Correction: Healthy lifestyle behaviors are major predictors of mental wellbeing during COVID-19 pandemic confinement: A study on adult Arabs in higher educational institutions.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243524.].

Healthy lifestyle behaviors are major predictors of mental wellbeing during COVID-19 pandemic confinement: A study on adult Arabs in higher educational institutions.

BACKGROUND: In the past infectious diseases affected the quality of lifestyle during home confinement. The study conducted examines the influence of home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak on lifestyle, mental wellbeing, nutritional status, and sleeping pattern. METHOD: An online multicategorical questionnaire was distributed to collect demographic information combined with the following tools: Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), WHO-5 wellbeing score, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). A snowball non-discriminate sampling procedure was conducted to collect data from people attending or working at higher institutions from March 1, 2020 to April 24, 2020. A total of 1723 completed responses (917 males, 37.4 ±13.4 years old and 806 females 32.2 ± 11.5 years old) were collected. RESULTS: The female participants had significantly lower mental health scores than males (53.9% vs. 46.1%). The mental wellbeing scores were higher among participants with medium and high physical activity (PA) levels (p < 0.00). Additionally, the mental wellbeing scores were significantly improved by dietary quality and it's sleeping score (p < 0.001). However, PA was by far the major determinant of the mental health scores. CONCLUSION: Factors such as PA, diet, and sleeping patterns were associated with mental wellbeing during the COVID-19 confinement among Arab participants.

Writing-to-Learn: Attitudes of nursing students at Sultan Qaboos University.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to assess the attitude of Omani nursing students towards writing-to-learn (WTL) and its relationship to demographic variables, self-efficacy and the writing process. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used to evaluate attitudes towards WTL by Sultan Qaboos University nursing students. A convenience sample of 106 students was used and data collected between October 2009 and March 2010. A modified version of the WTL attitude scale developed by Dobie and Poirrier was used to collect the data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for analysis. RESULTS: Senior and junior students had more positive attitudes to WTL than mid-level students who tended to have negative attitudes towards writing. Although 52.8% students had negative attitudes towards the writing process, the median was higher for attitudes to the writing process compared to the median for self-efficacy. There was a positive correlation between self-efficacy and writing process scores. CONCLUSION: Overall, students had negative attitudes towards WTL. Attitudes are learnt or formed through previous experiences. The incorporation of WTL strategies into teaching can transform students' negative attitudes towards writing into positive ones.

Preceptors' perceptions of clinical nursing education.

The behavior of clinical preceptors plays a key role in the learning process of students. This study explored preceptors' perceptions of the clinical teaching-learning process of final-year undergraduate nursing students. After ethical permission was obtained, a 30-item questionnaire was administered to 76 preceptors at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital in 2011. Most preceptors had more than 10 years of experience. The majority (87%) of preceptors rated students' response to constructive feedback positively, and 75% evaluated students' professional behaviors and communication positively. Several factors were identified as interfering with preceptorship, including lack of protected time and heavy workload of preceptors, poor correlation of theory and practice, and lack of interest in direct patient care by students. Most preceptors identified factors that facilitate preceptorship as students' commitment to direct patient care and consistent shift duty with the assigned preceptor during the entire clinical rotation. These results may help faculty appreciate preceptors' views and acknowledge areas of success, as well as areas that need improvement.

Attitudes of Students at Sultan Qaboos University towards the Nursing Profession.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore the attitudes of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) students towards the nursing profession. METHODS: A sample of 377 students (male = 130; female = 247) were selected from different colleges of SQU, including the College of Nursing. A questionnaire was constructed and validated to assess the attitudes of SQU students towards the nursing profession. RESULTS: Findings revealed that both male and female students in all academic years and colleges had positive attitudes toward the nursing profession. The findings also revealed that gender and academic year created no significant differences (P <0.05) among the study participants, but that the students' college affiliation did have a significant effect on their attitudes. In particular, nursing students had more positive attitudes than students of other colleges. CONCLUSION: Findings indicated that the attitudes of SQU students towards the nursing profession were positive, especially those of the nursing students. This means that serious efforts should be made to continue to promote the nursing profession and so ensure that it remains positively regarded by all concerned.

Conflict management styles used by nurse managers in the Sultanate of Oman.

AIM: The study aimed at investigating the conflict management styles used by nurse managers in the Sultanate of Oman. BACKGROUND: Conflict is inevitable in daily nursing work. Several styles are used to manage conflict situations. In previous studies conducted in Western countries, avoiding and compromising conflict management styles appear to be the first choices for the nurses. In Arab countries, no study to date has examined the conflict management styles used by nurse managers to compare with the results from studies conducted in Western countries. DESIGN: Survey. METHOD: A questionnaire was distributed to all nurse managers working in the three-management levels from nine referral hospitals in Sultanate of Oman, 271 were returned, a response rate of 86%. The results were analysed using spss version 16. RESULTS: Nurse managers in Oman used all five conflict management styles, with integrating style as the first choice followed in order by compromising, obliging, dominating and avoiding. These results differ from the results of the studies conducted on nurses in other countries. CONCLUSION: The results of this study have implications for people who work in the hospitals, whether practitioners or policy makers. Recommendations are offered to improve nurse managers' work environment. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Conflict can affect patient care if handled badly. Poorly handled conflict results in lower staff morale and poorer retention, both adversely affect patient care.

The impact on mothers of bringing up a child with intellectual disabilities: a cross-cultural study.

BACKGROUND: Most research into the impact on mothers of having a child with an intellectual disability has been done in Western cultures. These mothers are at increased risk of stress, along with poorer health and weakened family relationships. Nurses are well placed to support these mothers. OBJECTIVES: (1) To describe across three different cultures-Irish, Taiwanese and Jordanian-the inter-relationships among three indicators of maternal well-being. (2) To identify the coping strategies of mothers and the professional and informal supports available to them. (3) To identify the variables that have a negative impact on maternal well-being and possible moderating influences on them. DESIGN: A survey approach with three groups of self-selected mothers. PARTICIPANTS: The characteristics of the child determined the inclusion criteria; namely aged 5-18 years with a diagnosis of intellectual disability of such severity that the children attended special schools or centres. In each country, the special services within particular geographical areas were approached and all families known to them were given the opportunity to participate. In all 206 mothers agreed to participate. METHODS: Mothers were interviewed individually at home or in the day centre attended by their child. They completed various rating scales of known reliability and validity. In addition they described in their own words, the impact the child had on their lives and how they coped. RESULTS: In all three countries, mothers experienced poor mental health, increased levels of child-related stress and poorer family functioning which the qualitative data further illuminated. Their child's behaviour problems were a major factor in this. The impacts on mothers' well-being were not alleviated by access to professional supports or use of coping strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Health professionals need to adopt family-centred approaches that embrace the support needs of mothers. Similar strategies would apply across all cultures although they must be responsive to individual need.