Perceived social support, family relationships, and health-related quality of life among women with breast cancer in Jordan.

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Jordanian women. Perceived social support (PSS) and family relationships are strongly associated with positive psychosocial outcomes and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This area was widely explored in Western countries, but little attention was devoted to investigate this area in Middle East region. Purpose: to investigate the interrelationships among PSS, family relationships, and HRQoL of women with breast cancer in Jordan using an exploratory cross-sectional design. Method: The contextual model of HRQoL designed by Ashing-Giwa (2005) provided the foundation for this study. A total of 140 women were recruited from one large governmental hospital in Jordan using convenience sampling. Survey data were collected in the breast cancer clinic using the Medical Outcomes Study--Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS), Family Relationship Index (FRI), and the Quality of Life-Breast Cancer Version (QOL-BC). Statistical analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics; data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: A majority of the participants were 41 to 60 years (70%), married (63.6%), had stage II of breast cancer (41%), and were housewives (80.7%). Women with breast cancer had moderate levels of overall HRQoL, and moderate to high levels of perceived social support. In addition, women scored the highest in spiritual well-being and the lowest in the psychological well-being. Despite the presence of COVID-19, women scored the highest in the affectionate and positive social interaction social support. Women with breast cancer who were supported by their social network members had higher levels of HRQoL and psychological well-being. In addition, women who reported that the pandemic of COVID-19 affected the level of social support they received had lower levels of total HRQoL, physical well-being, psychological well-being, and social well-being. Conclusion: There is an urgent need for psychological counseling services to improve psychological well-being for cancer patients in Jordan. Psychosocial care for cancer patients is still underdeveloped, fragmented, and neglected area. More efforts are needed to focus on other elements of the cancer experience (e.g., social and psychological), besides the physical aspect. The results of this study are beneficial for nursing science and address the gaps in psychosocial cancer care and areas for improvement

Minimising central line associated bloodstream infections' (CLABSIs) rate in inserting central venous catheters (CVCs) in the Adult Intensive Care Units (AICUs)

Aim: To investigate the procedural aspects in inserting central venous catheters that minimise central line associated bloodstream infections rates in adult intensive care units through a structured literature review. Background: In adult intensive care units (AICU), central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) are a major cause of high mortality rates and increased in costs due to the consequences of complications. Methods: Eligible articles were identified by combining indexed keywords using Boolean operator of “AND” under databases of Ovid and CINAHL. Titles and abstract of retrieved papers were screened and duplicates removed. An inclusion and exclusion criteria was applied to derive the final papers which contained seminal studies. The quality of papers was assessed using a special data extraction form. Results: The number of papers retrieved from all databases was 337, reduced to 302 after removing duplicates. Papers were scanned for titles and abstract to locate those relevant to the review question. After this, 250 papers were excluded for different reasons and a total of 52 papers were fully accessed to assess for eligibility. The final number of papers included was 10 articles. Conclusion: Many interventions can be implemented in the AICU during the insertion of a central venous catheter (CVC) to minimise CLABSI rates. These include choosing the subclavian site to insert the catheters as the least infectious and decolonising patients’ skin with alcoholic chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) preparation due to its broad antimicrobial effect and durability. Relevance to clinical practice: Choosing optimal sites for CVC insertion is a complex process that relies on many factors. Furthermore, the introduction of CHG preparations should be accompanied with multifaceted interventions including quality improvement initiatives to improve healthcare workers’ compliance. As a quality marker in AICUs, healthcare sectors should work on establishing benchmarks with other sectors around the world