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Purpose
This study aims to assess the quality of life (QOL) and the related factors in patients post-stroke in Jordan.


Design/methodology/approach
Prospective, the cross-sectional study recruited 100 participants with stroke from three public hospitals from December 1, 2021 to February 1, 2022. Patients with stroke were interviewed to fill the stroke-specific quality of life questionnaire.


Findings
Forty-five per cent of the participants were male. More than half of the participants (53%) were married, and the average age of the participants was 63.6 (SD =3.8). Most of the participants had an ischemic stroke (86%) with an affected left side (65%). The overall QOL of the participants was leveling at (M = 123.5, SD = 45.2), which is a moderate level. It was found statistical significance differences among participants according to gender, type of stroke, affected side and presence of comorbidities (Table 1).


Research limitations/implications
There were some limitations in this study. First, this study was based on mild to moderate Jordanian stroke survivors and did not include critically ill stroke survivors; the QOL critically ill stroke survivors may differ, which could affect the generalizability of data among all stroke survivors. Second, this study is prospective, and this type of study is prone to bias that could influence the reliability of the results. It is recommended to conduct a mixed-method study to reveal an in-depth understanding of the associated factors with QOL, to ensure reliability and to reflect a better view of the Jordanian population.


Practical implications
To sum up, there is a reduction in the level of QOL among stroke survivors; hence, it is crucial to focus on detecting factors contributing to reducing the QOL and taking individual differences between sexes, type and location of the stroke, and comorbidities into consideration to develop a treatment plan that enhances the QOL and well-being for survivors of stroke.


Social implications
Taking individual differences between sexes, type and location of the stroke and comorbidities into consideration to develop a treatment plan that enhances the QOL and well-being of survivors of stroke.


Originality/value
The findings of this study bring a strong insight toward assessing the main factors indicating a decrease QOL among stroke survivors.

Purpose
This study aims to review the lived experience of patients suffering from stroke and describe their perception of palliative care needs.


Design/methodology/approach
A literature review search was conducted. Web of Sciences, SAGE, CINAHL, PubMed and Jordanian Database for Nursing Research databases were used to search the literature.


Findings
The findings of 37 articles were address palliative care approaches for patients with stroke, lived experiences of patients suffering from stroke and the experience, barriers and facilitators related to health-care service for stroke survivors.


Originality/value
This review indicated the importance of recognizing palliative care needs among patients suffering from stroke to improve post-stroke recovery. This study recommends further research, especially in low- and middle-income countries, to understand patients' experiences and recognize the main palliative care needs that can be incorporated into interventions designed to improve the quality of life among them.

Purpose
This study aims to explore the effects of cat-assisted therapy (Ca-AT) on a patient in their homes, specifically investigating the effects on patient's memory, behavioral pathology and ability to perform activities of daily living, independently.


Design/methodology/approach
A case study design was used in patient's homes using three measuring scales, namely, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Barthel index (BI) and Behavioral Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) Rating Scale.


Findings
The MMSE and BI mean scores were increased, whereas the Behavioral Pathology mean score was decreased. Patient negative behaviors were improved specifically, aggressiveness, anxieties, phobias, and caregiver burden was decreased.


Practical implications
Patients with AD could significantly benefit from Ca-AT in their own homes, and it could decrease caregiving burden.


Originality/value
Ca-AT is a newly developed type of animal-assisted therapy that uses cats to treat patients, especially elderly people with AD, in their homes.

Background: Self-administration of antibiotics is a common health issue that increases antibiotic resistance. Educational interventions can play an important role in tackling the global dilemma of antibiotic resistance, which is aggravated by antibiotic misuse and overuse. For Jordanian parents, better understanding and attitudes toward antibiotic use for their children can lead to more cautious use of these treatments, potentially lowering the risk of antibiotic resistance. Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the effect of educational intervention on parents' knowledge and attitudes regarding children's antibiotic use. Methods: One-group pre-posttest was used. An adapted questionnaire was used composed of socio-demographic data, parents' knowledge, and attitudes toward antibiotics. An educational program consisting of a teaching session of 30 minutes covering information about antibiotics and standardized practice to teach community parents about the appropriate use of antibiotics among their children was utilized, where the education session was adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a review of many studies that were held in Arabic countries was carried out (Ashour et al., 2022; Magdy et al., 2021; van Buul et al., 2015). The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Jordan Food and Drug Association have reviewed relevant studies with high content validity. Data for this study was collected between March and August 2023. Data was checked for missing and inconsistency. Descriptive statistics of means, frequencies, standard deviations, and percentages were used with categorical and continuous demographics while inferential statistics of the independent t-test were used after checking the normal distribution of data using SPSS, version 25. Results: A total of 150 parents were recruited in this study. Around one-third of the parents were from 18 to 25 years old (n=50, 33.3%). A paired-sample t-test was used to assess the mean difference in parents' knowledge and practices toward effective usage of antibiotics. It was revealed that introducing an educational program has caused a statistically significant difference that improved parents' knowledge (t (149) = 10.5, P <0.001). For practice, the educational program showed a significant mean difference before intervention (15.0 ±1.05) and post-intervention (16.9 ±3.53), where (t (149) = 6.02, P <0.001). Conclusion: An educational-program intervention was carried out to raise the study parents' awareness of antibiotics. Antibiotic-related awareness greatly increased after the educational intervention. Implications for Nursing: Addressing antibiotic misuse and overuse among Jordanian parents through targeted educational interventions necessitates a complex approach that includes healthcare professionals, legislators, educational systems, and the community. Working collaboratively, all of these stakeholders can help reduce antibiotic resistance and keep antibiotics a useful tool for treating bacterial illnesses in children. Keywords: Antibiotics use, Children, Upper respiratory tract infection, Knowledge, Attitudes, Parents, Educational intervention.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess nurse's knowledge and practice regarding basic life support (BLS) skills while working with SARS-CoV-2 patients in Jordanian hospitals.


Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 386 nurses with direct contact with SARS-CoV-2 patients at Jordanian hospitals. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used based on the American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines.


Findings
A total of 386 participants were recruited. The mean years of experience were 7.89 (SD = 5.97). About three quarters of participants revealed they deal with SARS-CoV-2 patients directly (n = 284, 73.6%). The total mean score of nurse's knowledge was 4.44 (SD = 1.22), while the total mean score of practice was 8.44 (SD = 2.05). Independent t-test was used, which revealed a statistically significant difference between educational level and total score of nurse's knowledge [t(386) = 0.215 and p = 0.001] and between training to deal with SARS-CoV-2 during BLS and total score of practice [t(386) = 2.66 and p = 0.008]. Pearson correlation discloses a positive correlation between the total score of knowledge and practice (r = 0.343 and p = 0.001).


Research limitations/implications
In general, nurses revealed a moderate level of knowledge and practice of BLS skills. However, assessing nurse's knowledge and practice during the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 plays a key role in identifying the gap in nurse's knowledge and practice, and therefore, it will have an impact on providing high-quality BLS to save infected patients while providing maximum safety according to AHA guidelines.


Originality/value
This study is the first study that examined the level of knowledge and practice of BLS skills during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Jordan.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the level of nurses' competencies while providing care to COVID-19 patients.Design/methodology/approachA descriptive, correlational design was used to collect data from nurses who were providing care to COVID-19 patients at four public hospitals.FindingsA total of 377 nurses (64.5% females) aged 23–50 consented to participate and completed the survey. The mean score of nurses' competencies in providing care to COVID-19 patients was 2.5 (SD = 0.81). The results of correlation coefficient tests disclosed a significant positive correlation between reported competence level and sexrpb(377) = 0.18,p< 0.01; working arearpb(377) = 0.2,p< 0.01; disaster experiencerpb(377) = 0.16,p< 0.01; disaster educationrpb(377) = 0.25,p< 0.01; and disaster trainingrpb(377) = 0.31,p< 0.01.Research limitations/implicationsThe COVID-19 pandemic response heavily relied on nurses. However, they had a gap in clinical competencies that indicates an urgent need to incorporate disaster management courses in basic nursing education and to update training in hospitals based on nurses' needs to improve their capabilities in dealing with COVID-19 pandemic.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that investigated the perceived level of Jordanian nurses' competencies in providing care to COVID-19.