Predictors of career commitment and job performance of Jordanian nurses

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Few studies focused on nurses' career commitment and nurses' job performance. This research aimed at studying variables of nurses' career commitment and job performance, and assessing the relationship between the two concepts as well as their predictors. METHODS: A survey was used to collect data from a convenient sample of 640 Registered Nurses employed in 24 hospitals. RESULTS: Nurses 'agreed' to be committed to their careers and they were performing their jobs 'well'. As a part of career commitment, nurses were willing to be involved, in their own time, in projects that would benefit patient care. The highest and lowest means of nurses' job performance were reported for the following aspects: leadership, critical care, teaching/collaboration, planning/evaluation, interpersonal relations/communications and professional development. Correlating of total scores of nurses' career commitment and job performance revealed the presence of a significant and positive relationship between the two concepts. Stepwise regression models revealed that the explained variance in nurses' career commitment was 23.9% and that in nurses' job performance was 29.9%. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nurse managers should promote nursing as a career and they should develop and implement various strategies to increase nurses' career commitment and nurses' job performance. These strategies should focus on nurse retention, staff development and quality of care. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses' career commitment and job performance are inter-related complex concepts that require further studies to understand, promote and maintain these positive factors in work environments.     

Overweight and television and computer habits in Swedish school‐age children and adolescents: A cross‐sectional study

The aim of this cross‐sectional study was to investigate the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents (6–16 years), and relationships between being overweight and sleep, experiencing of fatigue, enjoyment of school, and time spent in watching television and in sitting at the computer. Trained school nurses measured the weight and height of 2891 children aged 6, 7, 10, 14, and 16, and distributed a questionnaire to them regarding television and computer habits, sleep, and enjoyment of school. Overweight, obesity included, was present in 16.1% of the study population. Relationships between lifestyle factors and overweight were studied using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Having a bedroom television and spending more than 2 h a day watching television were found to be associated with overweight (OR 1.26 and 1.55 respectively). No association was found between overweight and time spent at the computer, short sleep duration, enjoyment of school, tiredness at school, or difficulties in sleeping and waking up. It is recommended that the school health service discuss with pupils their media habits so as to promote their maintaining a healthy lifestyle.     

Predictors of response to brief smoking cessation interventions for adolescents who have contravened school smoking policy

Objective: To determine factors impeding favourable response to brief interventions for smoking by Australian middle high school students.

Method: Predictors of smoking at one month follow‐up were examined in 56 Queensland state high school students (34% female) who had received a brief smoking cessation intervention. The potential predictors included smoking days/week at Time 1, academic performance, nicotine dependence, parental care, problem drinking, and peer smoking.

Results: After accounting for academic performance, small variations in outcomes across two intervention types, and Time 1 smoking, problem drinking emerged as a modest predictor of smoking outcome. Peer smoking and parental care did not predict changes in smoking.

Conclusions: Brief tobacco cessation programmes may benefit from routine screening and an additional focus on heavy drinking.     

The perceived needs of Jordanian families of hospitalized, critically ill patients

The purpose of this study was to identify needs of Jordanian families of hospitalized, critically ill patients. The Critical Care Family Needs Inventory was introduced to 158 family members who were visiting their hospitalized, critically ill relatives. The findings revealed that > or = 80% of the family members perceived 16 need statements as important or very important. The participants ranked order needs for assurance, information and proximity the highest and needs for support and comfort the lowest. Specifically, the most important needs of the families were to receive information about the patients, to feel that the hospital personnel care about the patients and to have the information given in understandable terms. Results of this study indicated that Jordanian families had specific and identifiable needs. Providing families of critically ill patients clear, simple and updated information about the patients, and assuring them about the quality of care the patients receive, should be essential components of the critical care nursing delivery system.     

The role of obesity,salt and exercise on blood pressure in children and adolescents

The increasing trends of blood pressure (BP) in children and adolescents pose great concern for the burden of hypertension-related cardiovascular disease. Although primary hypertension in childhood is commonly associated with obesity, it seems that other factors, such as dietary sodium and exercise, also influence BP levels in children and adolescents. Several studies support that sympathetic nervous system imbalance, impairment of the physiological mechanism of pressure natriuresis, hyperinsulinemia and early vascular changes are involved in the mechanisms causing elevated BP in obese children and adolescents. Under the current evidence on the association of salt intake and BP, dietary sodium restriction appears to be a rational step in the prevention of hypertension in genetically predisposed children and adolescents. Finally, interventional studies show that regular aerobic exercise can significantly reduce BP and restore vascular changes in obese with hypertensive pediatric patients. This article aims to summarize previous studies on the role of obesity, salt intake and exercise on BP in children and adolescents.     

Self‐management program for obesity control among middle‐aged women in Korea: A pilot study

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a 12 week self‐management intervention program, as compared to a structured exercise intervention, for obesity control among middle‐aged women in Korea. Methods: A quasi‐experimental study was conducted with 27 women in a self‐management group and 24 in a structured exercise group for 12 weeks. The self‐management group received interventions that included walking at a convenient time and place, keeping healthy dietary habits, group workshops, phone counseling, and mobile phone short message services. The structured exercise group received a structured exercise intervention, which involved three 1 h walking classes per week at the health center. Both groups received baseline assessments before starting the interventions and at 12 weeks. The data were analyzed by using two sample t‐tests, a paired t‐test, and the χ²‐test. Results: After 12 weeks, there were significant changes in the health behavior, amount of body fat, and blood pressure of the participants in both intervention groups, but there was no significant difference in their body composition, blood profile, or blood pressure. Conclusion: Both the self‐management and the structured exercise programs were effective in controlling obesity in middle‐aged obese women in Korea. However, considering the chronic nature of obesity, the self‐management program would be more beneficial, compared to the structured exercise program, as it allows people to exercise at a convenient time and place and to learn how to cope with their lifestyle barriers.