Sexual harassment at work place: are you safe?

In today\u27s world women are increasingly participating in the realm of work force, yet they are facing many obstacles in their way. Sexual harassment is one of those obstacles. Sexual harassment at work place is prevalent in every society. It could happen to anyone but women are the targeted victims. Sexual harassment is considered as a traumatic event and the victim may end up in having physical and mental sufferings that hinders a person to work effectively. At an organisational level this may result in decrease work effectiveness, decreased work productivity, high absenteeism, high turnover, and low staff morale. Hence there is a need that, organisations and government should look seriously into this matter. Proper education and training programs should be developed to deal with these issues. The goal must be both to deal with sexual harassment incidents effectively and to prevent the occurrence of future incidents

Community mental health services: a way forward to rehabilitate chronic mentally ill client.

Schizophrenia and other mental illnesses produce devastating effects on a clients\u27 personal and psychosocial wellbeing. Besides the sufferer, it has irrevocable impacts on the lives of their loved ones. With advancement in the treatment modalities, researches have proven that hospital based care and psychotropic drugs are not the sole solution in managing the client symptoms. Deinstitutionalization is the paradigm shift from hospital based to community based care model that allows client/s to spend rest of their lives in the community setting. A well-structured community care based programme that focuses on psychosocial interventions has significant contribution in treatment and rehabilitation of client/s. This article is aimed to provide the evidence of the effective use of community mental health care for management and prevention of relapse of a client with chronic schizophrenia. The substantial evidence of rehabilitation is represented through this case study of a chronic schizophrenic client who received these psychosocial interventions in his own community setting

Compliance to antipsychotic medication: a challenge for client, family and health care providers.

Compliance with anti-psychotic medications plays a significant role in managing clients with schizophrenia. It not only helps in controlling the symptoms, but also decreases the risk of relapses and ultimately improves quality of life (QoL) for the clients. However, compliance with anti-psychotic medication remains a challenge for the client, family and healthcare providers. Identification of these associated factors is vital to make appropriate plan to enhance medication compliance. In this paper, various factors are highlighted that are associated with medication compliance in clients with schizophrenia

Insights from Nursing Students about Factors Affecting and Strategies Supporting their Mental Health

Introduction: Nursing students experience high stress and mental health issues. It is essential to pay adequate attention to students’ mental health so they are trained to deliver quality patient care in complex settings. In order to provide a healthy environment to student nurses, it is essential that nursing students’ voices are heard. This study aims to explore nursing students’ perceptions about factors that influence their mental health and understand strategies that support mental health during nursing education. Methods: The study used an exploratory descriptive qualitative design to achieve the objective. Purposive sampling was used to recruit nursing students from a university representing undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. Data were collected using four focus group discussions. All discussions were audio recorded and transcribed. Coding was generated by the research team to drive key themes and sub themes. Results: The 28 participants identified teachers’ attitude, university environment and family responsibilities as key factors influencing their mental health. They also recommended several strategies for nursing institutions to promote students’ mental health during training. Conclusion: Nursing students are the future of healthcare systems. It is important that their mental health is given priority during nursing training. Promoting mental health would help nursing institutions create environments that foster health and well-being of students. These findings may also be useful for promoting mental health of students in other healthcare disciplines

Nurse teachers’ conceptions and practices of written feedback in Karachi.

Background: Written Feedback (WFB) plays a significant role in student’s learning in terms of improvement of their academic writing skills. However, the quality of WFB may be affected by various personal and contextual factors. This study aimed to identify nurse teachers’ conceptions and practices of WFB on written assignments in nursing degree offering institutions in Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used to answer the study questions. The study was conducted at 11 nursing schools in Karachi by recruiting those teachers who were teaching in nursing degree programs. The sample size of the study consists of 80 teachers. Universal sampling technique was used to select the subjects of the study. Results: The study result consists of demographic information of the participants, teachers’ conceptions and their practices of WFB. Although majority (92%) of the teachers believed that WFB is important for students’ learning, they acknowledged that they were not able to provide WFB at optimum level to their students. This gap in practice is attributed to various personal, contextual, and organizational factors; among them, the highest reported factors were teachers’ lack of training for provision of WFB (84%), distraction in the environment (78%), and constraints of time due to teacher’s workload (74%). Conclusions: The importance of WFB for students’ learning is well established in the literature. However, the preparation of teachers and an enabling environment to facilitate teachers for optimum practices of WFB needs considerable attention by educational institutions

Cultural practices of rearing preterm infants: A qualitative study in a tertiary care hospital, Karachi, Pakistan

The research work explores the cultural practices of feeding and hygiene of preterm infants in the Pakistani context. A Qualitative descriptive-exploratory design has been used. Purposive sampling was utilized to recruit 17 mothers, who met inclusion criteria from a largest government tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. The semi-structured interview was used to collect the data, which lasted for approximately 45-60 minutes. Thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the key findings of the study. Welcoming newborn with \u27honey\u27 and herbal remedies were reported as a common ritual among mothers. Findings revealed differences in the time period of initial bath given to the preterm, ranges from 3 days to 1 month. These custom variations of rearing preterm have its own meaning in the prescribed culture; however, these customs are the insights to explore more on its effects on infants\u27 health. This study provides useful insights into several practices of cultures, which serve as the determinants of infants\u27 nutrition and health status. It provides an insight to the health care professionals to provide quality care to preterm infants

Factors influencing nurses’ provision of self-management support for patients with chronic illnesses: A systematic mixed studies review

Background: Self-management support is considered an important task for nurses working in chronic care provision. The complex nature of self-management support makes it necessary to clarify the factors affecting the behaviour of nurses in supporting patients living with chronic illnesses. Objective: The aim of this review is to synthesize the factors influencing the provision of self-management support as perceived by nurses in the care for patients living with a chronic illness. Design: A systematic mixed studies review. Data Source: Studies published in English from 1999 to April 2020 were extracted from five databases: CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane library, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Review Method: The selection process was guided by PICo (Population, phenomenon of Interest, and Context). Studies that highlighted factors associated with the provision of self-management support among nurses, within the context of the top four non-communicable chronic diseases, were included. The risk of bias was carefully assessed. Using data-based convergent synthesis, the identified factors were synthesized and tabulated. The clusters of factors organized under each theme were approved by all researchers in discussion meetings. Results: In total, sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria; out of these, seven were qualitative, seven quantitative, and two mixed methods studies. The review identified nurses’ perspectives regarding factors influencing self-management support at the patient, nurse, care relationship, education and training, organization and healthcare system, and intra- and inter-professional levels. The review provided evidence that these factors are interdependent in nature. Conclusion: This review proposed considering a framework of interdependent factors influencing self-management support. It highlighted the need to come up with a comprehensive definition of self-management support that takes into account the emotional aspect as well as patient-as-partner approach. The proposed framework can be useful in tailoring multi-faceted interventions to strengthen nurses’ supportive role in self-management of chronic care. Future studies should focus on exploring contextually relevant factors impacting nurses’ supportive role in self-management

Graduate Students’ Perceptions of Written Feedback at a Private University in Pakistan

Excellence in academic performance at the graduate level requires good command of writing skills. Teachers’ written feedback can help students to develop their writing skills. However, several personal and contextual factors may influence feedback processes and its utilization by students. Therefore, understanding these factors is essential to improve the practice of written feedback. This study aimed to appraise the quality of written feedback in the graduate programmes and to ascertain students’ perceptions about it at a private university in Pakistan. A purposive sample of 15 participants comprised the study. The data were collected through in-depth students’ interviews and the teachers’ written comments on students’ assignments. Data were coded and cat egorized to assess the pattern of similarities and dissimilarities. The analysis of comments on students’ assignments indicated that the amount of feedback varied greatly. Although some feedback focused on form and style, most comments focused on the content. Moreover, the tone of comments lacked a balance of praise, criticism and suggestions. The data from students’ interviews were categorized as: variations in experiences, functions of written feedback, effectiveness of feedback and utilization of feedback. With some exceptions students’ perceptions about the quality feedback corroborated with the teachers’ comment analysis. The study highlights several factors that impact the receptivity and utilization of feedback by students. Therefore, teachers need to be aware and trained to enhance the quality of their feedback

Women trafficking: causes, concerns, care!

Pakistan is both a country of origin and destination as far as women trafficking is concerned. Poverty, gender discrimination, lack of education, and ignorance about legal rights are some of the underlying causes. Available data suggest several areas of concern, like, for instance: direct health effects, maladaptive coping leading to the use of illicit drugs, and inaccessibility to healthcare facilities. Therefore, numerous interventions would be required at three levels: the prevention of trafficking, the protection of victims and the prosecution of the traffickers

Influence of supportive care on chemotherapy patients\u27 self-care behaviour and satisfaction: A pilot study conducted in Karachi, Pakistan

Background and aim: Cancer is a daunting illness affecting a vast number of people globally. During the illness trajectory, cancer patients suffer from physical and/or psychosocial issues. These physical and psychosocial issues demand conscious actions by patients to maintain their well-being. Hence, the objective of the pilot study was to evaluate the level of self-care behaviors and satisfaction in women suffering from cancer after exposure to supportive care (education and mind diversion activities) delivered via a patient help group program.Methods: The study was conducted at the chemotherapy day care unit of one of the tertiary care hospitals located in Karachi, Pakistan. In this study, supportive care interventions were offered via the patient help group program over a 5-week period, and in the 6th week, data were collected. The total sample size of this pilot study was n = 17. Female cancer patients receiving weekly chemotherapy regimen and diagnosed with breast or gynecological cancers were a part of the study. Outcome variables, self-care behavior and satisfaction, were assessed via a self-developed questionnaire. Content validity index of the questionnaire was calculated on the basis of expert review and was found to be 96% for relevancy and 94% for clarity. Frequencies were calculated to evaluate outcome variables. Outcome variable satisfaction was also assessed via few open-ended questions.Results: Participants reported moderate-to-high self-care behaviors and satisfaction after exposure to supportive care interventions delivered via the patient help group program.Conclusion: Counseling and mind diversion activities are effective in producing a positive change in chemotherapy patients\u27 self-care behaviors and satisfaction. Therefore, oncology nurses must utilize them in chemotherapy patient care. Future studies should evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions with larger sample size and comparative analysis