Hala Bawadi

Perception of Jordanian nurses regarding involvement in decision-making

BACKGROUND Nurses in any organizational context are members of a team and cannot work independently. Teamwork requires making decisions frequently, and these decisions affect team performance on a regular basis. Ultimately, the team shapes the quality of patient care. AIM This study examines nurse decision-making related to patient care, self-management and the work environment. METHOD Qualitative descriptive design was used to collect data. Eighteen staff nurses participated in semi-structured interviews to explore the perception of Jordanian staff nurses regarding their participation in decision-making. RESULTS Variation in decision-making involvement was found to exist across unit types and from hospital to hospital. In general, the participants were not satisfied with their level of decision-making involvement and believed that they could participate more. CONCLUSION The results have implications for nurse managers in facilitating the engagement of staff nurses in decision-making and creating an organizational culture to facilitate this engagement.

Middle East and North African Health Informatics Association (MENAHIA): Building Sustainable Collaboration

There has been a growing interest in Health Informatics applications, research, and education within the Middle East and North African Region over the past twenty years. People of this region share similar cultural and religious values, primarily speak the Arabic language, and have similar health care related issues, which are in dire need of being addressed. Health Informatics efforts, organizations, and initiatives within the region have been largely under-represented within, but not ignored by, the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA). Attempts to create bonds and collaboration between the different organizations of the region have remained scattered, and often, resulted in failure despite the fact that the need for a united health informatics collaborative within the region has never been more crucial than today. During the 2017 MEDINFO, held in Hangzhou, China, a new organization, the Middle East and North African Health Informatics Association (MENAHIA) was conceived as a regional non-governmental organization to promote and facilitate health informatics uptake within the region endorsing health informatics research and educational initiatives of the 22 countries represented within the region. This paper provides an overview of the collaboration and efforts to date in forming MENAHIA and displays the variety of initiatives that are already occurring within the MENAHIA region, which MENAHIA will help, endorse, support, share, and improve within the international forum of health informatics.

The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Conflict Management Styles Used by Jordanian Nurse Managers

BACKGROUND Emotional intelligence can help managers to effectively deal with conflicts in the workplace. However, the correlation between conflict management styles and emotional intelligence has not been fully conceptualized. AIM To examine the impact of demographic variables and emotional intelligence on conflict management styles among nurse managers from Jordan. METHOD A descriptive correlational design was used. A sample of 248 nurse managers completed the study. RESULTS The integrating style was the most commonly used style among Jordanian nursing managers, while the least frequently used style was the dominating style. Conflict management styles significantly differed according to hospital type and years of experience. There were significant relationships between emotional intelligence and conflict management styles, but the direction of this relationship is not fully consistent with previous literature. CONCLUSION Educating nursing managers about emotional intelligence may improve their abilities to manage conflicts in the workplace. However, cultural factors might have a role in determining the conflict management style used by managers. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT An analysis of the relationship between emotional intelligence and conflict management styles can assist management in initiating a tailor-training program to improve abilities to manage conflict.

Perspectives and Attitudes of Jordanian Male College Students on Breast Cancer Screening

The purpose of this study is to understand the attitudes of young Jordanian men towards breast cancer screening practices. A qualitative descriptive design informed by Clendenin and Connelly was used. Thirty-seven in-depth semi-structured individual audiotaped interviews were conducted. The analysis of the men’s attitudes toward breast cancer captures the perception that breast cancer is an illness that occurs mainly later in life. This was associated with the perception of negative impact of cancer diagnosis on a young woman’s social status and family role. Men believed that breast cancer preventive practices must be performed in a similar context of women’s religious and cultural background. Younger generations are in need for health education related to breast cancer and its screening. It is important to provide support and guidance for young men to be more involved in providing early detection of breast cancer.