A Mixed-Method Study on Rural Community's Response to Public Health Emergency in the Philippines: Lessons from the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: People from rural communities are not spared from COVID-19. But implementing preventive measures and strategies can be made to control the spread. Objective: This study was conducted to describe the epidemiologic situation and the healthcare capacity of the locality, determine the responses and strategies implemented in the control of COVID-19, and explain the activities performed in relation to the epidemiologic situation in Tarangnan, Samar - a low-income class municipality in the Philippines. Methods: A mixed qualitative-quantitative design was employed in this study. Descriptive documentary research design through review of records from March to October 2020 was utilized. For the qualitative context, a case study design was employed whereby focus group discussions and key informant interviews using open-ended questions were performed. Results: A total of 66 individuals were recorded as having COVID-19 in the municipality from March to October 2020. The first recorded confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Eastern Visayas were two adults in Tarangnan, Samar, in March 2020. Since then, additional confirmed cases have been recorded every month, but confirmed COVID-19 dramatically reduced from August to October 2020. Qualitative analysis revealed stringent COVID-19 preventive measures reflected in the confirmed case numbers. The tailwinds of the COVID-19 response include: the SARS pandemic precedent, coordination and communication, outpouring of support from other government and non-government partners, and innovative community-based approaches. The headwinds of COVID-19 response were challenges in imposing minimum health and safety precautions, stigmatization, and discrimination. Conclusion: Even if challenges have arisen in implementing measures against the spread of the disease, good outcomes have been achieved through persistent good practice, positive modifications, and community-based innovations.

Fear of COVID-19, poor quality of sleep, irritability, and intention to quit school among nursing students: A cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: This study aims to assess the fear of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its influence on the students' fear of COVID-19 and intention to leave nursing school. DESIGN AND METHODS: This study employed a cross-sectional design using self-report questionnaires distributed to 261 nursing students from the Philippines. FINDINGS: The first-year nursing students are found to be the most fearful among the group. The students' fear of COVID-19 is associated with their high irritability, poor sleep quality, and desire to quit nursing school. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Students are perturbed by the pandemic and teachers should implement supportive, teaching-learning strategies to address the student's needs.

Social and emotional loneliness among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: The predictive role of coping behaviors, social support, and personal resilience.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the influence of coping behaviors, resilience, and social support on students' emotional and social loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN AND METHODS: A cross-sectional research design was used to gather data from 303 college students from the Central Philippines using four standardized scales through an online survey. FINDINGS: Loneliness among students was high during the coronavirus pandemic. Resilience, coping behaviors, and social support were identified as protective factors against loneliness. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Interventions directed toward increasing resilience, social support, and coping behaviors may help decrease emotional and social loneliness caused by the mandatory lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Relationship between nurse practice environment and work outcomes: A survey study in the Philippines.

AIMS: Challenges in the nurse practice environment greatly affect nurse work outcomes. This study investigated the relationship between nurse practice environment and work outcomes in the Philippines. METHODS: This cross-sectional survey involved 549 hospital nurses in the Philippines in 2018. The nurse practice environment was measured using the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI). Four self-report scales were used to measure work outcomes: job satisfaction, job burnout, job stress and nurse-assessed quality of care. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Significant relationships were found between nurse and organizational characteristics and nurse practice environment. Further, multivariate regression analysis revealed that the nurse practice environment had a significant and positive relationship with perceived quality of care and a significant and negative relationship with job burnout and job stress. CONCLUSION: A favourable work environment significantly reduced job burnout and job stress and improved the quality of patient care. With considerable migration abroad, a favourable nurse practice environment may engage a better nurse workforce in the country and subsequently reduce migration. Managers must focus on developing good nurse practice environments that will improve professional work outcomes and quality patient care.

Impact of organizational silence and favoritism on nurse's work outcomes and psychological well-being.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to assess the impacts of organizational silence and favoritism on work outcomes and psychological wellbeing among nurses working in hospitals. BACKGROUND: Literature on the organizational climate among nurses in hospital settings is limited, particularly on favoritism and organizational silence and their effect on nurses. METHODS: Purposive sampling was used to gather 549 registered nurses who participated in this cross-sectional study. Standardized self-report questionnaires were used to gather the necessary data. RESULTS: Years in the nursing profession (ß = .028, P < .001), location of work (ß = 0.481, P < .001), and facility size (ß = 0.451, P < .001) strongly predicted organizational silence, while years in the present unit (ß = 0.020, P = .022) and last shift length (ß = 0.200, P = .012) predicted favoritism. Favoritism (ß = 0.226, P = .028) significantly influenced turnover intention in nurses. CONCLUSION: Higher levels of favoritism within the organization are strongly linked with nurses' turnover intention. Few individual and organizational variables predicted organizational silence and favoritism. IMPLICATIONS TO NURSING MANAGEMENT: The results of this study provide an insight to the effects of organizational silence and favoritism towards nurses' work outcomes and psychological wellbeing. Improving the channels of communication among the healthcare team is vital to promote inclusivity among healthcare workers and enhance organizational viability.

The association of nurse caring behaviours on missed nursing care, adverse patient events and perceived quality of care: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: This study evaluated the role of nurse caring in predicting missed nursing care, adverse patient events and the quality of nursing care. BACKGROUND: Missed nursing care is an issue essential in health care, as it is associated with adverse patient events. While studies have previously examined factors that result in missed nursing care activities and adverse events, the role of nurse caring itself in this context has not yet been explored. METHODS: A cross-sectional research design was adopted, employing a convenience sample of 549 registered nurses from six hospitals in the Philippines identified between October 2018 and January 2019. Four self-report scales were used in this study as follows: the caring behaviour inventory, the missed nursing care scale, the adverse patient events scale and a single-item scale to measure the quality of nursing care. RESULTS: Comforting or talking with patients and changing patients' positioning in bed were the most frequently missed care tasks, while patient/family complaints and patient/family verbal abuse were the most frequently reported adverse events. Nurse caring strongly predicted the quality of care, missed nursing care and patient adverse events. CONCLUSION: Fostering caring behaviours among nurses has a profound effect on nurses' decision to omit or provide nursing care as well as on reducing adverse events and promoting quality nursing care. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: The adoption of strategies to improve caring behaviours among nurses is critically important to prevent or reduce the occurrence of errors and adverse events.