The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Clinical Practicum of Undergraduate Nursing and Midwifery Students in Jordan: A Descriptive Survey.

Introduction: The effects of COVID-19 lockdowns and the discontinued face-to-face clinical practicum had negative consequences on nursing and midwifery students at many levels. The clinical learning environment includes all the training and learning experiences that nursing students undergo during their clinical practicum. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on the nursing and midwifery students' practicum training in governmental and private universities and academic faculties of nursing in Jordan. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study of 1025 nursing and midwifery students from academic faculties of nursing of both governmental and private Jordanian universities was conducted in September 2021. The research group from two Jordanian universities designed and validated a 13-item survey to determine and evaluate the impact of mass lockdowns on nursing and midwifery students' practicum training. The responses were assessed using descriptive and inferential analyses. Results: The findings revealed that the lockdown had a negative impact on nursing and midwifery students' self-confidence and competency in performing nursing procedures. The academic year of the students was a significant independent predictor of their self-confidence and competency levels in performing nursing procedures. Conclusion: The study concluded that nursing and midwifery students were dissatisfied with their clinical education during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to poor self-confidence in performing nursing procedures. The study group recommended repeating the clinical practicum, incorporating extensive laboratory and hospital courses, and implementing a one-year internship for newly graduated nurses and midwives to address the training gap and enhance self-confidence in clinical procedures.

Effect of an educational program on pediatric nurses' knowledge, practice, and self-confidence about level of consciousness scales.

BACKGROUND: Nurses of pediatric acute critical care units routinely assess the Level of Consciousness (LOC). The precise, exact, and restriction-free evaluation tool aids pediatric nurses in LOC assessment and clinical decision-making. This study aimed to examine the effect of an educational program on pediatric nurses' knowledge, practice, and self-confidence about level of consciousness scales. METHODS: This pretest-post, single-group, quasi-experimental, double-site study included 49 pediatric nurses. The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)/Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale (PGCS) and Pediatric Full Outline of UnResponsiveness Score Scale (PFSS) knowledge questionnaire and pediatric nurse practice checklist were developed and adopted. Self-reflection confidence statements were rated 1-5 (not confident-confident). RESULTS: The results of the study indicate that there were significant increases in knowledge, practice, and self-confidence after the intervention. The paired samples tests revealed that knowledge scores significantly increased from the pretest to the posttest for both GCS/PGCS (pretest mean:7.91, posttest mean:9.95) and PFSS (pretest mean:2.1, posttest mean:6.79). Practice scores also showed significant improvement for both GCS/PGCS (pretest mean: 4.12, post-test mean: 6.22) and PFSS (pretest mean: 2.46, post-test mean: 5.79). Furthermore, self-confidence significantly improved for GCS/PGCS (pretest mean:16.08, posttest mean:18.79) and PFSS (pretest mean:10.32, posttest mean:17.81). The statistical analyses supported the significance of these improvements (p < 0.001 for all except self-confidence in GCS/PGCS with p < 0.005). CONCLUSION: The educational program improved pediatric nurses' GCS/PGCS and PFSS knowledge, practice, and self-confidence. IMPLICATIONS TO PRACTICE: Effective teaching of pediatric nurses is required to address gaps in care practices and improve the use of the Consciousness Level Assessment Scales.

Synthesis, biological evaluation, and in silico studies of new CDK2 inhibitors based on pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine and pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine scaffold with apoptotic activity.

Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibition is considered a promising target for cancer treatment for its crucial role in cell cycle regulation. Pyrazolo pyrimidine derivatives were well established for their antitumor activity via CDK2 inhibition. In this research, new series of pyrazolopyrimidine derivatives (4-15) was designed and synthesised as novel CDK2 inhibitors. The anti-proliferative activities against MCF-7, HCT-116, and HepG-2 were used to evaluate their anticancer activity as novel CDK2 inhibitors. Most of the compounds showed superior cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 and HCT-116 compared to Sorafenib. Only compounds 8, 14, and 15 showed potent activity against HepG-2. The CDK2/cyclin A2 enzyme inhibitory activity was tested for all synthesised compounds. Compound 15 showed the most significant inhibitory activity with IC50 0.061 ± 0.003 µM. It exerted remarkable alteration in Pre G1 and S phase cell cycle progression and caused apoptosis in HCT cells. In addition, the normal cell line cytotoxicity for compound 15 was assigned revealing low cytotoxic results in normal cells rather than cancer cells. Molecular docking was achieved on the designed compounds and confirmed the two essential hydrogen binding with Leu83 in CDK2 active site. In silico ADMET studies and drug-likeness showed proper pharmacokinetic properties which helped in structure requirements prediction for the observed antitumor activity.

Discovery of pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine and pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine derivatives as novel CDK2 inhibitors: synthesis, biological and molecular modeling investigations.

CDK2 inhibition is an appealing target for cancer treatment that targets tumor cells in a selective manner. A new set of small molecules featuring the privileged pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine and pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine scaffolds (4-13) as well as the thioglycoside derivatives (14, 15) were designed, and synthesized as novel CDK2 targeting compounds. The growth of the three examined cell lines was significantly inhibited by most of the prepared compounds. Results revealed that most of the compounds showed superior cytotoxic activities against MCF-7 and HCT-116 with IC50 range (45-97 nM) and (6-99 nM), respectively, and moderate activity against HepG-2 with IC50 range of (48-90 nM) compared to sorafenib (IC50: 144, 176 and 19 nM, respectively). Of these compounds, 14 & 15 showed the best cytotoxic activities against the three cell lines with IC50 values of 45, 6, and 48 nM and 46, 7, and 48 nM against MCF-7, HCT-116 and HepG-2, respectively. Enzymatic inhibitory activity against CDK2/cyclin A2 was achieved for the most potent anti-proliferative compounds. Compounds 14, 13 and 15 revealed the most significant inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 0.057 ± 0.003, 0.081 ± 0.004 and 0.119 ± 0.007 µM, respectively compared to sorafenib (0.184 ± 0.01 µM). Compound 14 displayed potent dual activity against the examined cell lines and CDK2, and was thus selected for further investigations. It exerted a significance alteration in cell cycle progression, in addition to apoptosis induction within HCT cells. Molecular docking simulation of the designed compounds confirmed the good fit into the CDK2 active site through the essential hydrogen bonding with Leu83. In silico ADMET studies and drug-likeness studies using a Boiled Egg chart showed suitable pharmacokinetic properties which helped in structure requirement prediction for the observed antitumor activity.

Psychological distress related to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic and coping strategies among general population in Egypt.

BACKGROUND: Psychological distress is considered a threat to the mental health of human beings. This research was conducted at the beginning of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, when most people had limited knowledge about coronavirus, mode of transmission, associated manifestations, with uncertainty about treatment, vaccine, future life, and coping capacity. This study examined the nature of the psychological distress related to the emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and coping strategies adopted among the general population in Egypt. METHODS: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study assessing a convenience sample consisting of 312 participants from the general population in Egypt. Data were gathered as online responses to a questionnaire which incorporated a sociodemographic datasheet, psychological distress scale, and ways of coping scale. RESULTS: Forty-two percent of the participants showed severe psychological distress and 26% showed mild to moderate psychological distress. There was a strong positive correlation between the distress score and the overall coping score-that is, the higher the distress, the more ways of coping were adopted (p < 0.001). This study also showed that the methods of adaptation used by most of the population were based on emotional coping strategy. The most adaptive people were those who work in the health field and the residents in the cities with a monthly income sufficient enough to meet their needs; better adaptation methods were also seen among both divorced and highly educated people. We also found a significant relationship between sociodemographic characteristics except for sex and overall coping methods (p < 0.001). Further, significant relationships between sociodemographic characteristics and psychological distress were observed (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Most of the study population as a sample of the general population in Egypt reported suffering from varying degrees of psychological distress during the COVID-19 crisis. However, the more severe an individual's level of psychological distress, the greater their adaptation ability was. This study focuses light on the importance to provide appropriate interventions against COVID-19-related stresses and equipping people with suitable strategies for coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emotional intelligence and perceived stress among students in Saudi health colleges: A cross-sectional correlational study.

OBJECTIVES: To date, little knowledge exists about perceived stress or emotional intelligence among Saudi students specialising in health sciences. This study uses sociodemographic factors to assess the correlations and divergences between emotional intelligence and perceived stress among health-science students in Saudi applied health-science colleges. METHODS: The present study adopted a cross-sectional, descriptive correlational design and recruited a convenience sample of 274 nursing and paramedic students. The participants were invited to complete a self-report questionnaire, which covered demographic factors, emotional intelligence (the MindTools test), and perceived stress (the Perceived Stress Scale). RESULTS: Almost all participants (97.1%) had average-to-high levels of emotional intelligence (mean = 50.58 in a 15-75 ranged scale); this was particularly true for nursing students and students in their first and third academic years. Overall, the students had a moderate level of perceived stress (mean = 1.75 in a 0-4 ranged scale), with assignments and workload causing the highest levels of stress. A negative non-significant correlation was found between emotional intelligence and perceived stress. CONCLUSIONS: The research findings show that emotional intelligence does not differ significantly by nationality, gender, or specialty satisfaction. The students' gender, nationality, specialty, specialty satisfaction, and academic year were not significantly associated with levels of perceived stress. However, higher (although non-significant) levels of emotional intelligence were associated with lower levels of perceived stress. It is therefore essential to educate health-science students about emotional intelligence and teach them to identify and overcome stressors. Information about emotional intelligence and perceived stress should be incorporated into health-science curricula.

Gastric ischaemia as an unusual presentation of median arcuate ligament compression syndrome.

Median arcuate ligament compression syndrome is an anatomical and clinical entity defined by a combination of extrinsic compression of the coeliac axis by the median arcuate ligament and clinical manifestations. The majority of patients with features of compression experience no symptoms. The most common clinical symptoms when present are epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting and weight loss. Hypertrophy of the median arcuate ligament is a rare cause of chronic abdominal pain. We present a case of an elderly male patient who presented with acute epigastric pain, and gastric and intrahepatic portal pneumatosis on CT imaging. Emphysematous gastritis, caustic ingestion and other causes of this imaging presentation were ruled out. Imaging also showed chronic compression of the coeliac axis with compensatory hypertrophy of the gastroduodenal artery. Gastric ischaemia is a rare presentation of this syndrome, which occurs owing to the failure of compensatory mechanisms and resultant ischaemic injury to a virtual watershed vascular territory of the gastric wall. Conservative management was performed, including volume restoration, intravenous proton pump inhibitor therapy, broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy and blood transfusion. No surgical or endovascular interventional procedures were carried out. The patient showed clinical improvement soon after the initiation of treatment. Disappearance of the imaging findings was documented 2 weeks after treatment. Complete endoscopic recovery and absence of clinical alterations were observed during follow-up after 3 months.