Succession planning for nurse managers in Saudi Arabia

This study aims to evaluate the current practice, vision and strategies in succession planning for Saudi and expatriate nurse managers in Saudi Arabian hospitals. It investigates the factors that play a direct role in preparing future nurse managers to guide nursing services in the future for that country. The study framework was optimum human resource management, in the context of a worldwide shortage of working nurses and qualified and experienced nurse managers. Nursing profession shortages are a worldwide phenomenon. In addition, front-line and middle management positions experience proportional vacancies which as a consequence, have been filled with unprepared and/or unskilled nurses. The study was set within a background policy of Saudisation which was introduced in 1990 and aims to prioritise Saudi citizens for employment. Employers must meet certain criteria regarding the percentage of Saudis employed. Mixed methods were utilised using sequential explanatory research design in two phases. The first phase was introduced as a survey which was distributed to 449 with return of 55%, n =245 to front-line and middle nursing managers working in different managerial positions at seven hospitals in Saudi Arabia. The second phase introduced semi-structured interviews of 11 nurse managers and nurse executives at the participating hospitals. The study findings reveal succession planning in Saudi Arabia requires special skills and commitment by managers. Saudi nurses as nurse managers were under-represented (4.45%), compared to expatriate managers in this research. Saudi nurses are both desirable from a population needs perspective and required from the government policy perspective on Saudisation of the workforce. Expatriate managers occupy most of the managerial positions. As a consequence, they are considered a vital part in implementing succession planning with shared participation of health organisation executives. The quantitative analysis demonstrated that there was only a slightly positive attitude to management and to the implementation of succession planning. This was, however, negated by the comments in the qualitative interviews as there was reported to be inadequate succession planning in their organisation, competencies and education. In order to deal with this dichotomy the minor themes were combined to form major themes. The key factors identified as essential components in nursing management succession planning were: management quality and style, vision and planning in manager’s qualification, education, career development and mentorship, human resource development and recruitment and retention. The unique aspects of the Saudi population demonstrate the need for early succession planning in order to direct an appropriate number of the younger generation into the health workforce and particularly into health service management. There may still be a labour shortage if the rapid growing young Saudi population are not guided, directed and developed effectively. Succession planning in nursing management is not only the responsibility of government agencies but also the policy makers, nurse executives and everyone who has authority to make a positive change in the nursing profession

Succession planning for nurse managers in Saudi Arabia

This study aims to evaluate the current practice, vision and strategies in succession planning for Saudi and expatriate nurse managers in Saudi Arabian hospitals. It investigates the factors that play a direct role in preparing future nurse managers to guide nursing services in the future for that country. The study framework was optimum human resource management, in the context of a worldwide shortage of working nurses and qualified and experienced nurse managers. Nursing profession shortages are a worldwide phenomenon. In addition, front-line and middle management positions experience proportional vacancies which as a consequence, have been filled with unprepared and/or unskilled nurses. The study was set within a background policy of Saudisation which was introduced in 1990 and aims to prioritise Saudi citizens for employment. Employers must meet certain criteria regarding the percentage of Saudis employed. Mixed methods were utilised using sequential explanatory research design in two phases. The first phase was introduced as a survey which was distributed to 449 with return of 55%, n =245 to front-line and middle nursing managers working in different managerial positions at seven hospitals in Saudi Arabia. The second phase introduced semi-structured interviews of 11 nurse managers and nurse executives at the participating hospitals. The study findings reveal succession planning in Saudi Arabia requires special skills and commitment by managers. Saudi nurses as nurse managers were under-represented (4.45%), compared to expatriate managers in this research. Saudi nurses are both desirable from a population needs perspective and required from the government policy perspective on Saudisation of the workforce. Expatriate managers occupy most of the managerial positions. As a consequence, they are considered a vital part in implementing succession planning with shared participation of health organisation executives. The quantitative analysis demonstrated that there was only a slightly positive attitude to management and to the implementation of succession planning. This was, however, negated by the comments in the qualitative interviews as there was reported to be inadequate succession planning in their organisation, competencies and education. In order to deal with this dichotomy the minor themes were combined to form major themes. The key factors identified as essential components in nursing management succession planning were: management quality and style, vision and planning in manager’s qualification, education, career development and mentorship, human resource development and recruitment and retention. The unique aspects of the Saudi population demonstrate the need for early succession planning in order to direct an appropriate number of the younger generation into the health workforce and particularly into health service management. There may still be a labour shortage if the rapid growing young Saudi population are not guided, directed and developed effectively. Succession planning in nursing management is not only the responsibility of government agencies but also the policy makers, nurse executives and everyone who has authority to make a positive change in the nursing profession

AWARENESS, ATTITUDES, PREVENTION, AND PERCEPTIONS OF COVID-19 OUTBREAK AMONG NURSES IN SAUDI ARABIA

he newly discovered coronavirus (COVID-19) has become a pandemic, infecting thousands of people around the world. This study examines nurses’ demographic information (age, gender, marital status, area of practice, total years of experience in the current hospital, work region, monthly salary, educational level, workplace, nationality, working hours per day, total nursing experience, and the respondents’ main source of information on COVID-19), awareness, attitudes, prevention, and perceptions of COVID-19 during the outbreak in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional descriptive design of 500 nurses working at government and non-governmental hospitals in five regions in Saudi Arabia were selected using convenience sampling. The Kruskal–Wallis test was applied and the Mann–Whitney test was utilized as a post hoc test. The majority of nurses in this study, 96.85%, had excellent knowledge of COVID-19. Some (83.2%) of nurses reported significant prevention knowledge and treatment skills about COVID-19, while 7.6% had little knowledge about prevention. More than half of the nurses (60.4%) had high positive attitudes toward caring for COVID-19 patients. In conclusion, female nurses, married nurses, and bachelor’s degree nurses had greater awareness, better attitude, and prevention clinical experience towards COVID-19. Meanwhile, non-Saudi nurses had higher self-reported awareness, positive attitudes, optimal prevention, and positive perceptions compared to Saudi nurses. This study provides baseline information immediately needed to enable health authorities to prioritize training programs that support nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Keywords: COVID-19; nurses; outbreak; pandemic; Saudi Arabi

SCOPE OF NURSING PRACTICE AS PERCEIVED BY NURSES WORKING IN SAUDI ARABIA

The absence of scope of practice guidelines may lead to role ambiguity and legal conse quences in nursing practice. This study measures the scope of practice of nurses in Saudi Arabia. The study utilized a descriptive cross-sectional design using an electronic version of the Arabic Actual Scope of Nursing Practice (A-ASCOP) questionnaire among 928 nurses. Descriptive analysis was followed by a t-test and an analysis of variance (ANOVA). Significance was assured through the Bonferroni test; the effect size was measured through partial η2 when appropriate. The A-ASCOP mean score of each dimension ranged from 4.29 to 4.72 (overall mean = 4.59). Significant overall ASCOP score variations were evident, with higher ASCOP among expatriate nurses, females, Hos pital Operation Program (HOP) nurses, and nurses with postgraduate qualifications. Partial η2 showed a small effect of <0.016. Low-complexity nursing tasks showed insignificant differences no matter the nurse’s position, but were less practiced by Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and advanced-degree nurses than by those with a diploma education. High complexity of ASCOP was practiced significantly more often by postgraduate-prepared nurses than by diploma-educated nurses. The study showed that there is a range of variation in nursing practice, but that the lack of internal regulations (nursing scope of practice) has no effect on nursing duties. In a country such as Saudi Arabia, where massive national improvement initiatives are frequent, clearly defining the scope of practice for nurses is essential and needs to be done through government mandates. Further studies are essential to define what the scope of practice should include

Knowledge, attitude and practice of standard infection control precautions among health-care workers in a university hospital in Qassim, Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional survey

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) contribute to increased length of hospital stay, higher mortality and higher health-care costs. Prevention and control of HAIs is a critical public health concern. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of standard infection control precautions among health-care workers (HCWs) in Qassim, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional online survey among HCWs was conducted using a structured questionnaire. Predictors of KAP were investigated using multivariate logistic regression analyses and independent sample t-tests. A total of 213 HCWs participated in the survey. The prevalence of good (≥80% correct response) knowledge, attitude, and practice were 67.6%, 61.5%, and 73.2%, respectively. The predictors of good knowledge included the age of the HCWs (>34 years) (adjusted odds ratio: 30.5, p 6 years of experience (2.9, p 34 years) (0.34, p < 0.01) were negatively associated with knowledge. Results indicate that arranging training for HCWs might be useful in improving their knowledge of standard infection control precautions and is also expected to facilitate positive attitude and practice

Nurses&rsquo; Perception of Safety Culture in Medical&minus;Surgical Units in Hospitals in Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Patient safety captures the essence of the primary principle of medical ethics, primum non nocere, first do no harm; this is an important concern in the health care system. Nurses are indispensable members of this system and are the largest group of health care providers involved in the direct delivery of patient care. As an integral part of the health care system, it is important to know nurses&rsquo; opinions on patient safety culture. Objectives: First, to evaluate and measure the existing safety culture and safety of patients in medical&minus;surgical wards (MSW) in hospitals located in the Qassim region, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Second, to survey the opinion of registered nurses and supervisors/managers about safety culture and issues concerned with safety in hospitals in the region. Materials and Methods: A validated cross-sectional survey, namely the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC), was used. This survey queried 300 nurses in different MSWs in four hospitals in the Qassim Region. Results: Overall, a positive culture of safety exists in MSWs, with 69% of RNs rating their wards as having great/excellent safety culture. Notably, some participants felt it was problematic that blame was assigned to nurses for reported errors. While 55.9% of participants noted that all errors or narrowly avoided errors had been reported, less than half actually reported errors in the last year. Conclusion: The perceived safety culture was largely positive; however, the results also indicated that a culture of safety comes with some risk and blame