Report of the "satisfaction" survey amongst public health services nurses in Port Said

Exploring the National Nursing Research Priorities in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and Overcoming the Associated Challenges: An Expert Opinion

BACKGROUND

 Nurses play a significant role in contributing to various health priorities globally, including research. Identifying the status of national nursing research priorities in the Eastern Mediterranean Region is crucial to cultivating these priorities. This expert opinion paper highlights the existing status of national nursing research priorities in Eastern Mediterranean Region countries concerning their existence and publicity.

METHODS

 Experts from nine Eastern Mediterranean Region countries, including Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, contributed to this report. They participated by completing a cross-sectional survey and providing a narrative description of their opinions.

RESULTS

 The findings revealed that 58% of the participating countries have existing national nursing research priorities, while 25.8% do not, and 16% are under development. Governmental organizations developed the largest portion of the priorities (38%). Midwives were not considered in half of the published priorities. The vast majority of national nursing research priorities (65%) were developed by experts' opinions and consensus, and 33% only have an associated strategy, outcome measures, and/or funding opportunities. Generally, most published research priorities were not updated regularly.

CONCLUSION

 Eastern Mediterranean Region countries face a challenge with the need for more nurses, which may hinder their involvement in research projects or continued education. Despite this, all countries involved in this report emphasized the importance of developing nursing education and research as priorities for improving their current nursing workforce. Health policymakers, nurse practitioners, academic researchers, educators, and nursing leaders should collaborate to develop operational plans to foster national nursing education and research.

Effect of evidence-based nursing practices training programme on the competency of nurses caring for mechanically ventilated patients: a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) has been recognised worldwide as a standardised approach for enhancing the quality of healthcare and patient outcomes. Nurses play a significant role in integrating EBP, especially in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Consequently, this study aims to examine the effect of an adapted evidence-based nursing practices training programme on the competency level of nurses caring for mechanically ventilated patients.

METHODS

A prospective open-label parallel 1:1 randomised controlled trial was conducted on 80 nurses caring for ICU patients at the National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institute, Egypt. The trial was carried out between November 2022 and February 2023 under the registration number NCT05721664. The enrolled nurses were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention group received the evidence-based nursing practice training programme (EBNPTP) in accordance with the Johns Hopkins EBP conceptional model, whereas the control group received traditional in-service education. Four assessments (one pre- and three post-assessments) were conducted to evaluate nurses' competency level over time using the adapted evidence-based nursing competency assessment checklist. The primary endpoint was an increase the competency levels among nurses caring for mechanically ventilated patients.

RESULTS

The current study results revealed statistically significant differences between intervention and control groups in relation to their level of competency across the three post-assessments, with (p <.001). The study also demonstrated that the nurses' competency level continued to decline significantly over time, with (p <.001). Additionally, a significant correlation was found between the nurses' pre-assessment and educational level, acting as independent variables (predictors), and the third endpoint assessment (p <.01), indicated by multiple linear regression.

CONCLUSION

The EBP training programme demonstrated a significant increase in the nurses' level of competency compared with traditional in-service education. This suggests that by training the nurses in various settings with the essential skills and knowledge for EBP, their competency level can be enhanced, leading to the delivery of effective care and improving patient outcomes. However, the long-term sustainability of the EBP adoptions was insufficient; further studies are needed to investigate the factors that affect the durability of EBP adoption.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The study was registered with Clinical Trials.gov (Registration # NCT05721664) on 10/02/2023.

Floating to intensive care units: Nurses' messages for instant action to promote patient safety

BACKGROUND

The overwhelming number of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) combined with a nursing staff deficit sometimes requires the redeployment of nurses from other areas, meaning non-critical care nurses are asked to assist in treating critically ill patients. This may affect patient safety, especially in poorly resourced ICUs with financial constraints, such as in some developing countries. Nurses and nurse managers need specific strategies to address this issue and ensure patient safety.

AIM

To explore ICU and floating nurses' perspectives of the floating experience and describe how the use of floating nurses could threaten the safety of patients in Egyptian ICUs.

STUDY DESIGN

This was a qualitative descriptive study. Data were collected in in-depth interviews and analysed using Colaizzi's method of analysis. Forty-seven interviews were conducted, 22 with ICU nurses/managers and 25 with floating nurses.

RESULTS

Two main themes were extracted: (1) Lived work experience of floating and ICU nurses during the floating period which included three subthemes: Being a floating nurse: living a double experience of a professional role, Being an ICU nurse: feeling overloaded, and small failures leading to bigger, more serious issuses; and (2) Messages for patient safety from floating and ICU nurses' perspectives which also comprised three subthemes: education and training, putting the patient in the safety zone, and poilcy reform.

CONCLUSIONS

Promising strategies for ICUs to ensure patient safety when transferring nurses from other units include providing ongoing education and appropriate training for floating nurses to put patients in the safety zone.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Our findings provide a foundation for nursing practitioners, managers, and policymakers to prevent medical errors and optimize nursing workforce allocation. Nursing managers should consider floating nurses' competence levels when assigning ICU patients. Moreover, teamwork and communication between ICU nurses/managers and floating nurses should be strengthened. Close supervision and use of technology to minimize medical errors are potential strategies to ensure patient safety when using floating nurses.

Application of a Hybrid Multi-Criterion Decision-Making Model for Evaluation and Improvement of Nurses' Job Satisfaction

Background

The global shortage and turnover of nurses is a current challenge. Past studies have shown that nurse job satisfaction may ameliorate nurse shortage. Although there are many studies on the criteria influencing nurses' job satisfaction, few have examined the causal relationships and weight of each criterion from a systematic perspective.

Objective

Identify the key criteria and causal relationships that affect nurses' job satisfaction, and help nurse leaders identify high-weight, high-impact dimensions and contextualize them for improvement.

Methods

The study developed a hybrid multi-criterion decision-making model, which incorporated the McCloskey/Mueller satisfaction 13-item scale (MMSS-13), and the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory and the Importance-Performance Analysis methods the model was used to analyze key factors of nurse satisfaction and their interrelationships based on the experience of 15 clinical nurse specialists.

Results

In MMSS-13's dimension level, “satisfaction with work conditions and supervisor support” (C₅) had the highest impact, and “satisfaction with salary and benefits” (C₁) had the highest weight. In criteria level, “salary” (C₁₁), “flexibility in scheduling time off” (C₂₄), “maternity leave time” (C₃₁), “opportunities for social contact after work” (C₄₁), and “your head nurse or facility manager” (C₅₁) had high influence under their corresponding dimensions. The “benefits package” (C₁₃) was the top criterion with the highest impact on MMSS-13.

Conclusions

This study assessed nurses' job satisfaction from a multidimensional perspective and revealed the causal relationships between the dimensions. It refined the assessment of nurse job satisfaction to help nurse leaders better assess nurse job satisfaction and make strategic improvements. The study found that compensation and benefits had the highest weight in nurses' job satisfaction. Meanwhile, support for family responsibilities and working conditions, and support from supervisors were the cause dimensions of job satisfaction. Among the more detailed criteria, salary, benefits package, maternity leave time, and leadership had a greater impact on nurses' job satisfaction. Nurse leaders should start with these dimensions to achieve efficient improvement of nurses' job satisfaction.