Jordanian Nurses' Perceived Disaster Preparedness: Factors Influencing Successful Planning.

Background: Current disaster knowledge, skills, and preparedness levels need to be evaluated to guide plans to strengthen disaster readiness. Objective: This study aimed to explore the Jordanian staff nurses' perception regarding their familiarity, attitudes, and practices for disaster preparedness (DP) to reduce the negative impacts of disasters. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive study. The study was conducted on nurses working at governmental and private hospitals in Jordan. A convenience sample of 240 currently working nurses was recruited to participate in the study. Results: The nurses were somewhat familiar with their role in DP (2.9 ± .84). The nurses' overall attitude towards DP was 2.2 ± 0.38, indicating that respondents had medium attitude levels. A low practice level for DP (1.59 ± 0.45) was also observed. Among the studied demographic variables, there was a significant relationship between experience and prior training with improved familiarity and practices. This indicates a need for strengthening nurses' practical skills as well as their theoretical knowledge. However, there is only a significant difference between attitude scale scores and disaster preparedness training (f = 10.120; p=0.002). Conclusions: The study findings support the need for more training (academic and/or institutional) to increase and improve nursing disaster preparedness locally and globally.

Association of parental history of type 2 diabetes mellitus with leptin levels in Jordanian male youths.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between high level serum leptin in male youths in relation to parental history of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and body mass index (BMI). METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out at the Department of Medical Technology, Applied Science University, Amman, Jordan during the period from January to April 2009. One hundred and sixteen Jordanian male nursing students aged 18-24 years were divided into 4 groups according to parental history of T2DM and BMI. Fasting blood samples were measured for blood glucose, lipid profile, and serum leptin. RESULTS: Serum leptin levels in overweight and obese male youth diabetic patients with parental history of T2DM were significantly higher than in those overweight and obese without parental history (p<0.001). Of the 116 subjects, 83 (71.6%) had a positive parental history of T2DM. Compared with other groups, significant (p<0.001) elevation was observed in the mean cholesterol and triglyceride levels of obese T2DM. No significant differences were detected in high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and blood glucose levels among all study groups. CONCLUSION: High levels of leptin in overweight and obese Jordanian male youths were more likely associated with a positive parental family history of T2DM than BMI factor.