The burden in family caregivers of people living with dementia: prevalence and predictors.

BACKGROUND: Providing care for people with dementia incorporates a level of burden which can affect quality of life for both the caregiver and the recipient of care. This study measures the level of burden experienced by Jordanian caregivers for people with dementia and explore related predictors. METHODS: Through a cross-sectional survey, participants were invited through convenience sampling to participate in a structured interview. RESULTS: A total of 406 participants completed the survey. According to Zarit Burden Interview, the mean burden score of the sample was 26.2 (SD = 16.2). This score falls under the mild to moderate burden level. Older age of the patient, severe dementia, lower number of caregivers, if the caregiving negatively affected family relations, and if the caregiving negatively affected jobs, were significant predictors of burden. CONCLUSION: Caregivers in the current study reported no burden to a minimum burden. This result does not mean that these caregivers have no or minimal stress or that they do not have psychological needs; on the contrary, these results call for more attention to providing extra psychological and emotional support to caregivers of patients with dementia in order to decrease the burden level and maintain their efforts in caregiving. Future studies are required to discern the shape and context of unmet caregiver needs, assessment, and support.

Perceptions of spirituality and predictors of competence in spiritual care among nursing students in five middle eastern countries: A cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Spiritual Care is integral to holistic nursing; however, it often remains underprovided due to a lack of education. OBJECTIVE: This study examined perceptions of spirituality and predictors of competence in spiritual care among nursing students in Middle Eastern countries. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey was used. PARTICIPANT/SETTING: Nursing students (n = 785) from five universities in Middle Eastern countries were included. METHODS: Participants completed the Spiritual Care-Giving Scale-Arabic and Spiritual Care Competency Scale. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify the predictors of perceived competence in spiritual care. RESULTS: Nursing students showed positive attitudes towards spirituality, with a mean score of 5.1 (SD = 0.60) on the Spiritual Care-Giving Scale-Arabic. However, their perceived competence in providing spiritual care was low to moderate with a mean score of 79.0 (SD = 32.0) on the Spiritual Care Competency Scale. The bivariate analysis indicated significant relationships between students' spiritual care competence and gender, previous exposure to spirituality education, willingness to undergo spirituality training, and total spirituality score. Finally, significant predictors of higher competence included regular admission status, prior spiritual education, willingness to undergo spiritual care training, and higher personal spirituality scores. CONCLUSION: Nursing students in the Middle East have positive attitudes towards spirituality, but low to moderate competence in providing spiritual care. The influence of personal spirituality on competence underscores the importance of fostering a supportive environment for students to reflect on their beliefs. Comprehensive curriculum revisions and training programs, along with the recognition of the impact of personal spirituality, are essential to prepare future nurses for holistic people's care.

Barriers to Pain Management as Perceived by Cancer and Noncancer Patients With Chronic Disease.

BACKGROUND: Pain is the most common symptom experienced by both cancer and non-cancer patients. A wide variety of barriers may hinder the optimal treatment of cancer and noncancer pain that are related to the health care system, health care providers, and patients. PURPOSE: To explore the barriers to pain management as perceived by patients with cancer and noncancer chronic diseases. METHOD: A descriptive, cross-sectional correlational design was employed to recruit a sample of 200 patients (n = 100 patients with cancer, n= 100 patients with noncancer) from two hospitals in Jordan. Patients filled out an Arabic version of Barriers Questionnaire II (ABQ-II). RESULTS: Harmful effects of medications were the greatest barrier to effective pain management, while fatalism had the lowest mean scores. Age was negatively correlated with physiological effects (r = -0.287, p < .01), communication (r = -0.263, p < .01), harmful effects (r = -0.284, p < .01), and the overall barrier score (r = -0.326, p < .01) among noncancer patients with chronic disease and (p > .05) for patients with cancer. Patients with cancer had higher mean scores (M = 2.12, SD = 0.78) in the fatalism subscale than those with noncancer chronic disease (M = 1.91, SD = 0.68), while patients with noncancer chronic disease had significantly higher mean scores (M = 2.78, SD = 0.78) in the communication subscale than patients with cancer (M = 2.49, SD = 0.65), (t = -2.899, p = .005). CONCLUSION: To improve the quality of care for patients who are in pain, it is recommended to address pain management barriers as they arise.

Transforming cancer clinical trials: The integral role of artificial intelligence in electronic health records for efficient patient recruitment.

Healthcare is one of the sectors where artificial intelligence (AI) is currently viewed as a crucial driving factor. Patient care, medical research, and clinical trial enrollment could all significantly improve due to AI's incorporation into electronic health records (EHRs). This short communication highlights how AI may improve the recruitment process regarding speed, accuracy, and overall cancer clinical trial efficiency. AI can automate this procedure by utilizing machine learning (ML) algorithms, identifying potential trial participants quickly and precisely. Many challenges could be addressed due to this integration, including data privacy and security that can be resolved through cutting-edge encryption techniques and differential privacy algorithms that ensure data anonymization. Another significant obstacle is the lack of common EHR formats and interoperability that can be addressed by creating a standardized structured layout. Automating and improving recruitment processes with AI may speed up research, increase the effectiveness of clinical trials, and open the door to more specialized cancer treatments.

The influence of the pulmonary recruitment maneuver on post-laparoscopic shoulder pain in patients having a laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Post-laparoscopic shoulder pain is very common after laparoscopy. One method to reduce postoperative shoulder pain is the pulmonary recruitment maneuver. It is used to reduce post-laparoscopic shoulder pain. This study utilizes a truly experimental, double-blinded, prospective randomized design to assess the effect of pulmonary recruitment maneuvers on post-laparoscopic shoulder pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. METHODS: Sixty patients were allocated randomly into two groups. The intervention group received five manual pulmonary inflations for 5 s at a maximum pressure of 25 cm H2O. The control group included patients whose residual CO2 gas was evacuated from the abdominal cavity using passive exsufflation as the routine method at the end of surgery by abdominal massage. Gentle abdominal pressure was applied to facilitate CO2 gas removal. RESULTS: When Ramsay's Sedation Score's results were compared between the two groups after the operation, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups during the first and (p value = 0.20) second (p value = 0.61) hours. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed that the pulmonary recruitment maneuver is significant (p-value 0.001) and had a high effect size (0.527) in reducing shoulder pain among laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients after controlling the effect of other covariate patient characteristics. CONCLUSION: Utilizing a pulmonary recruitment maneuver at the end of laparoscopic surgery reduces shoulder pain.

Electronic health literacy and its association with lifestyle behavior among undergraduate students: A cross-sectional survey.

Background: This study aims to assess healthy lifestyle behaviors among undergraduate students and determine the association between electronic health literacy with lifestyle behavior among undergraduate Jordanian university students. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. The study recruited 404 participants utilizing undergraduate students from public and private universities. The e-Health literacy scale was used to assess the level of health information literacy among university students. Results: Data were collected from 404 participants who reported very good health status, the majority of the participants were female 57.2% with an average age of 19.3 years. The results showed that participants had good health behavior in terms of exercise, taking breakfast, smoking status, and sleeping status. The results have shown an inadequate level of e-Health literacy 16.61 (SD = 4.10) out of 40. The vast majority of students, in terms of their attitudes toward the Internet, thought that Internet health information was very useful/useful (95.8%). Also, they thought that online health information was very important /important (97.3%). The results showed that students who were attending public universities had higher e-Health literacy scores rather than those who were attending private universities, t (402) = 1.81, p = .014. The mean e-Health literacy score for nonmedical students was higher than those for medical students (p = .022). Conclusion: The study's findings provide important insights into the health behaviors and electronic health literacy of undergraduate students in Jordanian universities, and offer valuable guidance for future health education programs and policies aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles in this population.

Researching the job satisfaction of migrant critical care nurses in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Nurses' job satisfaction is a crucial component of a safe and efficient healthcare environment. AIM: To understand the level of job satisfaction among migrant nurses working in intensive and critical care in Saudi Arabia. METHOD: This study used a quantitative descriptive design. A total of 421 migrant nurses working in intensive and critical care units in two teaching hospitals in Saudi Arabia completed a questionnaire based on the McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction Scale. FINDINGS: Participating migrant nurses had moderate levels of job satisfaction overall, except for salary, holiday allowance and maternity leave, which attracted low satisfaction scores, and nursing peers, which attracted a high satisfaction score. There were no statistically significant differences in job satisfaction scores according to demographic variables except marital status, with a significantly higher job satisfaction among married respondents. CONCLUSION: Promoting job satisfaction among nurses could improve the efficiency and quality of nursing care. There is a range of strategies that can be used to enhance nurses' job satisfaction, including improving working conditions and promoting career development.

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation and Lebanese Critical Care Nurses' Perceptions: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study.

Introduction: The training of nursing staff to deliver extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in Lebanon has recently attracted attention. It is important to comprehend the background of nurses who take on this new duty. Objectives: The main objectives of this study were to (1) explore the experiences of intensive care unit nursing staff who work with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, (2) identify the psychological and physiological challenges experienced by intensive care unit nurses while managing patients with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and (3) determine the roles assumed by intensive care unit nurses while managing patients utilizing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological design utilizing semistructured interviews utilizing a purposive sampling of 15 intensive care unit nurses using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation devices. Interviews were audio recorded, verbatim transcribed, and thematically analyzed. Results: Three themes emerged, namely (1) nurses' role in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, (2) skills and training, and (3) challenges faced by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation nurses. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that nurses play a crucial role in providing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation patient care, placing them under significant occupational stress due to the intensive care unit's routine workload and the demands of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Additionally, role confusion brought on by a lack of professional practice norms and emotional exhaustion made occupational pressure worse.

Nursing Leadership Style, Training Methods, and Use of Electronic Health Records by Nurses in Jordanian Hospitals: A Descriptive Study.

AIM: The study aimed to assess the level of practice of nursing leadership characteristics during the implementation of electronic health records as perceived by nurses. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey design was used in this study. The study recruited 213 nurses from five hospitals which had recently implemented electronic health solution. Data was collocated using self-administrated questionnaire composed of three sub-domains. The study was granted from the Ethics Committees of the investigators universities and the Jordanian Ministry of Health. Descriptive and correctional statistics were used for data analysis. RESULTS: Data were collected from 213 nurses, the majority of participants (72.3%) were female. Of them, 45% reported receiving full support from their leaders in using electronic health records. Classroom-based training was the most frequently used teaching method during the implementation of electronic health records (59.6%). CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that diverse leadership styles were practiced during the implementation process of the electronic health records: setting directions, developing people, and redesigning their organizations. The most commonly practiced item was clarifying the reasons for using electronic health records. Such information could enhance the effective adoption of electronic health records by nurses.