[A qualitative study on nurses' experiences with social stigma in the context of COVID-19]. / Estudio cualitativo sobre las experiencias de las enfermeras en cuanto a estigma social en el contexto de la COVID-19.

AIM: This study aimed to examine the social stigma experienced by healthcare workers caring for people diagnosed with COVID-19. METHODS: This research employed a qualitative-phenomenological approach. It was conducted at the COVID centers of the Hail region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Both purposive and snowball sampling were used, resulting in 15 participants. However, saturation was identified in the 11th participant. Interviews were conducted online through a Zoom platform, with at least 50min per participant. Thematic analysis was used in analysing the data. RESULTS: The nurses recorded four themes and three subthemes based on one-on-one interviews. These themes included (1) Labeling nurses as "COVID Nurses," with a subtheme of frustration, (2) "Fear of the unknown," with a subtheme of "uncertainties," (3) Nurses' need for support, and (4) the Love for the profession, with a subtheme of "nurses' worth." CONCLUSION: Nurses who cared for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 experienced stigma. They were labeled "COVID Nurses." They experienced fear of the unknown and uncertainties and felt they needed support. Despite these experiences, the nurses felt fulfilled as they have a high regard for their profession. The experiences of these nurses call for intervention to help them before, during, and after any health-related crisis. In this context, nurses will be prepared mentally and emotionally to face the challenges in their career.

[A qualitative study on nurses' experiences with social stigma in the context of COVID-19]. / Estudio cualitativo sobre las experiencias de las enfermeras en cuanto a estigma social en el contexto de la COVID-19.

Aim: This study aimed to examine the social stigma experienced by healthcare workers caring for people diagnosed with COVID-19. Methods: This research employed a qualitative-phenomenological approach. It was conducted at the COVID centers of the Hail region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Both purposive and snowball sampling were used, resulting in 15 participants. However, saturation was identified in the 11th participant. Interviews were conducted online through a Zoom platform, with at least 50 min per participant. Thematic analysis was used in analysing the data. Results: The nurses recorded four themes and three subthemes based on one-on-one interviews. These themes included (1) Labeling nurses as "COVID Nurses," with a subtheme of frustration, (2) "Fear of the unknown," with a subtheme of "uncertainties," (3) Nurses' need for support, and (4) the Love for the profession, with a subtheme of "nurses' worth." Conclusion: Nurses who cared for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 experienced stigma. They were labeled "COVID Nurses." They experienced fear of the unknown and uncertainties and felt they needed support. Despite these experiences, the nurses felt fulfilled as they have a high regard for their profession. The experiences of these nurses call for intervention to help them before, during, and after any health-related crisis. In this context, nurses will be prepared mentally and emotionally to face the challenges in their career.

Assessment of determinants predicting success on the Saudi Nursing Licensure Examination by employing artificial neural network.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to use the artificial neural network as a novel approach to explore factors that determine and predict successful performance of nursing interns in Saudi Arabia on the Saudi Nursing Licensure Examination (SNLE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study employed a cross-sectional, analytic approach. A total of 62 nursing interns were recruited by convenience sampling from the University of Hail to participate. Data collection was conducted from September to December 2019. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the demographic characteristics of the nursing interns and their responses regarding examination determinants. Neural network analysis was used to identify factors that are highly predictive of the success of the nursing interns on the SNLE. RESULTS: Overall, the nursing interns were undecided (3.94 ± 0.14) about the influential factors determining their success. Their study hours (100%) and grade point average (GPA) (96.9%) were identified as strong determinants reflective of the tenacity and vigor of the nursing interns, based on the predictive power of the model. Meanwhile, age (45.7%), marital status (21.3%), gender (15.2%), and the type of academic program (5.9%) were considered the least important of the sociodemographic variables. CONCLUSION: Exam preparation activities such as preparation programs, review classes, and exam simulations must be promoted and enhanced to increase the passing tendencies of the nursing interns in the SNLE. The GPA and increased study hours make the most significant contributions to success on the SNLE as compared to other variables such as age, gender, marital status, and the academic program. This study serves as a springboard for nursing educators and administrators in laying tailored strategies to strengthen the nurse interns' GPA and time management.