Exploring the lived experience of Jordanian male nurses: A phenomenological study.

BACKGROUND: Human beings have an inbuilt desire to care and nurture others. In some professions such as nursing, women are perceived as privileged in relation to these traits, and women are in the majority in the nursing profession. The Gender theory suggests that men should adapt to feminine traits and nature in order to fit in the nursing profession. However, there is a paucity of literature in relation to Arab male nurses' experience in nursing. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the Jordanian male nurses' experiences of their career within their Arabic community. METHODS: A hermeneutic phenomenological approach, underpinned by VanManen's perspective was used. Twenty-two Jordanian male nurses were approached from four hospitals in Jordan. Four focus groups comprising 5-6 interviewees in each were used. The focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data were analyzed using Van Manen's hermeneutic approach and themes extracted from the Arabic version were compared critically with the analysis of the English version to develop the meaning of the narratives. DISCUSSION: Three major themes emerged from the data: (i) personal gains; (ii) masculinity; (iii) and cultural influences. Whilst male nurses recognized nursing is a female dominant profession, they viewed themselves as more independent in decision making and more productive than their female counterparts. Significantly, the participants described nursing as a means of fulfilling their spiritual needs and thus a personal gain. The interviewees linked their masculinity to resilience and endurance. Participants described that men in nursing face some social constraints within the Arab community. CONCLUSION: The study findings partly supported the fact that nursing in Jordan is a predominantly female profession which lends support to the gender theory in which Jordanian male nurses experienced a social bias and disadvantages by Arabic culture stereotypes of a male nurse. Although nursing is still a feminine career, the findings of this study raise awareness that gender role stereotype might not hold a strong stance in relation to nursing and that could be attributed to elements such as economic and payment status.

Delphi Survey of Clinical Nursing and Midwifery Research Priorities in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

PURPOSE: As the shortage of nurses and midwives is expected to worsen in the Eastern Mediterranean region concomitantly with a growing focus on achievement of universal health coverage, nurses and midwives are expected to fill major gaps in health care. Hence, the need for a solid evidence base for nursing practice and a clear direction for clinical nursing research are paramount. Therefore, a Delphi survey was conducted to determine clinical (research focused on patient outcomes) nursing and midwifery priorities for research within this region. DESIGN: A Delphi survey, using iterative rounds of an online survey of regional clinical nursing and midwifery research experts, was conducted between January and April 2016. METHODS: Consensus was determined by percentage agreement on level of priority for topics as determined by participants. Additionally, results were compared between countries within the region by income and mortality levels using Kendall's tau. FINDINGS: Critical research topics were focused on public/community/primary care as well as emergency preparedness for disasters, and these priorities are well aligned with gaps in the literature for this region. There were statistically significant differences between priority level and country mortality group for geriatrics, self-management of disease, and sexually transmitted infections. CONCLUSIONS: Critical research priorities should focus on population-based health topics. Between-country differences should be analyzed further. A clinical research database for the region may help improve research access for nurses and midwives. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Practicing nurses and midwives lack extensive evidence (including culturally relevant evidence) on which to practice. Increasing research in areas identified in this survey may improve patient outcomes and quality of care regionally.

Baseline situational analysis in Bangladesh, Jordan, Paraguay, the Philippines, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe for the WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health: Universal Health Coverage for Mental Health.

INTRODUCTION: Mental, neurological and substance use conditions lead to tremendous suffering, yet globally access to effective care is limited. In line with the 13th General Programme of Work (GPW 13), in 2019 the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health: Universal Health Coverage for Mental Health to advance mental health policies, advocacy, and human rights and to scale up access to quality and affordable care for people living with mental health conditions. Six countries were selected as 'early-adopter' countries for the WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health in the initial phase. Our objective was to rapidly and comprehensively assess the strength of mental health systems in each country with the goal of informing national priority-setting at the outset of the Initiative. METHODS: We used a modified version of the Program for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME) situational analysis tool. We used a participatory process to document national demographic and population health characteristics; environmental, sociopolitical, and health-related threats; the status of mental health policies and plans; the prevalence of mental disorders and treatment coverage; and the availability of resources for mental health. RESULTS: Each country had distinct needs, though several common themes emerged. Most were dealing with crises with serious implications for population mental health. None had sufficient mental health services to meet their needs. All aimed to decentralize and deinstitutionalize mental health services, to integrate mental health care into primary health care, and to devote more financial and human resources to mental health systems. All cited insufficient and inequitably distributed specialist human resources for mental health as a major impediment. CONCLUSIONS: This rapid assessment facilitated priority-setting for mental health system strengthening by national stakeholders. Next steps include convening design workshops in each country and initiating monitoring and evaluation procedures.

Cognitive appraisal of stress and health status of wage working and non-wage working women in Jordan.

This cross-sectional correlation study addresses the stress appraisal of 93 Jordanian wage working and non-wage working single and married women in Jordan and the relationship of appraised stress to their physical and psychological health. Data were collected using a demographic interview guide that included a Likert-type scale addressing perceived global social stress, the Cornell Medical Index (CMI), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Perceived stress had no significant relations with physical and emotional health as measured by the PSS, but significant relations were found between social stress and indicators of health. In fact, social stress was the single most significant predictor of overall health, physical health, and emotional health. The findings on the health profile of participants and social stress have important implications for future research and for illness prevention and health promotion initiatives.

Home Health Care (HHC) Managers Perceptions About Challenges and Obstacles that Hinder HHC Services in Jordan.

UNLABELLED: Home care aims at supporting people with various degrees of dependency to remain at home rather than use residential, long-term, or institutional-based nursing care. Demographic, epidemiological, social, and cultural trends in Jordan as in other countries are changing the traditional patterns of care with growing emphasis on home care. The purpose of this study is to highlight the most common challenges related to home health care (HHC) services in Jordan as perceived by the managers of HHC agencies. METHODS: A descriptive qualitative design that depends on focus group discussions has been used to collect data from a sample of 18 managers who met the selection criteria and who are willing to participate, the study found that, the main challenges of HHC services as perceived by managers were: shortage of female staff, lack of governance and regulation, poor management, unethical practices, lack of referral systems, and low accessibility of the poor and less privileged as HHC services are not included in health insurance schemes, it concludes also that the home health care industry in Jordan is facing many challenges and problems that may have negative effects on the effectiveness, efficiency, equity and quality of services and should be addressed by health policy makers.