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Background: Stress is recognized as a worldwide phenomenon. Medical students around the world suffering from psychological stress and decrease life satisfaction and academic performance. Aim: The study aims to identify the prevalence of stress among medical student in the Gaza Strip. Study design: Across- sectional- descriptive analytical design was used to conduct the study. Sample and sampling: stratified random sampling. The target participants were the medical students from AL-Azhar & Islamic university in the Gaza Strip, the sample was 250 students. 138 students from AL-Azhar University and 112 students from Islamic University of both sexes. Methods: A self-administered online questionnaire was used to collect the data. The questionnaire included two parts. First, personal characteristics, Second, modified Medical Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ-40). Results: Revealed that the prevalence of stress among medical students was found to be 48.25%:, classified as moderate stress. Academic stress with an average of (63%), was the first stress among medical students, and was rated as high stress, followed by teaching and learning stress, (55.75%) which considered high. While, social pressure (49.75%), group activity (44.25%), drive and desire (39%), and intrapersonal and interpersonal stress (37.5%) are - classified as moderate stress. The average stress due to heavy curriculum in the academic domain was the highest one with a score of 78% classified as severe stress. Academic stress during the clinical training (65.75%) was higher than the pre-clinical training years (61%). No statistical differences were detected in term of gender regarding stress. Conclusion: There are several sources of stress affecting medical students. Academic- related stress were the major and the first stressor among medical students. Recommendations: Medical faculties should care about medical students. This is possible by providing effective stress reduction strategies, counseling and- a balanced curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION The Gaza Strip is densely populated. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental impact on global healthcare systems, and midwifery practices have transformed in maternity care settings. Our research aimed at understanding the Palestinian midwives' experiences in providing maternity care in Gaza during the COVID-19 pandemic at Gaza European Hospital which was the only hospital providing care for people diagnosed with COVID-19. METHODS To understand the phenomenon of interest, descriptive phenomenology was used. A purposive sample of eight midwives from the European Gaza Hospital was chosen. Between December 2020 and January 2021, semi-structured interviews were used in the data collection procedure. The collected data were analyzed using the Colaizzi approach. RESULTS The investigation resulted in three main themes: emotionally overwhelmed, work environment challenges, and interpersonal relationship development. CONCLUSIONS Midwives shared both positive and negative experiences from their time working in the European Gaza Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were confronted with negative emotions such as fear, stress, and anxiety, as well as environmental challenges. Despite this, they created a new interpersonal bond that was positively reflected. To sustain their psychological well-being, COVID-19 care workers require psychological support at work. A strong need exists for equipping the Maternity Department with the essential equipment and supplies to reduce the working environment load, as well as giving the necessary training to staff to be qualified enough to provide such crucial care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Providing antenatal care (ANC) to pregnant women has positive impact on the health of mothers and their newborns. Provided ANC should be of high quality to have such an impact . The aim of this study was to assess the quality of ANC services provided by the governmental primary health care centers in the Gaza Strip as perceived by nurses and midwives providing ANC to this group of health service users . Design: A cross sectional descriptive design was used in this study. Participants of the study were all nurses and midwives (55 participants) who provide ANC at governmental primary health care centers in the Gaza Strip . Results: Results showed that about half (50.9%) of the participants were between 36 - 45 years, the majority of them (72.7%) have more than 10 years of work experience. 40% of participants hold a diploma in midwifery and about one third of them (34.4%) were from Gaza Governorate. Results showed high scores of all study variables and domains. Participants thought that emotional support was the most essential feature of quality of antenatal care and that they are following the national standards criteria related to providing ANC . Conclusion: The results of this study showed that nurses and midwives working at the governmental primary health care centers are providing their clients a high quality ANC service according to national guidelines of ANC. However, this was the perception of the nurses and midwives who provide the services . An assessment of the quality of delivered ANC as perceived by service users is needed to get a full picture of the actual quality of ANC services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]