Purpose Healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, are considered a vulnerable group to experience acute stress disorder (ASD) and subsequent psychological distress amid COVID‐19 pandemic. This study aims to establish the prevalence of acute stress disorder and predictors of psychological distress among Jordanian nurses. Methods A quantitative, cross‐sectional, descriptive and comparative design was used. Data was collected using a web‐based survey. A total of 448 Jordanian nurses (73% females) completed and returned the study questionnaire. Results The majority of nurses (64%) are experiencing ASD due to the COVID‐19 pandemic and thus are at risk for PTSD predisposition. More than one third of nurses (41%) are also suffering significant psychological distress. Among our sample, age, ASD, and coping self‐efficacy significantly predicted psychological distress. More specifically, younger nurses are more prone to experience psychological distress than older ones. While higher scores on ASD showed more resultant psychological distress, coping self‐efficacy was a protective factor. Conclusion Given that individuals who suffer from ASD are predisposed to PTSD, follow‐up with nurses to screen for PTSD and referral to appropriate psychological services is pivotal. Coping self‐efficacy is found to ameliorate the effect of psychological distress on nurses' traumatic experience. Such findings warrant intensive efforts from healthcare institutions to provide psychosocial support services for nurses and ongoing efforts to screen them for traumatic and psychological distress symptoms. Implications for Nursing Management Nursing leaders and managers are in the forefront of responding to the unique needs of their workforces during the COVID‐19 crisis. They need to implement stress‐reduction strategies for nurses through providing consecutive rest days, rotating allocations of complex patients, arranging support services, and being accessible to staff. They also need to ensure nurses’ personal safety through securing and providing personal safety measures and undertake briefings to ensure their staff's physical and mental well‐being, as well as providing referrals to appropriate psychological services.

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death. Suicide stigma and literacy may affect the rate of suicide and help-seeking behaviors. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Stigma of Suicide Scale-short form (SOSS-SF) and Literacy of Suicide Scale (LOSS). The sample included 160 Jordanian university students. Reliability analysis showed acceptable Cronbach's alpha levels of the three SOSS-SF subscales (stigmatization, isolation, and glorification subscales). Factor analysis supported the construct validity of the SOSS-SF by showing three factor structure similar to the three original subscales. LOSS scores showed low literacy level about suicide with a passing rate of 55% and a mean score of 5.63 out 12. Students had more difficulty in answering questions related to signs/symptoms and risk factors of suicide. This study will enable Arabic clinicians to use these tools which assess important aspects about suicide.

Objective: This study aimed to generate an explanatory model of the coping strategies that adolescents employ to manage the stressors they experience in the final months of their ill parent's life and shortly after their death.Method: The sample included 26 families of adolescents with a parent receiving care in a large hospice program in northeastern Ohio. A semistructured interview was conducted with 14 ill parents, 17 well parents/guardians, and 30 of their adolescent children before the parent's death and, additionally, with 6 of these families after the death. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using a grounded-theory approach.Results: The participants described two worlds that constituted the lives of the adolescents: the well world of normal adolescence and the ill world of having a parent near the end of life. The adolescents experienced a common challenge of living in two worlds and responded to the challenge with a process we labeled “managing two worlds.” Five stages through which adolescents manage their worlds were identified: keeping the ill world and the well world separate; having the ill world intrude into the well world; moving between the ill world and the well world; being immersed in the ill world; and returning to the well world having been changed by the ill world.Significance of results: The explanatory model of “managing two worlds” outlines a complex and nuanced process that changes over time. The model can be used by health professionals who seek to help adolescents navigate this critical time when their parents are dying or have recently died. These results can also be used to inform the development of interventions that assist families with strategies tailored to an adolescent's specific needs. Future research should investigate associations among the process of “managing two worlds” and outcomes related to adolescent bereavement.

Objectives: Although vaccination against the COVID‐19 disease has recently become available, individuals are expressing fear and hesitancy towards receiving it. As a result, testing for COVID‐19 is still considered a vital method to contain infection. For testing to be effective, barriers towards testing intention need to be investigated; and available literature on the challenges are scarce. This study aimed to investigate barriers of COVID‐19 testing among a sample of Jordanian adults and predict testing intention within the context of these barriers.Methods: A cross‐sectional, descriptive, and predictive design was employed in this study among a sample of 1074 Jordanian adults.Results: Three clusters of barriers predicted testing intention; perceived discrimination at work, concerns of individual's privacy, and having negative feelings towards testing. While perceived discrimination at work and privacy concerns were negatively associated with individuals’ intention for testing, experiencing negative feelings towards COVID‐19 testing was a positive predictor.Conclusion: Within the context of the study findings, public health nurses need to promote safety at the workplace, protect an individual's privacy, and eliminate negative feelings towards testing uptake through the provision of accurate and up‐to‐date information regarding the COVID‐19 disease.

According toterror management theory (TMT), older adults may often be a reminder of death for younger adults. Therefore, dealing with older adults may be associated with increased levels of death anxiety and decreased levels of self-esteem, interpersonal reactivity, and symbolic immortality, leading younger adults to develop ageist attitudes and behaviors in defense. However, to date, these associations have not been empirically examined, especially among nurses. Self-report questionnaires were used on a sample of 163 nurses to explore the issue of ageism among nurses from the TMT perspective. The results indicated that, after controlling for sociodemographic variables, high levels of death anxiety and low levels of self-esteem, interpersonal reactivity, and symbolic immortality were associated with increased levels of ageism among nurses. Thus, the current study uses TMT to explain ageism among nurses, and the study findings may contribute to the development of psychological interventions aimed at reducing nurses’ ageism.