Factors Contributing to Leaving against Medical Advice (LAMA): A Consideration of the Patients’ Perspective

It is essential to understand why patients choose to leave the hospital in direct opposition to medical advice. This understanding could help to identify individuals who are at risk of adverse outcomes. In realizing this need, this study aimed to explore the factors contributing to the decision of patients to leave the hospital against medical advice. Materials and Methods: This research employed a descriptive-analytical approach. It was conducted in the city of Hail, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The participants were 13 patients who had opted to leave against medical advice from the Emergency Department of the government-subsidized hospitals. The researchers employed both purposive and snowball sampling. In snowball sampling, the researchers used referrals from initial participants to generate additional participants. Moreover, purposive sampling was used to find the individual that would best contribute to addressing the research issue. The data gathering was conducted from April to June 2022. Results: Five themes emerged based on the accounts of the 13 participant patients. These included (1) health literacy, (2) self-diagnosing, (3) unclear explanations regarding their condition, (4) prolonged waiting times, and (5) communication issues. Conclusion: The factors contributing to patients leaving against medical advice resulted in the five themes mentioned above. While interactions between patients and healthcare professionals may be challenging, pertinent health information must still be handed down clearly to patients

Factors Contributing to Leaving against Medical Advice (LAMA): A Consideration of the Patients’ Perspective

It is essential to understand why patients choose to leave the hospital in direct opposition to medical advice. This understanding could help to identify individuals who are at risk of adverse outcomes. In realizing this need, this study aimed to explore the factors contributing to the decision of patients to leave the hospital against medical advice. Materials and Methods: This research employed a descriptive-analytical approach. It was conducted in the city of Hail, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The participants were 13 patients who had opted to leave against medical advice from the Emergency Department of the government-subsidized hospitals. The researchers employed both purposive and snowball sampling. In snowball sampling, the researchers used referrals from initial participants to generate additional participants. Moreover, purposive sampling was used to find the individual that would best contribute to addressing the research issue. The data gathering was conducted from April to June 2022. Results: Five themes emerged based on the accounts of the 13 participant patients. These included (1) health literacy, (2) self-diagnosing, (3) unclear explanations regarding their condition, (4) prolonged waiting times, and (5) communication issues. Conclusion: The factors contributing to patients leaving against medical advice resulted in the five themes mentioned above. While interactions between patients and healthcare professionals may be challenging, pertinent health information must still be handed down clearly to patients

Mapping out competencies of emergency department nurses: Its influencing factors and barriers

Introduction: The need to determine the factors affecting nurse competency is to assist determine practical approaches to enhance competency. Aim: The study aims to map the competencies of emergency department (ED) nurses, its influencing factors, and barriers. Subjects and Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional approach conducted at the government hospitals in Hail, including village hospitals. The participants of this study were the 227 ED nurses as a result of convenience sampling. The researchers utilized the Google Form survey to collect the data. The data collection was conducted between August and September 2022. Results: Nurses in this study were highly competent (227/275). Clinical care competency has emerged as the highest competency (3.79 ± 0.646), followed by leadership (3.53 ± 1.053). Those who are 26–30 years old (B = 0.766; P < 0.000); 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.623–0.909) are far better than the other age groups. Furthermore, 5 years and above were competent compared to those with <5 years of experience (B = −1.135; P < 0.000; 95% CI [−1.271–0.998]). Moreover, those who have training in the ED (B = 1.127; P < 0.000; 95% CI [0.588 ± 1.666]) have better competencies than those who have no training in ED. Barriers were that the training was not in line with the ED nurses' needs and lack of leaders' support (92.5%). Conclusion: The ED nurses were highly competent, especially in the clinical care leadership competency. The older age group and <5 years of experience and training with ED were influential to their competency. Barriers were that the training was not in line with the needs of the ED nurses and lack of support from leaders. Study findings suggest that the measurement of competency be continuous to improve the competency of the ED nurses. Training needs assessment specifically in the ED, to be conducted periodically and offer continuous nursing education based on the identified needs of the nurses

Relationship between the Health Literacy and Self-Medication Behavior of Primary Health Care Clientele in the Hail Region, Saudi Arabia: Implications for Public Health

Background and aim: Because they are unaware of the potential adverse effects of medications, people frequently self-medicate as a form of self-care. This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with health literacy and the propensity to self-medicate among the primary healthcare clientele of the city of Hail, Saudi Arabia. Methods: This research employed a cross-sectional approach with the participation of 383 primary health center clientele of the Hail Region of Saudi Arabia. Participation was enacted via convenience sampling from December 2022 to February 2023. The data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The investigation utilized descriptive statistics as well as multiple linear regression and correlation for the data analysis. Results: Participants who were aged 30 years and above, single, had a college degree, were non-Saudi, had a white-collar occupation and received information from the internet/Google/YouTube had a significant relationship (p p p p p < 0.001). Conclusion: Age of 30 years old or above, single status, a college degree, non-Saudi status, white-collar occupation and receiving information from the internet/Google/YouTube were all significant for health literacy. There were also significant relationships with the SMS scores for age, marital status, educational level and occupation. The factors affecting health literacy were older participant age, nationality and the source of information regarding health. Conversely, among the participants, being in the middle-aged group (24–29 years) was a factor that affected their self-medication scores. There was a significant positive correlation between the health literacy screening scale (BRIEF) and the self-medication scale (SMS)

Resilience and Emotional Intelligence of Staff Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Although numerous scholars have studied resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, research exploring its relationship with emotional intelligence is scarce. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the resilience and emotional intelligence (EI) of staff nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data for this quantitative correlational study were gathered from the staff nurses of hospitals in the city of Hail, Saudi Arabia. The researchers employed simple random sampling, which yielded 261 staff nurses. Nationality (t = 6.422; p &lt; 0.001) was found to have a significant relationship with resilience. Sex (t = 5.22; p &lt; 0.001), ward assignment (t = 5.22; p &lt; 0.001), age (F = 6.67; p &lt; 0.001), and years of experience (F = 6.67; p &lt; 0.001) revealed significant relationships with emotional intelligence. Resilience had a moderate positive relationship with EI (r = 0.55; p &lt; 0.023), a weak positive relationship with self-emotion (r = 0.21; p &lt; 0.003), and a very strong relationship with emotional appraisal (r = 0.85; p &lt; 0.001). Improving emotional-intelligence skills is critical for assisting nurses during pandemic outbreaks. This can increase their individual and social resilience, while also improving their professional and life outcomes. These research findings suggest that emotional intelligence should be integrated into clinical practice and that EI data should be integrated into decision-making

The Impact of Mental Well-Being, Stress, and Coping Strategies on Resilience among Staff Nurses during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Structural Equational Model

Previous studies have revealed various factors related to nurses’ resilience and predictors of resilience. However, there are no studies analysing the association of three variables—mental well-being, coping strategies, and stress—with resilience. This study aims to assess the impact of mental well-being, levels of stress, and coping strategies on resilience using path analysis. This study used a cross-sectional approach that involved 763 nurses from 16 major hospitals in the eastern and northern regions of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data gathering was conducted from August to November 2022. The staff nurses possessed positive mental wellness (3.75 ± 1.08), moderate stress levels (3.06 ± 1.21), adequate coping skills (3.33 ± 1.23), and a low level of resilience (2.90 ± 1.040). Age had a small effect on resilience (β = 0.040; p p > 0.139) and marital status (β = 0.019; p > 0.072) were not significant. Conversely, mental well-being (β = 0.043; p p p < 0.001) had a large effect on resilience. Therefore, coping strategies must be reinforced at all times to assist nurses and other healthcare professionals in identifying contributing elements that maintain these workers’ resilience in the face of unforeseen and protracted pandemics and other life events