Closing the Gap between Research Evidence and Clinical Practice: Jordanian Nurses’ Perceived Barriers to Research Utilisation

Background: The nursing profession is a combination of theory and practical skill, and nurses are required to generate and develop knowledge through implementing research into clinical practice. Considerable number of barriers could hind implementing research findings into practice. Barriers to research utilisation are not identified in the Jordanian context. Aims and Objectives: To explore Jordanian nurses’ perception of the barriers to research utilisation in clinical practice. Design: A quantitative descriptive survey design was used. Methods: The sample consisted of 239 Jordanian nurses from one university hospital and three governmental hospitals. Nurses were conveniently recruited. Data was collection using the Barriers to Research utilisation questionnaire. Results: The majority of the participants were males (54%) and 53% of the participants were under the age of 30. The mean total score of barriers to research utilisation (BRU) was high at 2.97 (SD) out of 4 (the highest possible barriers score). The top three barriers were: “research results are not generalizable to their settings”, “lack of authority to change patient care procedures”, and “research articles are not published fast enough”. Conclusions: Barriers to research utilisation are high and were related to all aspects of research utilisation. These barriers need to be eliminated to improve the provided nursing care. To enhance research utilisation, a national-level guidance development system is needed. This will has the sole responsibility is to develop clinical guidelines, which are informed by the research, which practitioners and health services are then responsible for implementing into practice. Hence, hospital policies need to be reformed to address the procedure and activities of keeping the patients care up to date with current advances in healthcare disciplines. Keywords: Research utilisation, barriers, Jordan, Nurses, clinical practic

Spiritual Well-Being, Depression, and Stress Among Hemodialysis Patients in Jordan

Purpose: The spiritual dimension of a patient’s life is an important factor that may mediate detrimental impacts on mental health. The lack of research investigating spiritual well-being, religiosity, and mental health among Jordanian hemodialysis patients encouraged this research. This study explored levels of spiritual well-being and its associations with depression, anxiety, and stress. Design: A quantitative, cross-sectional correlational study. Method: A sample of 218 Jordanian Muslim hemodialysis patients completed a structured, self-administered questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and linear multivariate regression models. Findings: The hemodialysis patients had, on average, relatively low levels of spiritual well-being, moderate depression, severe anxiety, and mild to moderate stress. The results of the regression models indicated that aspects of spiritual well-being were negatively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress, but only existential well-being consistently retained significant associations after controlling for religious well-being, religiosity, and sociodemographic variables. Conclusions: Greater spiritual and existential well-being of Jordanian hemodialysis patients were significantly associated with less depression, anxiety, and stress. It appears that these patients use religious and spiritual beliefs and practices as coping mechanisms to overcome their depression, anxiety, and stress. The implications for holistic clinical practice are explored

Csnk1a1 inhibition has p53-dependent therapeutic efficacy in acute myeloid leukemia

Despite extensive insights into the underlying genetics and biology of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), overall survival remains poor and new therapies are needed. We found that casein kinase 1 α (Csnk1a1), a serine-threonine kinase, is essential for AML cell survival in vivo. Normal hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) were relatively less affected by shRNA-mediated knockdown of Csnk1a1. To identify downstream mediators of Csnk1a1 critical for leukemia cells, we performed an in vivo pooled shRNA screen and gene expression profiling. We found that Csnk1a1 knockdown results in decreased Rps6 phosphorylation, increased p53 activity, and myeloid differentiation. Consistent with these observations, p53-null leukemias were insensitive to Csnk1a1 knockdown. We further evaluated whether D4476, a casein kinase 1 inhibitor, would exhibit selective antileukemic effects. Treatment of leukemia stem cells (LSCs) with D4476 showed highly selective killing of LSCs over normal HSPCs. In summary, these findings demonstrate that Csnk1a1 inhibition causes reduced Rps6 phosphorylation and activation of p53, resulting in selective elimination of leukemia cells, revealing Csnk1a1 as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of AML