Effect of Occupational Stress on Work Behavior as Perceived by Nurses at Benue State University Teaching Hospital Makurdi.

Background: Every work environment, especially in hospital settings must be conducive, friendly, and stress-free in order to promote quality care and the well-being of healthcare workers, whose job demands are increasing by the day. Aims: The purpose of this study was to determine the perceived effect of occupational stress on work behavior among nurses at Benue State University Teaching Hospital in Makurdi. Methods: From the facility's population of nurses, a quantitative survey randomly chose 150 respondents nurses, for the purpose of gathering information and testing the hypothesis, a well- developed and validated questionnaire was employed to gather data. Using SPSS, the data were descriptively analyzed, and an inferential analysis with a significance level of 5% was performed using Pearson's Chi-square test (0.05). Results: The majority of participants (56.6%) were men with a higher level of education. This study also shows the effect of occupational stress on work behavior as poor work performance 142 (94.7%), counterproductive work behavior 139 (92.7%), increases the incidence of absenteeism 112 (74.7%), high occurrence of medication error 120 (80%), Negative effect on teamwork 98 (65.3%), increases the incidence of Substance use disorders 95 (63.3), and aggressive attitude toward patients during nursing care 137 (91.3). Furthermore, there is a significant association between occupational stress and job satisfaction (x2 = 25.49, df = 8, and p < 0.001), patient safety (x2 = 51.07, df = 8, and P = 0.002), and nurses' attitudes toward their patients (x2 = 86.67, df = 12, and P = 0.012). Conclusion: We discovered that workplace stress can affect how happy nurses are with their jobs and how they behave while providing nursing care. We recommend that hospital administrators implement a plan to create a stress-free working environment for nurses.

Nursing preceptorship in Ekiti State, Southwest Nigeria: Perceptions of nursing students and clinical preceptors.

Nursing preceptors play a vital role in providing skills-oriented opportunities for students in the clinical environment. This study assessed the perceptions of nursing students regarding the clinical learning experience provided by preceptors, and the perceptions of nursing preceptors regarding their roles in ensuring beneficial clinical accompaniment in the three nursing institutions in Ekiti State, Southwestern Nigeria. A concurrent mixed-methods design consisting of a survey and semi-structured interviews were used. A multistage (consecutive, purposive, and convenience) sampling technique was used to obtain quantitative data from 120 nursing students and qualitative data from 20 preceptors. Data were analyzed using descriptive and thematic content analysis. Findings showed that overall students' perceptions of the clinical learning experience were good (92%), 91.7% of the students wanted direct supervision and inadequate support was reported due to the low preceptor-to-student ratio. Preceptors acknowledged that clinical accompaniment is one of their roles, challenges mentioned include few number of preceptors, lack of policy requirements to guide their duties, and limited equipment. We conclude that there is a need to provide adequate preceptors in clinical settings, as they are vital to the training of nurses. A unified policy and standardized procedure manual will improve the quality of the delivery of preceptorships in training institutions.

Lived experiences of breast cancer survivors at the General Hospital Ilorin Kwara State Northcentral, Nigeria.

Breast cancer is a debilitating disease with severe physical, psychological, social, and financial consequences. A phenomenological approach was used in this study to investigate the lived experience of twenty-one (21) breast cancer survivors who were purposefully chosen until saturation was reached. Tesch's data analysis method was employed. The participants' ages ranged from 30 to 70 years old, with the majority (16 out of 21; 76.2%) diagnosed within the previous two years and many describing the treatment experience as unpleasant and painful, with numerous side effects including nausea, insomnia, sore throat, and hair loss. The majority of participants (16 of 21; 76.2%) reported financial hardship as a result of treatment costs. The disease's socioeconomic impact includes poor human relations, negative perceptions of breast cancer diagnosis, poor sociocultural roles, and negative effects on patients' livelihood. Breast cancer counseling should be expanded, government and other stakeholders should also consider subsidized breast cancer management.

Knowledge, practice, and challenges of diabetes foot care among patients at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Foot ulcer is a common complication of diabetes and the most devastating component of diabetes progression that is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, practice, and challenges of diabetes foot care among patients with diabetes mellitus. Materials and methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study assessed knowledge and practice of foot care among type I and type II patients with diabetes attending the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire with a reliability of 0.880. SPSS version 22 was used to analyze the data. Results: The findings revealed that there is good knowledge of foot care, among 110 (50.0%) of the diabetic patients, while the practice of foot care was found to be poor among diabetic patients. It also shows the factor that statistically predicts the development of foot ulcers to include combined diet + oral medications + insulin treatment regimen (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.181, P = 0.016, confidence interval [CI] = 0.045-0.728), history of renal conditions (AOR = 0.115, P = 0.036, CI = 0.015-0.871), not receiving foot care education (AOR = 116.098, P < 0.001, CI = 12.497-1078.554), and receiving foot care education from nurses (AOR = 0.022, P = 0.001, CI = 0.002-0.216). Furthermore, 201 (91.4%) diabetes patients reported fatigue from completing the same task repeatedly, and 198 (90.0%) reported forgetfulness as obstacles to practicing foot care. Conclusion: When creating DM Patients future care plans, nurses and other health-care administrators must take into account the difficulties and predicting factors related to the practice of diabetes foot care.

Knowledge of Occupational Hazards and their Perceived Effects among Operating Theatre Workers.

Background and Aims: Health workers' attempt to provide quality care, makes them vulnerable to occupational hazards. Hence, the current study was done to assess the knowledge of occupational hazards and their perceived effects among operating theatre workers in the University of Benin teaching hospital, Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the health workers from March to December 2018. The data were collected through a self-structured questionnaire and analyzed by mean, standard deviation, and Chi-square test. Results: It was found that there was high knowledge about the preventive measures and perceived effects of occupational hazards. Conclusion: The current study found that the high level of knowledge demonstrated by the participants was at variance with practice. Hence, the health policymakers need to put up measures promoting safety practices, such as the provision of safety equipment, routine training for staff, adequate reinforcement, capacity and capability drilling, and health revenue cycle consultancy services should be institutionalized and made mandatory for all hospitals.

Clinical instructors' Motivational roles and perceived effect on absenteeism among student nurses in a tertiary hospital, Benin-City, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Absenteeism is a situation whereby students absence themselves from clinical posting without good reason, this incidence among student nurses contributed a significant problem that if not addressed will adversely affect the quality of nursing care; therefore, motivation of student during clinical posting found to be an important ingredient needed in eradicating absenteeism. Consequently, this study aims to determine the reasons why student nurses absenting themselves from clinical posting, its effect and how clinical instructor can motivate student nurses since they are the first role models and have a significant impact in their skill development. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive, quantitative design was used to elicit the information from a sample of 80 nurses and 80 students' nurses. Nurses: 25 medical surgical ward, 23 surgical ward, 17 obstetrics and gynecology ward, 15 theaters, and 80 student nurses, statistically drawn through a stratified sampling technique across the wards and school of nursing. Data collected were analyzed using tables, percentages, means, and standard deviation at 0.05 level of significance through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software. RESULTS: The student participants reported that non conducive working environment, working in infectious ward without adequate protection, noncooperation from clinical instructor, excessive number of clinical hours, embarrassment faced in front of patients and other medical personnel, lack of prompt medical treatment and care when sick, too much workload, and other number of clinical assignments as a major reason why they absenting themselves from clinical posting. The effect of student absenteeism and how students can be motivated is identified in this study. CONCLUSION: Reported factors leading to absenteeism among nursing students and identified motivating care should be handled carefully by the hospital managers to produce better health-care delivery' nurses in future.

Effect of a Training Programme on Knowledge and Practice of Lifestyle Modification among Hypertensive Patients Attending Out-Patient Clinics in Lagos.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease and death in the world. Research shows that the best way to remediate this problem is through lifestyle modification, but the percentage of hypertensive patients with the right knowledge about life-style modification is very low. It is therefore imperative to develop different ways of improving the practice and knowledge of life-style modification. Consequently, this study aim to determine the effectiveness of a training programme on knowledge and practice of lifestyle modification among hypertensive patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A quasi-experimental design was conducted with accidental sampling to select the sample size (n = 30). A modified structured questionnaire from World Health Organization (WHO), Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale (HK-LS) were used to measure knowledge of hypertension, knowledge of lifestyle modification and practice. Tables, percentages, mean, Standard Deviation and t-test were used for data analysis at 0.05 levels of significance, through statistical package for the social science software. RESULTS: The result showed that the t-test of the pre-knowledge about hypertension among hypertensive patients differed significantly from post-knowledge after intervention (t = 4.90, p = 0.001). In addition, there is significant different between the pre and post knowledge level about lifestyle modification after intervention (t = 3.62, p = 0.001). Significant different was also observed between the pre and post practice of lifestyle medication after intervention (t = 3.56, p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The health care providers, especially the nurses, must provide a continuous and focused training programme for hypertensive patients in order to improve their knowledge and practice of lifestyle modification.

Medication belief as correlate of medication adherence among patients with diabetes in Edo State, Nigeria.

AIM: The study aim was to determine the level of medication adherence, patient medication belief and to determine the correlation between medication belief and medication adherence among patients with diabetes. This is to find out whether medication belief of patient could enhance medication adherence which in turn would promote effective management of diabetic mellitus in Nigeria. BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO, 2015) estimated that over 366 million people are affected. The government and other non-governmental organizations such as Diabetic Association of Nigeria (DAN) put several programmes in place to reduce the incidence of the disease, but minimal progress has been recorded, and the factors responsible for that is a big dilemma in the heart of researchers in the field. Empirical findings showed that, there is increased rate of re-admission among DM patients and this is associated with poor medication adherence. There is a need to examine the factors responsible for poor medication adherence among patients with diabetes. In the review of the literature, medication belief is one of the major implicated factors, but there is no substantial evidence-based research to validate this presumption in Nigeria. Therefore, this study is to find out the relationship between medication belief and medication adherence among patients with diabetes. DESIGN: A correlational research design was adopted, to enable the researcher in determining the association between the medication belief and medication adherence among patients with diabetes mellitus. METHODS: A total enumeration was adopted for the study, where all the registered adult patients were invited to join the study voluntarily and informed verbal consent was obtained, after explaining the importance of the study. A total of 180 patients with diabetes participated in the study. The Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaires (BMQ) and Morisky Medication Adherence Scale were used. This is a standardized scale and well validated with a reliability coefficient of 0.86, using split-half model. A simple frequency distribution table and Spearman's rho correlational statistic were used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. RESULTS: The data analysis shows that the clients had a negative perception about medication and believed that medication had the tendency of causing harm or poison to their system. The correlation between medication belief and medication adherence showed p = 0.005 which means that there is a statistical relationship between the two variables.