Perceptions of Health and Illness: A Qualitative Study of Jordanian Mothers.

PURPOSE: To explore: 1) the perceptions of Jordanian mothers of their children's health and illness; and 2) the strategies of Jordanian mothers regarding disease prevention and health promotion. DESIGN AND METHODS: A qualitative descriptive design was used to select a sample of Jordanian mothers (n = 20) of children aged 6 to12 years. Semi-structured interviews generated data to which thematic analysis was applied. RESULTS: Four central themes emerged for Jordanian mothers' perceptions of their children's health and illness: physical, functional, wellbeing, and coping. Mothers used a variety of biomedical and psychosocial strategies for health promotion and disease prevention for their children. CONCLUSION: Jordanian mothers' perceptions of health and illness were multidimensional. Mothers used positive strategies to prevent disease and promote the health of their children. The mothers overlooked some important aspects related to promoting children's health, such as minimizing the harm from tobacco and the importance of regular dental checkups. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Community or school-based health programs that target both children and their parents are needed to address the effect of smoking on children's health, highlight the importance of oral hygiene and regular dental checkups, and emphasize the role of exercise and healthy nutrition on children's health.

Developing an Understanding of Adolescents' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward COVID-19.

Adolescents are more likely to engage in risky health practices related to COVID-19. Their compliance with infection control measures is a key factor to mitigate the spread of the disease. The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19 and their correlates among Jordanian adolescents. An online cross-sectional survey was utilized. A total of 1,054 Jordanian adolescents aged 12-18 completed and returned the survey. Overall, Jordanian adolescents showed a good base of knowledge regarding COVID-19 (regardless of their demographic characteristics) and tended to hold positive attitudes toward the country's curfew and other protective measures. The majority of adolescents reported that television and social media were their main source of information on COVID-19, while few reported receiving such information from their schools. The majority reported practicing effective health protective behaviors to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which was significantly predicted by their knowledge and attitudes toward these measures. However, there was a relatively small, yet clinically significant, percentage of adolescents who showed poor knowledge on COVID-19, had negative attitudes toward protective measures, and reported being engaged in risky practices related to infection spread. Tailored efforts are needed to improve the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practices among adolescents. Raising awareness and promoting positive attitudes are vital to change adolescents' health practices. Policy makers should ensure that school nurses are available in all schools and working to their full scope. School nurses are the eyes and ears of public health and primary care. They are essential members on pandemic preparedness, reopening and reentry planning teams, and can lead health care in schools and practice in a holistic culturally competent proactive manner to address the needs of students.

Nurses' knowledge and practice of pressure ulcer prevention and treatment: An observational study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess nurses' knowledge on pressure ulcer (PU) prevention and treatment in Jordan, and the frequency of and factors influencing nurses' implementation of PU prevention and treatment interventions. BACKGROUND: Highly educated and experienced nurses can provide effective PU care; however, previous studies highlighted poor knowledge and implementation of PU care. DESIGN: A correlational study examining nurses' knowledge of PU prevention and frequency of PU preventive actions in Jordanian hospitals. METHODS: Participants were 377 nurses and 318 patients from 11 hospitals. Data were collected to quantify the frequency of nurses' implementation of pressure ulcer prevention and treatment interventions for patients suffering from PUs and/or at risk of PU development using a self-reported cross-sectional survey and prospective 8-h observation. RESULTS: For observed PU prevention while type of hospital and number of beds in units were significant it is not known without further work if this is replicable. For observed PU treatment, linear regression analysis revealed significant negative beta values for more than 50 beds in clinical unit (ß = -2.49). CONCLUSION: The study addressed new factors, facilitating the provision of prevention and treatment strategies to PU development, including type of clinical institution and number of beds in clinical unit. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: There is a need to develop training programmes to improve insufficient nurses' knowledge and, thus, clinical practices on PU prevention and treatment. These programmes would assist both junior and senior nurses and other key stakeholders (e.g. hospital managers, policy-makers, and educators) to improve the performance of PU services, thus, minimising patient suffering.

Factors Affecting Jordanian School Adolescents' Experience of Being Bullied.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the Jordanian school adolescents' experience of being bullied, and to examine its association with selected socio-demographic variables. DESIGN AND METHODS: This cross sectional descriptive study used multi-stages cluster sampling technique to recruit a sample of in-school adolescents in Jordan (N=436). The Personal Experiences Checklist was used to measure the experience of bullying. Descriptive statistics and parametric tests were used in the analysis. RESULTS: Relational-verbal bullying was the most common form of bullying while cyber bullying was the least common type. Male adolescents experienced bullying more than females. In addition, adolescents belonging to low-income families experienced bullying more than those from moderate-income families. Finally, being bullied was negatively correlated with academic performance of students. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicated that risk factors for bullying are multifaceted which necessitate the development of prevention and intervention strategies to combat bullying taking into consideration these factors. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Schools should introduce environmental changes to discourage bullying and establish a policy with specific guidelines of what constitutes bullying behavior and expected disciplinary procedures. Staff training on information about the definition of bullying, current trends, and the effects of bullying is also recommended.

The effectiveness of age-appropriate pre-operative information session on the anxiety level of school-age children undergoing elective surgery in Jordan.

BACKGROUND: Undergoing surgery is an anxious experience for children. Applying anxiety reduction age-appropriate programs by nurses would be beneficial in reducing anxiety to children. AIM: To test the effectiveness of age-appropriate preoperative information session in reducing anxiety levels of school-age children undergoing elective surgery in Jordan. DESIGN: The study used a quasi-experimental design. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-six children were recruited from an educational hospital in Amman from January to June 2012 and were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The anxiety levels of children were assessed using the State Anxiety Scale for children, and children's levels of cooperation after surgery were assessed using Children Emotional Manifestation Scale. The heart rate and blood pressure of children were also measured 1 hour before going to operation room. RESULTS: The study results revealed that children in the intervention group reported lower anxiety levels and more cooperation than children in the control group. Also, they displayed lower heart rate and blood pressure than children in the control group. CONCLUSION: The application of age-appropriate preoperative intervention for children could be beneficial in decreasing anxiety levels and increasing their cooperation post surgery.

Predictors of school satisfaction among adolescents in Jordan: a cross-sectional study exploring the role of school-related variables and student demographics.

BACKGROUND: Understanding factors associated with adolescents' satisfaction with school is necessary to enhance their physical and psychological well-being. PURPOSE: To investigate relationships among school-related variables, demographics, and school satisfaction and identify factors that predict school satisfaction among adolescents. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used to recruit 1,200 Jordanian students aged 11-16 years. A multistage cluster-sampling technique was used to select participants, and the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed using linear regression analysis to identify predictors of adolescents' school satisfaction. RESULTS: Linear regression analysis showed that the adolescent's satisfaction at school was predicted by age, male sex, teacher support, peer support, fair rules at the school, and tiredness in the morning. These factors explained 41% of variance in school-satisfaction scores. CONCLUSION: Social support at home and school were helpful for better satisfaction with school life among adolescents in Jordan.

Perception and predictors of school climate among Jordanian adolescents.

BACKGROUND: School climate has great effects on adolescents' outcomes. It offers possible protective or harmful sets of factors that have significant contributions to adolescents' health, development, and academic outcomes. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate adolescents' perception of school climate and its predictors. DESIGN AND METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used to recruit a convenient sample of 567 students with mean age of 14.6 years. Health Behavior in School-Aged Children questionnaire subscales of perceived school climate, peer support, and teacher support were used to collect data. Descriptive, parametric, bivariate, and regression analysis tests were used in the analyses of the study data. RESULTS: The study showed that less than half of the students felt that they belonged to their schools. One-third of responding students were involved in making rules. Perceived academic performance, adolescents' age, peer support, and teacher support were the predictors of school climate. Significant differences existed between adolescents' perception of school climate in relation to age, gender, and perceived academic performance. CONCLUSION: Some aspects of school climate should be further addressed by the school nurse, policy makers, and school administrators in order to improve Jordanian adolescents' outcomes in term of their developmental needs and academic performance.

Jordanian adolescents' health behaviour and school climate.

AIM: This study was conducted to assess the occurrence of physical activity, nutritional habits, tooth brushing and seat belt use behaviour among adolescent school students in Jordan, and to examine the effect of psychosocial aspects of school on these behaviours. METHOD: A cross-sectional descriptive correlational design was used to draw a sample of in-school adolescents aged between 11 and 15 years. The final sample included 1166 adolescents from five public and two private schools. Study participants filled in a translated version of the health behaviour in school aged children questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, correlational (point biserial), and bivariate analyses (chi-square tests) were used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Among the study sample 34.5% of the adolescents practised exercise outside school hours once a week or less frequently, and only 53.1% of them brushed their teeth more than once a day. Regarding seat belt use, 44.7% of the adolescents used them rarely or never. Concerning carbonated sugary drinks and sweets consumption, about 64% and 83.3% of the adolescents, respectively, consumed them once a day or more often. The percentages of adolescents who never drank low fat or whole fat milk were 43.1% and 38.2%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The study concluded that school adolescents do engage in unhealthy behaviour. Psychosocial aspect of schools were associated with students' physical activity, nutritional habits, tooth brushing and seat belt use behaviours.

Understanding of School Related Factors Associated with Emotional Health and Bullying Behavior among Jordanian Adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Students emotional health and bullying behavior are receiving greater attention worldwide due to their long-term effects on students' health. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between perceived school climate, peer support, teacher support, school pressure and emotional health and bullying among adolescent school students in Jordan. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used to recruit a sample of 1166 in-school adolescents in Amman between November 2013 and January 2014. A multi-stage cluster sampling technique was used to select respondents and Health Behavior in School Aged Children questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were analyzed using Pearson Correlation to detect relationships among study variables. RESULTS: Significant correlations (P value was ≤.05) were found between school climate including teacher and peer support and emotional health and bullying behavior of school students. School pressure was not correlated significantly with emotional health and bullying. CONCLUSION: Study findings emphasize the importance of school related factors in influencing students' emotional health and bullying behavior. This indicates that the issue of bullying and emotional health of students in Jordanian schools requires further attention, both for future research and preventive intervention.