Moral courage, burnout, professional competence, and compassion fatigue among nurses.

BACKGROUND: Moral courage is the ability to defend and practice ethical and moral action when faced with a challenge, even if it means rejecting pressure to act otherwise. However, moral courage remains an unexplored concept among middle eastern nurses. AIM: This study investigated the mediating role of moral courage in the relationship between burnout, professional competence, and compassion fatigue among Saudi Arabian nurses. RESEARCH DESIGN: Correlational, cross-sectional design following the STROBE guidelines. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT: Convenience sampling was used to recruit nurses (n = 684) for four government hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Four validated self-report questionnaires (Nurses' Moral Courage Scale, Nurse Professional Competence Scale-Short Form, Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Nurses Compassion Fatigue Inventory) were used to collect data between May to September 2022. Spearman rho and structural equation modeling analyses were employed to analyze the data. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: The ethics review committee of a government university in Ha'il region, Saudi Arabia, approval this study (Protocol no.: H-2021-012; Approved: 08/022,021). Participants were fully explained the study aims, and consent was voluntarily secured. RESULTS: The emerging model showed that burnout had a direct and positive influence on compassion fatigue, while professional competence had a direct, negative effect on compassion fatigue. Moral courage had a small and direct but negative influence on compassion fatigue. Mediation analyses also indicated that moral courage significantly mediated the indirect effects of burnout and professional competence on compassion fatigue. CONCLUSION: Moral courage can be a crucial aspect in preserving the psychological and mental health of nurses, particularly under stressful conditions. Therefore, it is advantageous from an organizational and leadership standpoint to implement measures such as programs and interventions to foster moral courage among nurses.

The Impact of Mental Well-Being, Stress, and Coping Strategies on Resilience among Staff Nurses during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Structural Equational Model.

Previous studies have revealed various factors related to nurses' resilience and predictors of resilience. However, there are no studies analysing the association of three variables-mental well-being, coping strategies, and stress-with resilience. This study aims to assess the impact of mental well-being, levels of stress, and coping strategies on resilience using path analysis. This study used a cross-sectional approach that involved 763 nurses from 16 major hospitals in the eastern and northern regions of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data gathering was conducted from August to November 2022. The staff nurses possessed positive mental wellness (3.75 ± 1.08), moderate stress levels (3.06 ± 1.21), adequate coping skills (3.33 ± 1.23), and a low level of resilience (2.90 ± 1.040). Age had a small effect on resilience (ß = 0.040; p < 0.001) but work experience (ß = -0.019; p > 0.139) and marital status (ß = 0.019; p > 0.072) were not significant. Conversely, mental well-being (ß = 0.043; p < 0.001) and stress (ß = -0.089; p < 0.001) had a small effect on resilience, but coping strategies (ß = 0.561; p < 0.001) had a large effect on resilience. Therefore, coping strategies must be reinforced at all times to assist nurses and other healthcare professionals in identifying contributing elements that maintain these workers' resilience in the face of unforeseen and protracted pandemics and other life events.

Predictors and correlates of Saudi nursing students' grit and positive thinking amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Academic success requires grit and positive thinking. However, research on Middle Eastern nursing students' grit and positive thinking is limited. This study investigated the demographic variables that correlate to and predict Saudi nursing students' grit and positive thinking. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional design guided this study. We used the 12-item Short Grit Scale (Grit-S) and 8-item Positive Thinking Skills Scale (PTSS) to collect data from 338 nursing students. The Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression analysis were utilized to analyze the data. Findings: Nursing students' Grit-S mean score is more significant than their PTSS score. The year level is inversely associated with Grit-S, while gender and Grit-S had a weak direct correlation. Regarding PTSS, only the year level was inversely correlated. Finally, both the year level and gender were significant predictors of Grit-S and PTSS. Discussion: Participants' responses to Grit-S and PTSS scores vary greatly depending on their demographics. The nursing students' grit and positive thinking did not develop as they progressed in the nursing program, which is viewed differently by each gender.

Structural equation modeling of the association between professional and cultural competencies of nurses in Saudi Arabia.

AIM: To determine the influence of Saudi nurses' professional competencies on their cultural competency using the structural equation model (SEM). BACKGROUND: Nurses are an essential component of the health care delivery system; it is crucial to understand their professional and cultural competencies. However, these concepts remain underreported from a middle eastern perspective. DESIGN: A correlational, cross-sectional design. METHODS: Data were collected using two self-report instruments from 587 nurses employed in three government-run tertiary hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Spearman rho and SEM were performed to analyze the relationships of the studied variables. RESULTS: The emerging model showed acceptable model fit indices. Among the six dimensions of professional competency, only three significantly influence cultural competency. Specifically, both care pedagogics and medical and technical care had a moderate, positive influence on cultural competency. Contrastingly, value-based nursing care had a moderate but negative influence on cultural competency. CONCLUSIONS: Cultural competency is a complex and underused nursing concept influenced by nurses' professional competencies. The knowledge acquired from the presented model can be used by nurse leaders, administrators and educators in developing appropriate policies, programs and strategies.

Parental authority as a mediator between career decision-making self-efficacy, career decision ambiguity tolerance, and career choice of nursing students: A path analysis.

BACKGROUND: Students' decision to pursue a nursing career is influenced by internal (e.g., innate desire, personal experiences) and external variables (e.g., parental influence, social support). However, little is known about how parental authority mediates nursing students' career decision-making self-efficacy, decision-making ambiguity, and nursing as a career choice. PURPOSE: This study examined the influence of parental authority on nursing students' decision to pursue nursing and its mediating effect on the association between career choice, career decision ambiguity, and career decision-making self-efficacy. METHODS: A cross-sectional study that used total enumeration sampling. Four self-report survey instruments were utilized to collect data from nursing students (n = 378) of a state-run university in Saudi Arabia. The data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient, covariance-based structural equation model, and path analysis. RESULTS: The emerging model showed acceptable model fit indices. The path analysis indicated that parental authority mediated the relationship between career decision-making self-efficacy and nursing career choice. Career decision-making self-efficacy positively and indirectly affected nursing career choice through the mediation of parental authority. Career decision ambiguity tolerance did not directly influence parental authority, but it had a positive, indirect effect through the mediation of career decision-making self-efficacy of nursing students. CONCLUSION: The strong and direct correlation between career decision-making self-efficacy, career decision ambiguity tolerance, and nursing career choice demonstrated in our study indicates that parental authority strongly influences nursing students' career choices. Our study concludes that parental authority over their children is highly predictive of their career choices.

The Profile of Saudi Nursing Workforce: A Cross-Sectional Study.

INTRODUCTION: The Royal Monarchy in Saudi Arabia decreed that all sectors of the workforce would be subject to a policy of "Saudisation" to reduce the reliance on the expatriate workforce and to reduce the unemployment rate of Saudi nationals (Al-Mahmoud et al., 2012). METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional design was chosen to investigate the research questions. The population of this study comprised Saudi Registered Nurses working in MOH hospitals in Riyadh which is the main health care provider in Saudi Arabia (Aboul-Enein, 2002; MOH, 2009). RESULTS AND FINDINGS: A total number of 1,198 questionnaires were distributed and 61.2% (n = 741) were returned. The findings of the study showed that the questionnaires were collected from an equal portion of the study locale and that a sample of 741 is enough to create a strong conclusion and answer the problem set in this study and all the questions in the study have been provided with answers with enough data and literatures to supports its findings. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The results indicate that an increase in the recruitment of Saudi males may simply reflect cultural issues such as gender specific facilities and the Saudisation program's nondiscriminatory approach to employment of both genders into nursing.