Enhancing nurses' involvement in policy making: A qualitative study of nurse leaders.

BACKGROUND: Nurses can play a valuable role in not only the implementation but development of general and health policies. However, evidence indicates limited involvement of nurses in politics and general health policy making owing to individual, interpersonal, and systematic barriers. INTRODUCTION: Strategies are required to increase nurses' participation and engagement in policymaking. However, no studies explored the perspective of nurse leaders in policy making roles and how to improve nurses' involvement in policy making. PURPOSE: To explore strategies to enhance nurses' involvement in policy making from the perspective of nurse leaders. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted. Semistructured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 11 nurse leaders with at least one year of experience in policy making. Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. The COREQ guidelines were followed for reporting. FINDINGS: Five themes were generated: strategically revisit and implement educational approaches, becoming transformative leaders, improving social image of nurses, developing triadic partnerships, and empowering nurses through reflective and supportive mechanisms. DISCUSSION: Nurses' involvement in policymaking can be enhanced by implementing grassroots-level educational strategies, managerial-level empowerment efforts, and social mechanisms focused on improving the social image of nursing. CONCLUSIONS: Self and professional role empowerment through education, increasing awareness, and improving the social image of nursing can boost nurses' involvement in policymaking. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING POLICY: Nurse leaders, national and global nursing associations, and nursing regulatory bodies should collaborate with associations of nursing colleges to design nurse policymaking competencies framework and contextually tailored strategies to enhance nurses' engagement in policymaking.

Incidence of Encephalitis in the Intensive Care Unit, a Tertiary Care Hospital, Pakistan: A 5-Year Retrospective Study.

OBJECTIVE: Encephalitis is a disease that has a major impact on health systems worldwide in terms of mortality, morbidity and costs. Furthermore, it is a challenging disease for the treating physician, as the patient presentation varies, and not all patients present with typical complaints. In addition, if left untreated or if there is a delay in the treatment, the mortality rate due to encephalitis can increase. The incidence of encephalitis in Pakistan is scarce in the literature because, in most of cases, the specific cause is not evaluated due to lack of resources and also because the majority of cases are not reported. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and outcomes of encephalitis in patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital intensive care unit in Pakistan. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted in the intensive care unit of the Aziz Fatimah Medical College and Hospital, Faisalabad. After obtaining the ethical approval, a total of 75 patients were found in the medical records with a confirmed diagnosis of encephalitis out of total 3,921 patients admitted to the intensive care unit in the 5-year period from 1st January 2013 to 31st December 2018. RESULTS: The most common clinical presentation were seizures (64%) followed by headache (53%), irritability (29.3%) and hemiparesis (26.7%). Among all patients, 44 needed invasive ventilation, and 7 required non-invasive ventilation. In addition, the outcomes were variable. CONCLUSION: The incidence of encephalitis was 1.9% in the 5-year period, and the mortality rate was 37.3%. Also, 6.7% patients improved without any complications.