Nurse-identified patient care and health services research priorities in the United Arab Emirates: a Delphi study.

BACKGROUND: The need for improved research on ill health has been recognized internationally and locally in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE Nursing and Midwifery Council recently committed to enhancing the status and contributions of nursing in healthcare research across the UAE by establishing a National Committee for Research Development. This study using a Delphi method to identify research priorities from the perspective of nurses delivering frontline healthcare. METHODS: A two-phase Delphi design was implemented with 1032 nurses participating in phase one of the study and 1339 in phase two. RESULTS: The most important priority was patient safety and healthcare professionals' awareness of international patient safety goals (including staffing levels and shift length) and potential effects on patient safety. Other important priorities were infection control practices and management of communicable diseases. CONCLUSIONS: These priorities may inform nursing research programs to improve patient care and health outcomes in the UAE and similar contexts worldwide.

The quality of information received by parents of children with chronic ill health attending hospitals as indicated by measures of illness uncertainty.

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of communication can be defined in terms of one of its outcomes: the uncertainty that it eliminates. Clear unambiguous communication is important for the parents of children to help them understand problems, explore alternative solutions and help make decisions. Persistent uncertainty is known to produce anxiety, unpredictable responses, emotional distress and poor quality of life. The uncertainty experienced by parents is one indicator of quality in the healthcare system which could have diagnostic and predictive value. AIM: To assess the uncertainty experienced by parents of children with chronic conditions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). DESIGN: An exploratory descriptive, cross-sectional design was chosen across different sites in the UAE. METHODS: Data were collected from parents accompanying children receiving treatment either as an inpatient or outpatient, using the previously validated, culturally adapted 'Parent Perception of Uncertainty Scale' (PPUS). RESULTS: Most study participants experienced moderate or high levels of uncertainty. Parents who did not speak the local language, whose child was less than 1 year old or who was acutely ill had significantly more uncertainty than others, as did those parents whose child was approaching adolescence and puberty. CONCLUSIONS: As only 5% of all participants reported low levels of uncertainty this should be of major concern as both an indicator of the quality of communication between health professionals and parents, and of the adverse health effects and poor quality of life experienced by parents of patients with chronic illness.

Research Priorities for School Nursing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

School nurses are challenged with more children having complex conditions, who are now surviving into school age. This is paralleled by a shift in focus of health systems toward primary care, and national efforts to develop the health-care services, especially those offered to vulnerable populations. Being at the forefront of this change, school nurses in United Arab Emirates (UAE) are finding themselves under pressure to adapt to and facilitate these changes both by improving their practice and by contributing to its underpinning evidence. A cross-sectional design was used in this study in which 370 school nurses participated, identifying 11 research priorities. The three most important, as ranked by participants, were management of children with complex health-care needs; nutrition, obesity, and lifestyle issues of schoolchildren; and managing illnesses, injuries, and emergencies in schools and provision of medical support. These priorities should direct future research activities in the field.

Barriers to compliance with evidence-based guidelines for ventilator-associated pneumonia among critical care nurses: A scoping review.

Background: Healthcare organizations provide evidence-based guidelines designed to support nurses in preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in intensive care units (ICUs), but there are barriers to compliance with such guidelines. This review explicitly explored evidence of compliance barriers among critical care nurses. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and EBSCO databases for relevant English-language studies published between January 2003 and June 2022, focused on barriers to nursing compliance with VAP prevention guidelines. Data was reported according to the Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMAScR) guidelines.  Results: 230 publications were screened, resulting in 53 full-text articles being retrieved after removing duplicates, of which 13 relevant to the aims of the review and meeting the inclusion criteria were included for data extraction. One was a qualitative study, while the remainder were quantitative. Simple descriptive content analysis identified the barriers to critical care nurses' compliance with VAP prevention guidelines, and categorized them as: (1) work environment barriers (e.g., lack of equipment and supplies; lack of staff and time; lack of educational support; and ineffective supportive system); (2) nurse-related barriers ( limited personal competencies); and (3) situation-related barriers ( patient health, discomfort, and adverse events). Conclusions: This review revealed important evidence on barriers to VAP prevention guidelines compliance. Nurses are challenged mainly by work-environmental barriers along, with the presence of nurse and situational barriers. It is evident from the findings that further qualitative and mixed-methodology follow-up studies are recommended to further explore the issues in depth.  Healthcare leaders must be aware of these barriers and integrate work policies that assist in overcoming them, to increase compliance.

Experiences of nursing students and examiners with the Objective Structured Clinical Examination method in physical assessment education: A mixed methods study.

This study explores the experiences of undergraduate nursing students and examiners with the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) as an evaluation of physical assessment skills. A mixed methods approach captures participants' perceptions and experiences with the OSCE. The sample consisted of 55 students enrolled in the physical assessment course and eight external examiners. Data were collected using a standardized questionnaire and focus group interviews, using semi-structured questions, recorded and transcribed for thematic analysis. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results indicated that participants regarded the OSCE as a valuable assessment tool that enhances in-depth learning and preparation of students for clinical practice. Participants also perceived the exam to be a stressful experience, citing the need for more time on examination stations. Recommendations for improving the OSCE process included extending preparation prior to the exam, training of simulated patients, adopting a blended learning model, and upgrading the setting of the exam. This paper supports evidence of the value of the OSCE as an appraisal of physical assessment skills in undergraduate nursing education.