International Council of Nurses representing nursing at the World Health Organization: COVID-19, policy and holding politicians to account

Psychological resilience and work engagement of Chinese nurses: a chain mediating model of career identity and quality of work life

Aim

To investigate how nurses' psychological resilience affects their work engagement and the resulting pathways, namely, the intermediary effect of career identity and quality of work life.

Background

Psychological resilience is the ability to adapt to new circumstances and overcome difficulties. Work engagement is a positive, perfect emotional and cognitive state in the work process, which has a positive effect on nurses' physical and mental health and career development. The importance of psychological resilience in nursing is growing in popularity. However, few studies have explored the relationship between psychological resilience and nurses' work engagement.

Design

This is a cross-sectional study.

Methods

From March to April 2023, 356 nurses in the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University in China received valid questionnaires. The study was surveyed using the Connor-Davidson, Resilience Scale, the Nursing Career Identity Scale, the Work-Related Quality of Life Scale, and the 15-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Process version 3.5 plug-in SPSS 25 was used to test the mediating effect.

Results

(1) Psychological resilience was significantly and positively correlated with career identity, quality of work life, and work engagement (r = 0.702-0.803, p < 0.001). (2) Career identity and quality of work life partially mediated the relationship between psychological resilience and work engagement, with effect sizes of 0.2382 and 0.0958, respectively. (3) There was a chain mediation model between psychological resilience and work engagement that had a value of 0.1219.

Conclusion

Career identity and quality of work life played a chain-mediating role between psychological resilience and work engagement. Thus, in order to enhance the work engagement of clinical nurses, it is necessary for nursing managers to take measures to enhance not only psychological resilience but also their career identity and the quality of work life.

Health Consequences of University Employees Post-COVID-19 Vaccination at Palestinian Universities

Introduction

The control of vaccine hesitancy comes with key protective measures against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and excellent efficacy in clinical trials and effectiveness in real-world data. However, some people believe that vaccination is ineffective and it causes health problems. This study aimed to assess the health consequences of university employees' post-COVID-19 vaccination at Palestinian universities.

Method

A cross-sectional study was conducted between February and June 2021. A total of 310 university employees participated from six universities in Palestine. A self-reported questionnaire was used for data collection and included the following: personal characteristics of university employees, knowledge about COVID-19 vaccination, medical background of the participant, and their perception regarding receiving the COVID-19 vaccination.

Results

The results revealed that 32.6% and 43.2%of the participants had fever post the first and second doses, respectively. Also, 49.0% and 39.4% of them complained of exhaustion or fatigue and headache post the first dose and 58.1% and 46.1% had exhaustion or fatigue and pain in their muscles post the second dose, respectively. In addition, 29.2% and 16.7% of them had respiratory and digestive problems post the first dose and 38.9% and 19.0% had problems in respiratory and digestive respectively post the second dose. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that fever, symptoms at (the injection site), and exposure to physical symptoms have significant differences between the first dose and second doses of the vaccine (p < .001).

Conclusion

This study confirmed that the respiratory and digestive problems are the main problems post-COVID-19 vaccination. Also, this study confirmed that fever, symptoms at (the injection site), and exposure to physical symptoms have significant differences between the first dose and second dose of the vaccine.

Nurses' safety-related organisational challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study

AIM

To explore nurses' perspectives on and experiences of safety-related organisational challenges during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak by Iranian nurses.

BACKGROUND

In different clinical contexts, nurses face numerous organisational challenges threatening their safety because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

INTRODUCTION

Exploring nurses' perceptions towards safety-oriented organisational challenges might inform nurse managers, healthcare managers, educators and policymakers on the priorities that should be considered to increase organisations' readiness and safety.

METHODS

This qualitative descriptive study is reported according to the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines. Through purposeful sampling, 19 participants were involved. The research data were collected from March to August 2021 by conducting semi-structured interviews that were analysed through the content analysis approach.

FINDINGS

Three organisation-related safety challenges experienced were related to (1) human resource, (2) educational and (3) workforce protection issues.

DISCUSSION

Nurses experienced several safety issues related to the complexity faced by the health care organisations during the pandemic, exacerbated by previous frailties of the nursing system.

CONCLUSION

The three challenges that emerged might be considered a priority in building pandemic plans, transforming the experiences of nurses as a source of learning for all, capitalising on their suggestions and rendering healthcare facilities ready to deal safely with future crises.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY

Adopting appropriate measures to decrease human resource issues and that related to education, and promoting workforce health protection, are both recommended to improve nurses' work environment and satisfy their safety needs.

Consequences of Nurse Presenteeism in Switzerland and Portugal and Strategies to Minimize It: A Qualitative Study

Nurses exhibit higher rates of presenteeism than other professionals, with consequences for the quality of care and patient safety. However, nurses’ perceptions of these issues have been poorly explored. This study investigated the perceptions and experiences of frontline nurses and nurse managers in Switzerland and Portugal about the consequences of presenteeism and strategies to minimize it in different healthcare settings. Our qualitative study design used video focus groups involving 55 participants from both countries. Thematic analysis of their transcribed discussions revealed six themes surrounding the consequences of presenteeism: the personal impact on nurses’ health and wellbeing, on their family relationships, and on professional frustration and dissatisfaction; the professional impact on work dynamics; the social impact on the quality of care and patient safety and on society’s impressions of the profession. At the individual, collective, and institutional levels, six strategies were evoked to minimize presenteeism: encouraging professionals’ self-knowledge; creating a positive work atmosphere; facilitating communication channels; developing a positive organizational culture; implementing preventive/curative institutional interventions; identifying and documenting situations linked to presenteeism. Nurses’ perceptions and experiences provided a deeper understanding of their presenteeism and revealed underused pathways toward preventing and minimizing presenteeism via bottom-up approaches.

Exploring the experiences of frontline nurses caring for COVID-19 patients

AIM

This study seeks to gain a comprehensive understanding of the experiences of frontline nurses who provided direct care for COVID-19 patients.

BACKGROUND

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the demands on healthcare systems have been higher than before. Although previous studies have explored the experiences of frontline nurses, these experiences could vary depending on each country's social, cultural, and historical contexts.

INTRODUCTION

In the midst of the global pandemic, sharing the experiences of COVID-19 frontline nurses could have implications for both nursing and nursing policies that could be applied to future pandemics.

METHODS

This descriptive qualitative study comprised 14 South Korean nurses with a minimum of one month of experience working within a COVID-19 department. Individual interviews were conducted on a virtual platform, and a thematic analysis was employed. The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative studies were used to ensure a detailed reporting of the study.

RESULTS

Four themes and 12 subthemes were developed. The themes included: (1) feeling forced into a world of uncertainty; (2) providing unique care for COVID-19 patients; (3) perceiving barriers to providing quality care; and (4) seeking meaning in caring for COVID-19 patients.

DISCUSSION

Nurses recognized their unique roles in caring for COVID-19 patients and sought new meanings within their profession. However, the poor work environment exacerbated the physical and emotional burden among the nurses and compromised the provision of quality care.

CONCLUSION

This study highlighted the nursing policy issues that need to be improved to ensure better quality care and a stronger healthcare system.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING POLICY

Governmental action is essential to ensure that nurses can maintain the quality of care they have provided during COVID-19 and any future pandemics.

Physical problems of prolonged use of personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic: A scoping review

Background

It is widely believed that using personal protective equipment (PPE) provides high levels of protection for healthcare workers (HCWs) in the fight against coronavirus disease (COVID‐19). However, the long‐term use of PPE is inconvenient for HCWs and may cause physical discomfort. These factors could result in poor compliance and disrupt the health and safety of HCWs, which may negatively affect the patient's safety.

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the literature for the purpose of collecting convincing evidence of HCWs' physical problems associated with PPE use during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Methods

This scoping review was conducted using PubMed, Embase, ProQuest, Science Direct, Springer, Biomed Central, and Google Scholar to identify the related literature.

Results

HCWs have experienced various physical disorders including skin, respiratory, musculoskeletal, nervous, urinary, and circulatory system problems that are associated with PPE in various body systems. Among these, skin problems were the most frequent physical problems.

Conclusions

The literature demonstrated the adverse impacts of using PPE on HCWs. Therefore, healthcare policymakers should take the appropriate measures to improve the work environment during the COVID‐19 pandemic, which could consequently prevent and mitigate the adverse effects of using PPE.

International Council of Nurses representing nursing at the World Health Organization: COVID-19, policy and holding politicians to account

The International Council of Nurses is in a unique position to represent nurses at the World Health Organization, and its task has never been more urgent than this year. Amid the global COVID‐19 pandemic, the death rates of nurses and other health care workers are truly shocking, with around 115 000 deaths. However, many countries do not collect statistics on health and care workers’ deaths and infections from COVID‐19, so the full extent of this awful situation is not known.

At this year's World Health Assembly, the body that sets the World Health Organization's agenda for the following year, the International Council of Nurses’ 50‐strong delegation voiced the concerns of nurses and ensured that the views and advice of nurses were heard by the World Health Organization's 194 member states’ delegates. Here, the International Council of Nurses’ Chief Executive Officer Howard Catton describes how the Council is influencing health and care policy worldwide. He urges nurses everywhere to hold their politicians to account.