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The nursing staff is more likely to experience drastic stress, which can compromise their physical and mental health and affect the quality of their work. This study aimed to assess the attachment type and affective temperament in connection to the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric hospital nurses. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey utilizing a convenience sample population of 100 nurses who served on the front lines during the COVID-19 outbreak. The key findings showed that most nurses reported moderate attachment anxiety, moderate affective temperament, and mild psychological distress. It is crucial to offer nurses psychological support during COVID-19 through various channels.

Introduction: Patient safety captures the essence of the primary principle of medical ethics, primum non nocere, first do no harm; this is an important concern in the health care system. Nurses are indispensable members of this system and are the largest group of health care providers involved in the direct delivery of patient care. As an integral part of the health care system, it is important to know nurses’ opinions on patient safety culture. Objectives: First, to evaluate and measure the existing safety culture and safety of patients in medical−surgical wards (MSW) in hospitals located in the Qassim region, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Second, to survey the opinion of registered nurses and supervisors/managers about safety culture and issues concerned with safety in hospitals in the region. Materials and Methods: A validated cross-sectional survey, namely the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC), was used. This survey queried 300 nurses in different MSWs in four hospitals in the Qassim Region. Results: Overall, a positive culture of safety exists in MSWs, with 69% of RNs rating their wards as having great/excellent safety culture. Notably, some participants felt it was problematic that blame was assigned to nurses for reported errors. While 55.9% of participants noted that all errors or narrowly avoided errors had been reported, less than half actually reported errors in the last year. Conclusion: The perceived safety culture was largely positive; however, the results also indicated that a culture of safety comes with some risk and blame.

The epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first identified in Wuhan, China and has now spread worldwide. In the affected countries, physicians and nurses are under heavy workload conditions and are at high risk of infection.The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of burnout between physicians and nurses on the frontline (FL) wards and those working in usual wards (UWs).A survey with a total of 49 questions was administered to 220 medical staff members from the COVID-19 FL and UWs, with a ratio of 1:1. General information, such as age, gender, marriage status, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-medical personnel, were gathered and compared.The group working on the FLs had a lower frequency of burnout (13% vs. 39%; P 0.0001) and were less worried about being infected compared with the UW group.Compared with medical staff working on their UWs for uninfected patients, medical staff working on the COVID-19 FL ward had a lower frequency of burnout. These results suggest that in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, both FL ward and UW staff should be considered when policies and procedures to support the well-being of health care workers are devised.

Objectives : To provides a critical evaluation of current empirical evidence related to the prevalence, causes and outcomes of compassion fatigue among critical care nurses. Compassion fatigue is characterized the development of emotional, physical, and/or spiritual exhaustion as a result of working with traumatized individuals. Methods : Data was collected using an integrated review framework via an advanced search of healthcare databases; namely, ProQuest, Science Direct, and CINAHL for research articles on compassion fatigue among nurses in critical care settings. Analysis was performed on the articles which met the inclusion criteria for this review (n=10) to identify the key themes and issues related to the compassion fatigue in critical care situations. Articles were assessed for quality and rigor using the Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies. The search was limited to research studies undertaken from 2000 to 2018. Results : The main findings to emerge from this integrative review was that the prevalence of compassion fatigue among nurses varied across the range of critical care settings. In terms of the causes and consequences of compassion fatigue, this review found work environment and nurse demographics such as age and years of experience, were predictors of compassion fatigue, and the factors mitigating compassion fatigue affects among critical nurse included leader and administrative support within the clinical setting and the coping strategies employed by the nurses. Conclusion : There is inconclusive evidence to identify unequivocal predictors of compassion fatigue among critical nurses. However, it is likely the onset of compassion fatigue among critical care nurses may be reduced with close monitoring of physical and emotional wellbeing in the critical care environment as well as through the provision of education to nurses to assist with the development of coping strategies to avoid compassion fatigue. Saudi Med J 2019; Vol. 40 (11): 1087-1097 doi: 10.15537/smj.2019.11.24569 How to cite this article: Alharbi J, Jackson D, Usher K. Compassion fatigue in critical care nurses. An integrative review of the literature. Saudi Med J . 2019 Nov;40(11):1087-1097. doi: 10.15537/smj.2019.11.24569.

Aims To explore the concept of compassion as represented in Islamic virtues and how it influences the practice of nurses. Background Islam is one of the world's major religions. Yet, an Islamic perspective of compassion is not well understood in the Western nursing literature. Current understandings of compassion are largely drawn from a Western or Buddhist perspective. Design Discursive paper. Methods This is a review of literature and Islamic texts on the presence, meaning and practices of compassion that are relevant to our understanding of compassion in the contemporary nursing practice. Conclusions A compassionate Muslim nurse is a person who gives without asking for something in return, a person who cares without conditions and a person who seeks to achieve the happiness of others. Therefore, Islam, like many other religions, endorses compassionate care in all aspects, and this is particularly emphasised in nurses. Relevance to clinical practice This paper also provides an insight into how a Muslim patient perceives different experiences of health and illness, supported by quotes from the Islamic contextual heritage, and how a nurse within this culture is expected to behave.