Nurse education in Jordan: history and development

How the public perceives the "good nurse" in China: A content analysis of national newspapers

INTRODUCTION

Newspapers are a predominant channel through which the Chinese public learns about nurses and the nursing profession. However, little nursing research has been performed in China to investigate the newspaper portrayal of nurses, and how the public perceives the role of nurses in the Chinese context is still an ambiguous phenomenon. This study aimed to clarify the public portrayals of nurses in China, and to analyze whether there are changes over time in news content related to nurses in the national newspapers.

DESIGN

A content analysis of the newspaper articles citing nurses that have been published since each newspaper was established.

METHOD

We selected two national daily newspapers as sources to systematically search for articles about nurses from 1949 to 2022. A coding instrument was developed to quantitatively extract the contents of the articles identified. Then, using a mixed methods approach, we analyzed newspaper content to show the roles of nurses presented to the public by the media.

RESULTS

A total of 317 articles were analyzed. Nurses have been depicted with heterogeneous images in both newspapers with positive wordings and up to 28 types of public images. More than half of the articles portrayed two, three, or more types of images. Among the images of nurses identified, "overworked" appeared the most frequently, followed by "dedicated," "philanthropic and benevolent," and "with a sense of responsibility," and then "technically skilled." By analyzing the image of nurses in both newspapers over time, we found that images related to virtue have largely increased with time, while images about professionalism have decreased.

CONCLUSION

Nursing continues to be depicted as a virtuous caregiving profession, often forgetting the wide need for knowledge, skill, and expertise required in the occupation. The public image of nurses portrayed in the national newspapers does not accurately match their actual roles.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The public image of nurses portrayed in the national newspapers does not accurately match their actual roles. To actualize a professional role and increase social status of nurses, intentional image management is needed. Nursing schools, nursing associations, and nursing professionals should be more proactive in overcoming the stereotypical image portrayed of them and use the news media as a tool to invite attention from and dialogue with the public about the value of nursing to reframe the public's understanding of the expert role of the professional nurse in health care and to create a new and more professional image for nursing.

Advanced practice nursing roles in Arab countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region: a scoping review protocol

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this review is to explore and synthesize evidence regarding the advanced practice nursing roles in Arab countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

INTRODUCTION

Many countries have witnessed an increase in the number and types of advanced practice nursing roles. The literature has documented many positive patient outcomes associated with care provided by advanced practice nurses. The International Council of Nurses claims that advanced practice nursing is country-sensitive. Despite the availability of international literature that explores advanced practice nursing roles globally, little attention has been given to advanced practice nursing roles in Arab countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

INCLUSION CRITERIA

This review will consider studies related to advanced practice nursing roles, such as the historical development, role title, regulations, entry level education, role implementation, and outcomes, in Arab countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

METHODS

A comprehensive systematic search will be completed for both published and non-published literature using CINAHL (EBSCO), PubMed (NLM), PsycINFO, Embase (Elsevier), Nursing and Allied Health (ProQuest), Scopus (Elsevier), and websites such as Google Scholar, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, International Council of Nurses' Nurse Practitioner/Advanced Practice Nursing Network, World Health Organization regional office for the Eastern Mediterranean, and nursing associations and ministries of health in Arab countries. The search will include literature published in Arabic and English, from the inception of databases to present.

Psychometric evaluation of the Arabic version of the higher education inventory scale for nursing students

BACKGROUND

Studies in the literature have relied on a single instrument to assess stress levels and sources among nursing students in Jordan and in other Arab countries. Thus, there is a need to develop Arabic versions of psychometrically validated instruments for evaluating a wider range of aspects related to stress and stressors. The Higher Education Stress Inventory (HESI) is an instrument used to assess various aspects of stress and stressors related to higher education in different educational settings and among different student populations. To date, no exploratory or confirmatory factor analyses have been conducted to study the factor structure of the Arabic version of the HESI. Therefore, the current study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the HESI (Arabic-HESI) among nursing students in Jordan.

METHODS

The structure of the instrument was tested using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and maximum likelihood estimation among a sample of 355 nursing students at five Jordanian universities.

RESULTS

The Arabic-HESI proved to have excellent content validity index (CVI = 0.92). The instrument showed good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.75), as well as for the two emerged factors "challenges" and "dissatisfaction" (Cronbach's α were 0.75, 0.72 respectively). The results support the two-factor model for the Arabic-HESI, as the instrument was found to have robust structure and acceptable goodness-of-fit indices.

CONCLUSION

The Arabic-HESI is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing stress levels and stressors among nursing students in Jordan. Using the shortened version of the HESI to assess stress among nursing students is recommended. Identifying new features of stress and stressors among nursing students in Jordan will enable universities and nursing faculties to better support their students.

Lessons learned from a fulbright experience

The Fulbright School Award is an opportunity to fulfill dreams of learning by immersion in another culture. The Award encourages nursing faculty to teach and conduct research in another country. This paper describes the Fulbright history, application process, and experiences at the Jordan University of Science and Technology. In addition, you will find tips for a successful application, possible challenges and potential solutions.

Development of nurse education in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Ghana: From undergraduate to doctoral programmes

Doctoral programmes in nursing have a long history in the US where traditional research based PhDs and more clinically based doctoral programmes are common. In the rest of the world PhDs are better accepted though professional doctorates with a thesis component are common in the UK. In countries with newly established or planned doctoral programmes in nursing the research PhD seems the degree of choice. Here we discuss developments in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Ghana. This study used official documents, strategic plans, curriculum developments and other documentary evidence from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Ghana. We compared doctoral programmes and development with other countries by reference to the literature. We offer the example of public health and non-communicable diseases in particular as one area where doctorally trained nurses applying international standards in collaboration internationally may be of benefit.

Nursing Education in Saudi Arabia: History and Development

Nursing education in Saudi Arabia commenced in 1948 with the introduction of a nursing diploma program for males. Numerous bodies have worked as nursing education providers since then, leading to an unsteady growth of the field due to the lack of a unified curriculum coupled with an absence of regulating bodies. The absence of nursing leaders and the lack of reliable nursing workforce data during the past few decades have contributed to a lack of maturity and growth of the Saudi nursing landscape compared to the international nursing trends. This review explores the history of nursing education and its development within the context of Saudi Arabia.

Challenges facing oncology nurses in Jordan: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

The literature shows that oncology nurses have more stressors than nurses in other units. They face many challenges both within and outside the work environment that affect them negatively. Most of the reviewed studies concerning these challenges were conducted in developed countries.

AIM

The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges experienced by oncology nurses in Jordan during their daily practice.

METHOD

A qualitative descriptive approach was adopted. Semistructured individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with 24 nurses. Participants were selected from oncology departments in one of the biggest governmental hospitals in Jordan.

RESULTS

Two main themes were drawn from the data analysis. The first discussed the personal challenges that oncology nurses encountered. These included emotional attachment to patients and difficulties in separating work and personal life. The second related to organizational challenges in the work environment, which included the nurses' lack of authority to inform patients about their diseases, nursing staff and supply shortages, and a lack of orientation programs. All of these factors affected the psychological status of the nurses.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study indicated that the working environment for oncology nurses is highly stressful and demanding and these nurses face many challenges in their work. The understanding and consideration of these challenges by stakeholders, managers, and organizational leaders would lead to improvements in the nurses' psychological state, thereby enhancing the quality of care in these units and helping with staff retention.

Nursing and midwifery research activity in Arab countries from 1950 to 2017

BACKGROUND

Nursing and midwifery research activity is an important indicator of the quality of healthcare services and the status of nursing profession. The main aim of this study was to assess the research activity in nursing and midwifery field in Arab countries.

METHOD

The current study implemented bibliometric method using Scopus database. The search strategy used country affiliation or journal name or keywords as a strategy to retrieve the required documents. The study period was from 1950 to2017. Analysis included a presentation of bibliometric indicators and VOSviewer mapping of the retrieved data.

RESULT

2935 documents were retrieved making up less than 1% of global nursing and midwifery research output. Of the retrieved documents, 25% were published in high rank (first quartile = Q1) journals. The majority (56.7%) of the retrieved documents were published in the last five years of the study period. The retrieved documents received an average of 6.9 citations per document with an h-index of 47. The total number of authors who took part in publishing the retrieved documents was 10,572, giving an average of 3.6 authors per article. Jordan ranked first in research output. Researchers from Jordan took part in over than one third (1023; 34.9%) of the retrieved documents. Lebanon (35.5%) ranked first in the percentage of documents published in Q1 journals. The United Arab Emirates ranked first in the percentage (67.4%) of publications with international authors. The most active journal involved in publishing nursing research from Arab countries was Life Science Journal (158; 5.4%). The University of Jordan was the most productive institution while the American University of Beirut ranked first in the percentage (36.9%) of documents published in Q1 journals. Author keyword analysis and10 most cited articles showed that non-communicable diseases and nursing education were the focus of nursing research in Arab countries.

CONCLUSIONS

Nursing and midwifery research activity in Arab countries has dramatically increased especially over the past five years. Despite this, nursing research is still in its infancy, lagging in quantity and quality compared to developed countries.

Needs assessment for master of nursing programmes among Bangladesh nurses

AIM

This study aimed to assess the intent to enrol in a master of nursing programme among Bangladesh nurses, identify preferred programme options and measure the association among intent to enrol in the programme, clinical competency and job satisfaction.

BACKGROUND

Personal and professional aspects of potential students pursuing graduate education are beneficial in devising educational strategies. However, considering the pressing needs for higher nursing education, there are no masters of nursing programmes in Bangladesh.

METHODS

This study used a descriptive correlational design. Nurses working in Bangladesh public sector were recruited to participate in a self-administered survey (n = 260). The questionnaire consisted of perception of job satisfaction, clinical competency and the need for educational options, including the intent to enrol in a master of nursing programme, preferred specialty area, curriculum content and career goals after graduation. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and point-biserial correlation.

RESULTS

Ninety per cent of the respondents reported that they intended to enrol in a master of nursing programme. Intention was significantly correlated with clinical competency but not with job satisfaction. The most preferred specialty areas were nursing management and education. Half of the respondents responded that teaching at nursing schools was a career goal after graduation.

DISCUSSION

The results of the needs assessment for the programme reflected the unique interest and priorities of the current status of Bangladesh.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate a strong motivation to enrol in a master of nursing programme, confidence in clinical competence and high demand for programme in nursing management and education. These findings should be considered to design the programme in order to meet the interest of Bangladesh nurses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY

Educational needs assessments should take precedence to ensure the best possible educational outcome and to produce competent nurses who will contribute in achieving the Millennium Development Goals of Bangladesh.

Global Nursing Issues and Development: Analysis of World Health Organization Documents

PURPOSE

To analyze World Health Organization (WHO) documents to identify global nursing issues and development.

DESIGN

Qualitative content analysis.

METHODS

Documents published by the six WHO regions between 2007 and 2012 and with key words related to nurse/midwife or nursing/midwifery were included. Themes, categories, and subcategories were derived. The final coding reached 80% agreement among three independent coders, and the final coding for the discrepant coding was reached by consensus.

FINDINGS

Thirty-two documents from the regions of Europe (n = 19), the Americas (n = 6), the Western Pacific (n = 4), Africa (n = 1), the Eastern Mediterranean (n = 1), and Southeast Asia (n = 1) were examined. A total of 385 units of analysis dispersed in 31 subcategories under four themes were derived. The four themes derived (number of unit of analysis, %) were Management & Leadership (206, 53.5), Practice (75, 19.5), Education (70, 18.2), and Research (34, 8.8).

CONCLUSIONS

The key nursing issues of concern at the global level are workforce, the impacts of nursing in health care, professional status, and education of nurses. International alliances can help advance nursing, but the visibility of nursing in the WHO needs to be strengthened.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Organizational leadership is important in order to optimize the use of nursing competence in practice and inform policy makers regarding the value of nursing to promote people's health.

From placement to employment: Career preferences of Jordanian nursing students

This study examined employment planning and career preferences of final year nursing students in Jordan. Focus group discussions (n = 4) were conducted by the first author with a convenience sample of 27 nursing students. N-Vivo 9 was used to analyze the qualitative data. The analysis revealed two themes. The first theme focused on "moving from study to work", and comprised two sub-themes: being uncertain and hesitant and being a real nurse. The second theme was "the place where I want to be", and referred to participants' preferences concerning their future career. Participants showed interest in critical care units but they were not optimistic about their future career prospects due to the possibility of being jobless and the perceived low public image of nurses. In addition to the nature of placement atmosphere, gender, family and cultural issues were found to shape participants' preferences. It is therefore important to periodically review the considerations of employment planning and career preferences of nursing students, otherwise devising interventions for sound recruitment of nurses in the future will be flawed.

Nursing education reform in South Africa--lessons from a policy analysis study

BACKGROUND

Nursing education reform is identified as an important strategy for enhancing health workforce performance, and thereby improving the functioning of health systems. Globally, a predominant trend in such reform is towards greater professionalisation and university-based education. Related nursing education reform in South Africa culminated in a new Framework for Nursing Qualifications in 2013.

OBJECTIVE

We undertook a policy analysis study of the development of the new Nursing Qualifications Framework in South Africa.

DESIGN

We used a policy analysis framework derived from Walt and Gilson that interrogated the context, content, actors, and processes of policy development and implementation. Following informed consent, in-depth interviews were conducted with 28 key informants from national and provincial government; the South African Nursing Council; the national nursing association; nursing academics, managers, and educators; and other nursing organisations. The interviews were complemented with a review of relevant legislation and policy documents. Documents and interview transcripts were coded thematically using Atlas-ti software.

RESULTS

The revision of nursing qualifications was part of the post-apartheid transformation of nursing, but was also influenced by changes in the education sector. The policy process took more than 10 years to complete and the final Regulations were promulgated in 2013. The two most important changes are the requirement for a baccalaureate degree to qualify as a professional nurse and abolishing the enrolled nurse with 2 years training in favour of a staff nurse with a 3-year college diploma. Respondents criticised slow progress, weak governance by the Nursing Council and the Department of Health, limited planning for implementation, and the inappropriateness of the proposals for South Africa.

CONCLUSIONS

The study found significant weaknesses in the policy capacity of the main institutions responsible for the leadership and governance of nursing in South Africa, which will need to be addressed if important nursing education reforms are to be realised.