochrane, CINAHL, EMBASE, Ovid, Psych Info, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Web of Science databases searched, Protocol PROSPERO Registration Number was CRD42022337686. The turnover intention rate was 42.3% [CI: 40%, 44.6%]. Working environment, stress, deployment to COVID, fear of infection, long working hours, shift duties, and lack of social support were the major contributing factors.

Assessment of nurse's perceived just culture: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The non-punitive approach to error investigation in most safety culture surveys have been relatively low. Most of the current patient safety culture measurement tools also lack the ability to directly gauge concepts important to a just culture (i.e. perceptions of fairness and trust). The purpose of this study is to assess nurses' perceptions of the six just culture dimensions using the validated Just Culture Assessment Tool (JCAT). METHODS: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted between November and December 2020. Data from 212 staff nurses in a large referral hospital in Qatar were collected. A validated, self-reported survey called the JCAT was used to assess the perception of the just culture dimensions including feedback and communication, openness of communication, balance, quality of event reporting process, continuous improvement, and trust. RESULTS: The study revealed that the overall positive perception score of just culture was (75.44%). The strength areas of the just culture were "continuous improvement" dimension (88.44%), "quality of events reporting process" (86.04%), followed by "feedback and communication" (80.19%), and "openness of communication" (77.55%) The dimensions such as "trust" (68.30%) and "balance" (52.55%) had a lower positive perception rates. CONCLUSION: A strong and effective just culture is a cornerstone of any organization, particularly when it comes to ensuring safety. It places paramount importance on encouraging voluntary error reporting and establishing a robust feedback system to address safety-related events promptly. It also recognizes that errors present valuable opportunities for continuous improvement. Just culture is more than just a no-blame practice. By prioritizing accountability and responsibility among front-line workers, a just culture fosters a sense of ownership and a commitment to improve safety, rather than assigning blame.

Research Self-Efficacy and Research-Related Behavior Among Nurses in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Study.

AIM: Research self-efficacy helps predict the individual interest and confidence in conducting research. The study was conducted to identify the research self-efficacy among nurses working in a group of tertiary hospitals and their research-related behavior. METHOD: The study design was descriptive cross-sectional and conducted among nurses at Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar Convenient sampling was done and 500 is the sample size. Data were collected through an online survey during 2 months in 2019 by using a validated "Nursing Research Self-Efficacy Scale" questionnaire. The scale includes 38 items under five domains, and the response was collected on a Likert scale from 1 to 5. The authors of the scale suggested excellent reliability score for the subscales, ranging from .94 to .97 and the existence of subscales was supported by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS: A completed survey was collected from 780 nurses. The mean self-efficacy score was 2.92 ± 0.97. The mean score for the subscale of obtaining science-based knowledge resources was the highest (3.24 ± 1.03) and the lowest for critically read and evaluate qualitative research literature (2.63 ± 1.12). Nurses with higher educational qualifications and those who enrolled in any educational program further to their nursing education have statistically significantly high research self-efficacy. CONCLUSION: The overall research self-efficacy of working nurses is moderate. However, nurses' confidence in the ability to perform critiquing research and understand the concept and methodology in research is minimal. Introduction of nurse-tailored research training, which covers fundamental aspects of research to an advanced level, will help make them more confident in research.

Development and validation of the Nursing Journal Club Perception Scale (NJCPS).

BACKGROUND: The Journal Club is an excellent platform for participants to engage in the critical evaluation of articles and the extraction of evidence to support evidence-based nursing practices. The study aims to develop and validate a reliable instrument, the Nursing Journal club perception scale (NJCPS), for assessing the perceived educational value and the perception of virtual journal club experiences. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The current study is a scale development and validation study. The scale-level content validity indices (S-CVI) and item-level content validity indices (I-CVI) were assessed by eight experts. Eleven experts from various nursing fields evaluated the instrument regarding its relevance, clarity, meaningfulness, and completeness. Finally, the scale was introduced to 90 clinical nurses from two facilities to assess the internal consistency during the period of March- April 2022. RESULTS: The content validity of the scale S-CVI/average and S-CVI/UA was 0.97 and 0.86, respectively, which indicates adequate relevance of the questionnaire content. Principal component analysis indicated that the construct validity of the perceived educational value and the perception of the virtual journal club domain was 67.8% and 66.5%, respectively. In the two domains of the perception of educational value (supporting clinical practice and supporting research), Cronbach's Alpha was 0.93 and 0.91, respectively. Similarly, for the two domains of virtual JC (learning experience and benefits of virtual journal club)), Cronbach' Alpha was 0.95 and 0.74, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The NJCPS tool is a valid and reliable scale to measure the educational value and virtual journal club experience of the participants from various fields of healthcare.

Nurses' self-esteem, self-compassion and psychological resilience during COVID-19 pandemic.

AIM: This study aimed to identify self-esteem, self-compassion and psychological resilience among staff nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar. DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional survey design. METHODS: The study was conducted on January 2022 (during the third wave in Qatar). Anonymous data were collected through an online survey using Microsoft forms from 300 nurses in 14 health facilities in Qatar. Socio-demographic information, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form were used to collect the data. Correlation, t-test and ANOVA analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Participants expressed a high level of resilience, self-esteem and self-compassion. Resilience scores were positively and significantly correlated with self-esteem and self-compassion. The education level of nurses was a statistically significant contributing factor to self-esteem and resilience.

Leadership styles and transformational leadership skills among nurse leaders in Qatar, a cross-sectional study.

AIM: There is a continuing need to implement strategies that create opportunities to develop leadership in Qatar, and to build institutions that can produce effective health managers and leaders. The scarcity of information and studies relating to leadership in this major healthcare corporation must be addressed. This article aims to explore nursing leadership styles and transformational leadership skills among nursing leaders, in Qatar. The study was conducted from October 2020 to January 2021. DESIGN: A cross-sectional Study. METHODS: A validated survey was administered to explore the prevalence of leadership styles and transformational leadership skills. Subsequent statistical data analysis achieved the research objectives. The Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (Western Journal of Nursing Research, 1996) was used as an online de-identified validated questionnaire. RESULTS: Eighty-nine nurses completed the survey. The nurse leaders in this study exhibited leadership traits or qualities that confirm transformational leadership. Some nurse leaders also exhibited transactional and autocratic leadership styles. Directors of nursing exhibit higher levels of transformational leadership style than head nurses, while the latter is more likely to manifest an autocratic leadership style. This study indicates that a development roadmap is needed to transform more nursing leaders into transformational leaders, particularly head nurses, and to universally improve transformational leadership skills among all nursing staff members.

The improvement in research orientation among clinical nurses in Qatar: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The main barrier to engaging nurses in research is the lack of research knowledge and skills. AIM: To explore the influence of research workshops on the research orientation of nurses in a large referral hospital in Qatar. DISCUSSION: This article describes a cross-sectional study involving 564 nurses working in 14 health facilities who attended research workshops in Qatar. The authors collected data using the Edmonton Research Orientation Survey (EROS) as well as questions considering support and barriers to research. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise and determine the sample characteristics and distribution of participants. The participants who attended the workshop were found to have a higher orientation towards the EROS sub-scales of evidence-based practice, valuing of research, involvement in research, being at the leading edge of the profession and support for research, compared to those who did not attend the workshop. There was no statistical difference between the groups in the research barrier sub-scale. CONCLUSION: Despite significant improvements in their responses to the EROS research orientation sub-scales after attending the workshop, the nurses still reported many barriers to being actively engaged in research. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Healthcare organisations should assist with integrating evidence-based practice into healthcare. There is a need for research education for clinical nurses to bring evidence into clinical practice to improve the quality of patient outcomes. Increasing the research capacity of nurses will lead to their emancipation in addressing the flaws in clinical practice and motivate them to use evidence in patient care.

Psychometric evaluation of the acute care nurses' job satisfaction scale-revised.

AIM: The aim of this study was to validate a job satisfaction scale among acute care nurses in the context of Qatar. DESIGN: Cross-sectional correlational survey. METHODS: A convenience sampling technique was used to recruit 295 acute care nurses between June 2021-September 2021. Exploratory factor analysis followed by confirmatory factor analysis was used for item reduction and convergent and discriminant validity evaluation. Pearson's correlations were conducted to evaluate the concurrent and convergent validity of the revised scale. Reliability was tested using several internal consistency indicators. RESULTS: A revised scale was proposed, the Acute Care Nurses Job Satisfaction Scale-Revised (ACNJSS-R) scale; it is composed of 13 items loaded on five factors. The composite reliability and the maximal reliability were >.7 for all factors. The study provides empirical support for the validity and reliability of the ACNJSS-R scale.

The nurses perceived educational values and experience of journal club activities - A cross-sectional study in Qatar.

BACKGROUND: Journal club (JC) is widely used as an educational method to support nurses in up-to-date clinical practices, acquire critical appraisal skills, and promote evidence-based nursing practice. Traditionally, JC activities were conducted as face-to-face sessions. However, after the emergence of the pandemic, many educational activities including JC turn to the online platform. This study aims to assess the perceived educational value of JC and the experience of virtual journal club (VJC) among nurses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional research design was used to gather the information from the nurses using the Nursing journal club perception scale. A purposive sampling method was used to enroll 450 participants from the JC attendees of various facilities between May andAugust 2022. The data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Kruskal-Wallis test. RESULTS: The data from 450 participants were analyzed with a response rate of 40.1%. The majority of the participants were females (82.4%) and belonged to the 35-44 years' age group (39.6%). Mostly, the subjects were registered nurses or midwives (78%) and had more than 5 years of clinical experience (45.8%). The mean perceived educational value of JC and VJC was 62.9 ± 8.3 and 56.3 ± 8.9, respectively. The nurse educators are holding higher educational value of JC as compared to other participants including clinical nurses, charge nurses, head nurses, and director of nurses (P = 0.03). Additionally, 90% of participants strongly agreed that the nursing journal club helps them to disseminate and reinforce evidence-based practice, update their clinical knowledge, and was very informative. Furthermore, 80% of participants agreed that educational standards, social networking, and time allocation of the VJC are enhancing the chance of attending more sessions. CONCLUSION: The JC has a vital role in preparing nurses for promoting research culture and practicing evidence-based nursing care. The national health strategies are focused on improving research capabilities and enhancing research within the national context. The implementation of evidence-based practice in healthcare involves enhancing formal research opportunities, promoting continuing education in research, developing skills in addressing research gaps, and enhancing research-oriented cultures in healthcare facilities. The nursing leadership can play a key role to support the initiatives to develop and conduct nursing JC in their facilities to improve the nurse's research skills and evidence-based nursing practice.

Medication Adherence Rate in Arab Patients With Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the most common chronic illnesses in the Eastern Mediterranean. There have been few studies on medication adherence in Arab patients with CVD. AIM: To investigate the rates and the reasons for medication adherence in Arab patients with CVD. METHODOLOGY: The Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for prevalence systematic reviews was used. MEDLINE, EMCARE, CINAHL, Scopus, Science Direct, PsychINFO, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched. RESULTS: Thirteen quantitative studies on medication adherence in Arab adult CVD patients were included.Pooled data from nine studies demonstrated that 53.2% (95% confidence interval = [51.2%, 55.1%]) of patients were adherent to their medications. Reasons for nonadherence to medication include personal factors, understanding, and complexity of treatment regimes, medication knowledge and structural barriers. CONCLUSION: Medication adherence appears to have a social gradient, and families should be actively involved in future strategies to increase medication adherence.

Prevalence of stress, depression, anxiety and sleep disturbance among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The new coronavirus disease's (COVID-19) high risk of infection can increase the workload of healthcare workers, especially nurses, as they are most of the healthcare workforce. These problems can lead to psychological problems. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis to ascertain the present impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression and sleep disturbance among nurses. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted. The following databases were searched: PubMed, CHINAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, MedRxiv and Google Scholar, from January 2020 up to 26th October 2020. Prevalence rates were pooled with meta-analysis using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was tested using I-squared (I2) statistics. RESULTS: A total of 93 studies (n = 93,112), published between January 2020 and September 2020, met the inclusion criteria. The overall prevalence of stress was assessed in 40 studies which accounted for 43% (95% CI 37-49). The pooled prevalence of anxiety was 37% (95% CI 32-41) in 73 studies. Depression was assessed in 62 studies, with a pooled prevalence of 35% (95% CI 31-39). Finally, 18 studies assessed sleep disturbance and the pooled prevalence was 43% (95% CI 36-50). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis found that approximately one third of nurses working during the COVID-19 epidemic were suffering from psychological symptoms. This highlights the importance of providing comprehensive support strategies to reduce the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak among nurses under pandemic conditions. Further longitudinal study is needed to distinguish of psychological symptoms during and after the infectious disease outbreaks.

Nurse-led theory-based educational intervention improves glycemic and metabolic parameters in South Asian patients with type II diabetes: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: This study assessed whether a structured nurse-led diabetes educational program underpinned by the theories of the health belief model, change in locus of control, and patient empowerment is effective in improving glycemic and metabolic parameters among South Asians with type II diabetes compared to regular outpatient care. METHODS: This was a parallel-group randomized trial in South Asian adult patients with type II diabetes living in Qatar. 460 subjects were randomized to a nurse-led, group-based diabetes educational program (n = 230) or to usual care (n = 230). The primary outcome was the improvement in HbA1c and other metabolic parameters, including lipid profile, albumin/creatinine ratio, blood pressure, and body mass index. Patients in the intervention group were invited to attend four 2-h sessions of self-efficacy improvement education once weekly. Outcomes were assessed at baseline and 12 months later. An intention-to-treat analysis was performed using repeated measures ANOVA (analysis of variance) for each of the clinical outcome variables. RESULTS: After 12 months, 290 patients completed the study. Subjects in the intervention group had statistically significant improvements in HbA1c (-0.55 %, p = 0.012), fasting blood sugar (-16.6 mg/dl, p = 0.022), albumin/creatinine ratio (-3.09, p < 0.001), and HDL cholesterol (+6.08 mg/dl, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The inclusion of South Asian patients with type II diabetes in a structured, theory-based diabetes educational program that is led by nurses improves glycemic and metabolic parameters after 12 months.

The efficacy and safety of natural honey on the healing of foot ulcers: a case series.

UNLABELLED: This clinical observation investigated the efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and acceptability of natural honey on the healing of a variety of chronic foot ulcers at the primary care level. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 12 patients with foot ulcers utilizing natural honey as an effective alternative to more expensive, advanced wound products were followed. Cases were referred to Umgwailinah Primary Health Care Center, Doha, Qatar from different health centers and from Hamad General Hospital, Doha, Qatar. There were also self-referred cases. After rinsing the site with normal saline, natural honey was applied and the wound was covered by glycerin-impregnated gauze (Adaptic Non-Adhering Dressing, Systagenix, San Antonio, TX) to prevent the absorption of honey into the cotton gauze and away from the wound site. Patients were followed on a daily basis for an average of 4 weeks. RESULTS: All ulcers healed with no contractures or scars with a mean healing time of 3 weeks. There was a 75% reduction in the dressing budget of the health center and a high level of satisfaction among both health professionals and patients. Patients' pain levels were reduced significantly after using natural honey, as evidenced by the use of the Visual Analog Scale. CONCLUSION: The use of natural honey in the management of chronic foot ulcers proved to be efficacious, cost-effective, and acceptable by both clinicians and patients.

Culturally sensitive patient-centred educational programme for self-management of type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of a culturally sensitive, structured education programme (CSSEP) on biomedical, knowledge, attitude and practice measures among Arabs with type two diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGNS AND METHODS: A total of 430 patients with type II diabetes mellitus living in Doha, Qatar were enrolled in the study. They were randomized to either intervention (n = 215) or a control group (n = 215). A baseline and one-year interval levels of biomedical variables including HbA1C, lipid profile, urine for microalbuminuria; in addition to knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) scores were prospectively measured. The intervention was based on theory of empowerment, health belief models and was culturally sensitive in relation to language (Arabic), food habits and health beliefs. It consisted of four educational sessions for each group of patients (10-20 patients per session), lasting for 3-4 h. The first session discussed diabetes pathophysiology and complications; while the second session discussed healthy life style incorporating the Idaho plate method; and the third session dealt with exercise benefits and goal setting and the fourth session concentrated enhancing attitude and practice using counselling techniques. Outcomes were assessed at base line and 12 months after intervention. RESULTS: After 12 months participation in the intervention was shown to have led to a statistically significant reduction in HbA1C in the (CSSEP) group (-0.55 mmol/L, P = 0.012), fasting blood sugar (-0.92 mmol/L, P = 0.022), body mass index (1.70, P = 0.001) and albumin/creatinine ratio (-3.09, P < 0.0001) but not in the control group. The intervention group also had improvement in Diabetes knowledge (5.9%, P < 0.0001), attitude (6.56%, P < 0.0001), and practice (6.52%, P = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the effectiveness of culturally sensitive, structured, group-based diabetes education in enhancing biomedical and behavioural outcomes in Diabetic patients.