Emotional and behavioral problems among Jordanian adolescents: Prevalence and associations with academic achievement.

BACKGROUND: Mental health concerns are important for adolescent's general wellbeing and they can be associated with their ability to function effectively in various aspects of their daily life. AIM: The purpose of this study was to identify emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) among Jordanian adolescents and their association with academic outcomes. METHODS: A descriptive correlational design was used. A total of 810 adolescents participated in the study and completed the demographic survey and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The grade point average (GPA) was used as an indicator of the academic achievement. The GPA was correlated with the SDQ scores to identify the relationship between the EBD and academic achievement. RESULTS: About 11.7% of the participants had psychological and behavioral problems. The most commonly reported problems were emotional symptoms (14.2%), conduct problems (12.5%), and hyperactivity (7.5%). There was a significant difference in psychological and behavioral problems according to the participants' gender. There was a significant negative relationship between the SDQ scores and the GPA. CONCLUSION: There is a need to identify adolescents at risk of emotional and behavioral difficulties and refer them to appropriate care and support, which in turn would improve their academic achievement.

Nurses' Experiences of Grief Following Patient Death: A Qualitative Approach.

PURPOSE: To explore the lived experiences of nurses' feelings, emotions, grief reactions, and coping mechanisms following their patients' death. BACKGROUND: On a daily basis, nurses are experiencing patients' death, which exposes them to grief. Nurses' grief has not been sufficiently addressed in practice settings, although it has been a well-known threat to health and work performance. DESIGN: A qualitative design guided by a phenomenological approach was adopted. METHOD: Data were collected from a purposive sample of 21 Jordanian nurses by conducting three focus groups and analyzed using Colaizzi's framework. FINDINGS: Four themes were generated in which participants reported feelings of grief following their patients' death. Their grief emotions were reported as sadness, crying, anger, shock, denial, faith, fear, guilt, fear of the family's reaction, and powerlessness. CONCLUSIONS: The study provided evidence that nurses respond emotionally to patients' death and experience grief. Nurses are burdened by recurrent patients' deaths and try to cope and overcome their grief. This study emphasizes the importance of developing strategies to help nurses positively cope with their grief from a holistic perspective. This will reflect positively on the nurses' performance.

Prevalence of intimate partner violence among women visiting health care centers in Palestine refugee camps in Jordan.

This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) among a sample of women visiting health care centers in Palestine refugee camps in Jordan. We found that different types of IPV, including physical, emotional, sexual, economic, and control behaviors by the partners were experienced by the participants. This study was among a number of studies that investigated this phenomenon in residents of Palestinian camps. It adds to existing studies in this field, however, as it focuses on the prevalence of the top five types of IPV in these women. Co-occurrence of IPV, that is, experiencing two or more types of partner violence at the same time, was noticed in these women. Experiencing control by one's partner and the presence of different attitudes between men and women toward the use of violence were factors contributing to the occurrence of this phenomenon in these women. National efforts aiming at breaking the cycle of violence should be fostered through media and public awareness campaigns. Changing people's attitudes concerning men's use and women's acceptance of violence should be the aim of these efforts.

Readiness of organizations for change, motivation and conflict-handling intentions: senior nursing students' perceptions.

This study examined the perceptions of 62 senior nursing students of the readiness of Jordanian organizations for change, students' motivators and their conflict-handling intentions. Such concepts should be taught at Schools of Nursing in order to prepare the students as nurses in the near future. It is found that the course of "Nursing Leadership and Management" has positive influence on students' understanding of the studied concepts. This descriptive study was conducted in seven hospitals. Grossman and Valiga's (2000) [Grossman, S., Valiga, T.M., 2000. The New Leadership Challenge: Creating the Future of Nursing. F.A. Davis, Philadelphia, pp. 147-148.] instrument was used to measure the readiness of organizations for change. As they progress in the course, the students' perceptions about the organizational readiness to change increased; the students "somehow" perceived that the Jordanian organizations were ready to change. The students were asked what motivates and they were asked about their conflict-handling techniques. Senior nursing students reported that private hospitals were better than governmental hospitals in their readiness for change. In general, male students perceived the readiness of organizations for change more positively than female students. The students were mainly motivated by "achievement" and used "collaboration" as a primary conflict-handling technique. Further studies are needed to explore in-depth the concept of the readiness of organizations for change. Achievement is a strong motivator that should be encouraged among students. Conflict-handling techniques in general and collaboration in particular should be taught for nursing students as these techniques will influence their future professional lives.