Implementing the nurse practitioner role in Oman: Implications for policymaking.

BACKGROUND: In Oman, limited access to adequately prepared healthcare providers in primary healthcare threatens the provision of quality care to patients and families and access to healthcare services. Nurse practitioners (NP) are in an excellent position to address safety issues and ensure quality healthcare with their advanced nursing skills, knowledge, and acumen for acceptable cultural and religious practices. AIMS: To explain Oman's national strategic plans, processes, challenges, opportunities, and both regional and global implications for the facilitation of NP role implementation and policies. SOURCES OF EVIDENCE: The Nursing and Midwifery Human Resources framework guided the NP implementation project. Guided by the framework, the World Health Organization and the Omani Ministry of Health conducted multiple situational analyses (2004-2016). Later, the NP role was planned and implemented in Oman. During and after implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the NP role implementation were continuously conducted using multiple focus groups, individual interviews, and field visits. DISCUSSION: The NP role implementation revealed multiple challenges and opportunities that either hinder or support NP role implementation. Additionally, the NP implementation project revealed various lessons learned. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: National and global nursing leaders and health policymakers should collaborate to discuss NP issues, especially NP role sustainability, legal approval and recognition, prescriptive authority, title protection, practice acts, and professional regulation. CONCLUSION: This paper informs nursing leaders and policymakers in the Middle East and other countries in the global community about Oman's experience regarding NP role implementation.

Obesity and lifestyle behaviours among in-school children in Oman.

Background: Many countries are experiencing an increasing prevalence of childhood obesity and this needs to be carefully addressed. Aims: To determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity and the sociodemographic factors and lifestyle risk behaviours associated with obesity among in-school children in Al Buraimi Governorate, Oman. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 714 male and female in-school children aged 6-17 years in 14 government schools in Al Buraimi Governorate, Oman, from April to July 2019. Data were collected on the sociodemographic characteristics and lifestyle of the students using a self-administered questionnaire. The students' height, weight and waist circumference were also measured. The BMI-for-age growth charts cutoff reference standards of the WHO were used to determine weight category. Central obesity was assessed by calculating the waist-to-height ratio, and the waist-toheight ratio cutoff of 0.50 was used to identify central obesity in both boys and girls. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 21, involving both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: A total of 714 students were included. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 12.3% and 16.3% respectively, and 21.4% of the students had central obesity. Lifestyle risk behaviours were significantly associated with student's age, sex and mother's education (P < 0.05). Predictors of obesity were: unhealthy eating habits (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 5.20; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.50-10.70), sedentary screen-based activities (AOR = 1.54; 95% CI: 1.05-2.26), inadequate night-time sleep duration (AOR = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.34-1.00), sibling obesity (AOR = 2.24; 95% CI: 1.55-3.25), paternal obesity (AOR = 1.66; 95% CI: 1.10-2.50) and maternal obesity (AOR = 1.64; 95% CI: 1.10-2.45). Conclusion: There is a need for effective health promotion programmes targeting in-school children in Oman, as well as regular monitoring of lifestyle behaviours associated with overweight and obesity among the younger populations. Larger studies are needed to understand the predictors of overweight and obesity among in-school children in Oman and to design relevant school-based interventions to prevent obesity among young Omanis.

The influence of nurse managers' authentic leadership style and work environment characteristics on job burnout among emergency nurses.

BACKGROUND: Emergency nurses experience excessive workloads and high job burnout. Limited evidence exists exploring the role of authentic leadership and nurse work environment on job burnout among emergency nurses. OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of nurse managers' authentic leadership and nurse work environment on job burnout among emergency nurses. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 160 emergency nurses working in six hospitals in the Sultanate of Oman. The Maslach Burnout Inventory, Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, and the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index were used to assess study variables. RESULTS: Of the 233 distributed surveys, 160 emergency nurses responded resulting in a response rate of 69%. More than two thirds of emergency nurses (72.1%) reported high levels of burnout. Authentic leadership and a favorable work environment were significantly associated with lower job burnout. Nurse managers' transparency (ß = - 0.481, p = 0.031), ethical/moral conduct (ß = - .408, p = 0.043), managerial ability and support (ß = - 0.497, p = 0.018), and adequate staffing and resources (ß = -.068, p = 0.028) were all associated with lower job burnout. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest the importance of providing effective leadership, adequate support to staff, maintaining optimum staffing and resources, and developing nurse managers' authentic leadership to reduce nurses' job burnout.

Role transition from education to practice and its impact on the career futures of Omani nurses.

AIM: The aim of this study was to examine new Omani graduate nurses' role transition from education to practice. We also sought to describe factors that may affect the effective transition of new Omani graduates to their professional nurse role. BACKGROUND: There is a substantial literature on the process of transition from graduation to being a professional nurse in countries across the globe; however, little is known about new Omani graduate nurses' role transition from education to practice. DESIGN: This study had a descriptive cross-sectional design. METHODS: Data were collected from nurses who at the time of the study had been working for at least 3 months but not longer than 2 years. Role transition was assessed with the Comfort and Confidence subscale of the Casey-Fink Graduate Nurse Experience Survey (Casey et al., 2004). The survey consists of a 24-items that are rated on a 4-point Likert scale. We conducted a multivariate regression analysis to assess the factors that influence nurses' role transition. These factors included participants' demographic information, employment orientation durations, preceptorship duration and length of time before employment. RESULTS: The total sample consisted of 405 nurses working in 13 hospitals in Oman. Most (68.89%) had worked as a nurse for less than 6 months. The average internship and orientation durations were approximately 6 months (SD = 1.58) and 2 weeks (SD = 1.79), respectively. The number of preceptors assigned to new graduate nurses ranged from none to four. The average score on the Comfort and Confidence subscale was 2.96 (SD = 0.38). Results from the regression analysis demonstrated that age (ß = 0.029, SE = 0.012, p = .021), waiting time before employment (ß = -0.035, SE = 0.013, p = .007) and employment orientation duration (ß = -0.007, SE = 0.003, p = .018) were statistically significant factors influencing role transition experience among newly joined nurses. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that appropriate intervention strategies at the national level are needed to enhance the transition of nursing school graduates to their professional role. Strategies directed toward shortening the waiting time before employment and improving the internship experience are examples of priority-level tactics that can enhance Omani nursing graduates' transition to their professional role.

The Nursing Profession in Oman: An Overview.

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the history of nursing in the Sultanate of Oman, focusing in particular on the past 50 years. The information cited in the paper is retrieved from the official documents of the Directorate General of Nursing Affairs at the Ministry of Health of Oman, unless otherwise cited. Modern nursing in Oman began in the early 1900s, with the arrival of the American Missionary Association. The key events for the development of nursing in Oman occurred in 1970, when the Ministry of Health was established, and in 1979, when the Directorate of Nursing emerged as an independent department within the Ministry office. It is hoped that this article will be used by Omani and other researchers to further explore the evolution of nursing as a profession in Oman.

Identifying nurse managers' essential communication skills: an analysis of nurses' perceptions in Oman.

AIM(S): The aim of the present study was to analyse nurses' perceptions of the communication qualities that are essential for nurse managers to carry out their jobs effectively. BACKGROUND: An examination of effective communication may help to identify nurse manager behaviours that promote dignity and respect. METHOD(S): A paper-and-pencil survey collected open-ended data from 1526 nursing professionals (RNs) representing 22 hospitals in Oman. Qualitative content analysis was conducted first, followed by a quantitative descriptive analysis. RESULTS: The participants reported frustration with nurse managers who seemed overly focused on mistakes. Many participants felt there was little to no appreciation for tasks that were well done. Nurses also disliked being disciplined openly in front of colleagues or patients. CONCLUSION(S): The participants stressed that nurse manager feedback should be shared privately and framed in a positive and constructive tone. Active listening, team collaboration and the avoidance of discrimination/favouritism were also emphasised. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: A supportive and communicative work environment promotes nurses' dignity and respect. Embarrassing nurses in front of other health care professionals may be counterproductive. Instead, the study results suggested privately discussing concerns in a positive, constructive tone is more likely to foster nurse trust and dignity.

Disability-related content in nursing textbooks.

Although the American with Disabilities Act in 1990 mandated that people with disabilities (PWDs) have equal access to facilities and services, men and women with disabilities continue to report receiving inadequate health care. The need to address disability in health professions education, including nursing, has been identified by the U.S. Surgeon General, researchers, and the disability community. This study examined how disability issues are integrated in textbooks commonly used in nursing programs and differences in coverage by seven textbook categories (e.g., medical-surgical, pediatrics). A total of 33 textbooks used in undergraduate nursing curricula were systematically reviewed for inclusion of disability content using a review grid developed with the input of PWDs. Two researchers independently reviewed each textbook and at least three members of the team developed consensus ratings for each of 224 content items for each textbook. Sums of consensus ratings were calculated for each topic, each textbook, and all seven categories of textbooks. Ratings of each category of disability-related content were calculated and ranked from highest to lowest. Two investigators reviewed the consensus ratings for each category of book as well as written comments provided during the initial steps of the review. Analysis revealed that disability-related content was largely absent from textbooks and categories of textbooks. Although disabling conditions were discussed, issues related to lifelong or preexisting disability were often not addressed. Abuse, a major issue for PWDs, was barely addressed in detail in any of the textbooks. There were significant differences (p = .005) in inclusion of disability-related content by type of textbook; the highest ranked category was community health. Topics that would be expected in specific categories were often addressed infrequently or not at all. The results of this study suggest the need for faculty members to address disability in their nursing curricula in creative ways until textbook authors and publishers begin to address this issue. The large and growing population of 60 million individuals with disabilities mandates this action.