Burnout and job satisfaction among critical care nurses in Saudi Arabia and their contributing factors: A scoping review.

AIM: Nurses working in highly demanding areas, such as intensive care units, are more likely to experience burnout and low job satisfaction than nurses working in less demanding areas. This review aims to assess the degree of well-being of nurses working in critical care settings in Saudi Arabia by evaluating their levels of burnout and job satisfaction, as well as the factors that contribute to them. DESIGN: A scoping review. METHOD: Seven databases were searched for published research that examined the levels and factors of burnout and job satisfaction in intensive care units nurses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as literature in which terminology other than "burnout" or terms related to burnout (such as "stress," "compassion fatigue" and "moral distress") were used that were conducted within Saudi Arabia. Data extraction and synthesis were performed by one reviewer and verified by a second reviewer. The present review was undertaken between January 2020 and December 2020. RESULTS: Eleven studies related to burnout and job satisfaction, and their contributing factors were identified. Evidence from this review indicated that intensive care units nurses in Saudi Arabia are suffering from moderate to high levels of burnout while experiencing only moderate levels of job satisfaction. Three categories of factors were found to be associated with burnout and nursing job satisfaction: intrapersonal, interpersonal and extra-personal factors. The review highlights important findings for policy and nursing practice that can inform future studies and the development of burnout management strategies.

Recruitment and retention of health professionals across Europe: A literature review and multiple case study research.

Many European countries are faced with health workforce shortages and the need to develop effective recruitment and retention (R&R) strategies. Yet comparative studies on R&R in Europe are scarce. This paper provides an overview of the measures in place to improve the R&R of health professionals across Europe and offers further insight into the evidence base for R&R; the interaction between policy and organisational levels in driving R&R outcomes; the facilitators and barriers throughout these process; and good practices in the R&R of health professionals across Europe. The study adopted a multi-method approach combining an extensive literature review and multiple-case study research. 64 publications were included in the review and 34 R&R interventions from 20 European countries were included in the multiple-case study. We found a consistent lack of evidence about the effectiveness of R&R interventions. Most interventions are not explicitly part of a coherent package of measures but they tend to involve multiple actors from policy and organisational levels, sometimes in complex configurations. A list of good practices for R&R interventions was identified, including context-sensitivity when implementing and transferring interventions to different organisations and countries. While single R&R interventions on their own have little impact, bundles of interventions are more effective. Interventions backed by political and executive commitment benefit from a strong support base and involvement of relevant stakeholders.

The perceived health promotion practice of nurses in Saudi Arabia.

The health promotion practice of nurses working in Saudi Arabia is unidentified. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived health promotion practice of staff nurses in Saudi Arabia. This was achieved by surveying the views of nurses (n = 614), doctors (n = 130) and patients (n = 322) in 10 hospitals located in the Eastern Province of the country using a self-report questionnaire. There was agreement that nurses had the necessary skills to promote health in general and had sufficient knowledge to promote health in the three specific areas explored: physical activity, smoking cessation and weight control. However, the findings also showed that the majority of participants wanted nurses to give priority to acute care over health promotion within the hospital setting and that patients dislike nurses asking about health-related behaviours when these are not directly relevant to their presenting health problems. Concerns were also raised about the language and cultural competency of a largely migrant nursing workforce to effectively communicate health promotion messages to patients. In view of the findings, policy-makers in Saudi Arabia need to consider providing appropriate training programmes for nurses to introduce the wider concept of their health promotion role. Health promotion protocols, strategies and standards to support nurses to more effectively implement health promotion with their routine practice are also required. It is suggested that, while reliance on a largely migrant workforce who do not speak Arabic continues, the potential benefits of a good quality interpretation service to improve nurse-patient communication should be considered.

Emotional intelligence: its relationship to stress, coping, well-being and professional performance in nursing students.

Emotional intelligence (EI) has been highlighted as an important theoretical and practical construct. It has the potential to enable individuals to cope better and experience less stress thus contributing to a healthy and stable workforce. The study aimed to explore the EI of nursing students (n=130, 52.0%) and its relationship to perceived stress, coping strategies, subjective well-being, perceived nursing competency and academic performance. Students were on the adult pathway of a nursing diploma or degree programme in one Higher Education Institution (HEI) in the United Kingdom (UK). A prospective correlational survey design was adopted. Three methods of data collection were used: i) A self-report questionnaire; ii) an audit of students' academic performance; and iii) mapping of EI teaching in the curricula. Emotional intelligence was positively related to well-being (p<0.05), problem-focused coping (p<0.05) and perceived nursing competency (p<0.05), and negatively related to perceived stress (p<0.05). The findings suggest that increased feelings of control and emotional competence assist nursing students to adopt active and effective coping strategies when dealing with stress, which in turn enhances their subjective well-being. This study highlights the potential value of facilitating the EI of students of nursing and other healthcare professions.

Methodological challenges of researching in the care home sector.

Freda Mold, Julia Roberts, Joanne Fitzpatrick and Louise Barriball address the challenges encountered while undertaking a feasibility study to elicit the views of care home nurse managers on the needs of minority ethnic older residents. It includes advice for those who plan to conduct empirical work in this sector.

The personal tutor's role in pre-registration nursing education.

Providing support for students has always been an inherent part of the lecturer's role. Widening access to students from backgrounds not traditionally associated with higher education has necessitated a review of the personal tutor system, as potential students may not be equipped with the academic skills to meet the demands of higher education. Ten randomly selected lecturers in one institute of higher education were interviewed to elicit their views and experiences of the personal tutor's role. The findings showed that the role of the personal tutor was considered both demanding, as students have increasingly different needs, but also fulfilling. The provision of pastoral care was viewed as integral to the role of the personal tutor, although most lecturers reported that they adopted an all-encompassing model of support that ranged from providing academic, professional, psychological and financial advice. Time factors and workload were identified as important structural constraints.

An audit of clinical supervision in primary care.

This article reports on an audit of clinical supervision in one primary care trust (PCT). Data were collected by telephone interviews with 44 respondents from a range of professions occupying different clinical and managerial grades in the organization. Clinical supervision was varied both in terms of its availability and management between different professional groups and teams reflecting, in part, differing levels of motivation towards supporting clinical supervision by individual practitioners and managers as well as a perceived lack of trust leadership. Respondents also reported several potential and actual benefits of clinical supervision, including the improvement and standardization of practice and the facilitation of learning and professional development, although there was no consensus regarding the most appropriate format (e.g. individual, group or team) or structure (e.g. uni-professional or multi-professional) for clinical supervision. It was widely agreed that the introduction of mechanisms for monitoring both the process and outcomes of supervision, greater protection of time allocated for supervision and more training opportunities to increase the skill and number of available supervisors were needed.

Online information on primary care services for refugees and asylum-seekers.

Government initiatives concerning equitable services and information provision aim to provide for the whole community. This includes those recently arrived in England as refugees. This study evaluated the information provided online by 16 London primary care trusts (PCTs) on activities under way to meet the needs of the local refugee population and the extent to which government initiatives are being met. Information published on websites of PCTs with a refugee population estimated to be over 2.5% of the London total refugee population was surveyed using a 13-item framework based on guidelines for health professionals working in refugee health (Burnett and Fassil, 2002). The findings show a disparity between different types of information provided and variations in the overall standards achieved by individual PCTs, indicating a need for considerable work if the requirements of the public and government for access to high quality information about services are to be met. The majority of PCTs, however, provide good information regarding coordination of services and evidence of a thorough health needs assessment. The findings are relevant to health professionals working with refugees and to PCT employees involved in publishing information on the internet.