The newly discovered coronavirus (COVID-19) has become a pandemic, infecting thousands of people around the world. This study examines nurses’ demographic information (age, gender, marital status, area of practice, total years of experience in the current hospital, work region, monthly salary, educational level, workplace, nationality, working hours per day, total nursing experience, and the respondents’ main source of information on COVID-19), awareness, attitudes, prevention, and perceptions of COVID-19 during the outbreak in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional descriptive design of 500 nurses working at government and non-governmental hospitals in five regions in Saudi Arabia were selected using convenience sampling. The Kruskal–Wallis test was applied and the Mann–Whitney test was utilized as a post hoc test. The majority of nurses in this study, 96.85%, had excellent knowledge of COVID-19. Some (83.2%) of nurses reported significant prevention knowledge and treatment skills about COVID-19, while 7.6% had little knowledge about prevention. More than half of the nurses (60.4%) had high positive attitudes toward caring for COVID-19 patients. In conclusion, female nurses, married nurses, and bachelor’s degree nurses had greater awareness, better attitude, and prevention clinical experience towards COVID-19. Meanwhile, non-Saudi nurses had higher self-reported awareness, positive attitudes, optimal prevention, and positive perceptions compared to Saudi nurses. This study provides baseline information immediately needed to enable health authorities to prioritize training programs that support nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The happiness and mental health of individuals are crucial for national developments. In Saudi Arabia, wellbeing occupies a central position in Vision 2030, along with women’s empowerment. Rapidly changing rights and responsibilities might result in more sources of stress. The aim of this study was to explore happiness and mental health among Saudi women during their contributions to a fast-growing nation in all fields. We assessed happiness and mental health (somatic symptoms, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and social dysfunction) in 308 Saudi women aged 15–50 years using a self-administered online survey comprising the short Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ-8) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). The participants demonstrated general satisfaction yet showed rising psychological distress. Married women reported better mental health compared to single women, particularly with regards to anxiety, insomnia, and depression. Depression was highest among younger women. Employed women demonstrated lower social functioning compared to unemployed women. Women with a higher educational level showed lower social functioning. Happiness scores were significantly and inversely related with overall mental health scores as well as mental health subscales (somatic, anxiety, and depression), except for social dysfunction, which showed a positive correlation to happiness scores. This study contributes to the body of literature on women’s mental health and happiness by providing recommendations for improving both as well as directions for future research.

Background. As nursing interns enter challenging clinical settings, evaluating their preparation and readiness is vital for adaptation success. Sufficient real-world experience and patient care are crucial preparation components that enable effective practice and higher competencies. Aim. This study aimed to assess nurse interns perception of clinical preparation and readiness for clinical internship experiences. Methods. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed, comprising three sections on demographics, clinical preparation requirements, and the CaseyFink Readiness for Practice Survey. Descriptive statistics as the mean and standard deviation, numbers and percentages, linear regression model, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for reporting normal distribution, categorical variables, and relationship between a scalar response and one or more explanatory variables and to calculate statistics between two continuous variables. Results. The participants were 130 nurse interns who were involved in an internship between 2016 and 2020, 50 of the nurse interns. They had a moderate level of clinical preparation, and 28.5 of them exhibited a low level. In addition, 53.8 were found to be moderately ready for practice, while 22.3 had a low level of readiness Conclusion. The observed significant positive correlation between perceived preparation and readiness underscores the pivotal role of clinical preparation in influencing practice readiness. Implications. These findings emphasize the importance of targeted interventions aimed at enhancing clinical preparation to directly bolster overall readiness for professional practice among nurse interns.

(1) We aimed to systematically search available data on the prevalence of frailty among community-dwelling elders in Middle Eastern countries. The results from available studies are cumulated to provide comprehensive evidence for the prevalence of frailty. (2) Methods: A meta-analysis was done. A literature search was carried out using PRISMA guidelines in PubMed, Web of Science, and SCOPUS websites for studies up to 2020. Inclusion criteria entailed all primary studies conducted in Middle Eastern countries on frailty in community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years and older. (3) Results: A total of 10 studies were selected for this study. Random-effects meta-analysis of nine studies indicated there was a pooled prevalence rate of 0.3924 with a standard error of 0.037. This pooled prevalence point estimate of 0.3924 was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The Egger’s regression test and the trim-fill method for detecting publication bias did not detect any evidence of publication bias in the sample of included studies. The Egger’s regression test was not statistically significant. The trim-fill method indicated zero studies were missing on either side; (4) Conclusions: The study’s findings indicate that the prevalence of frailty is higher in Middle Eastern nations. Despite indications that many of these nations’ populations are rapidly ageing, we presently lack information on the incidence of frailty in these populations; this information is essential to health, policymakers, and social care planning.

The absence of scope of practice guidelines may lead to role ambiguity and legal consequences in nursing practice. This study measures the scope of practice of nurses in Saudi Arabia. The study utilized a descriptive cross-sectional design using an electronic version of the Arabic Actual Scope of Nursing Practice (A-ASCOP) questionnaire among 928 nurses. Descriptive analysis was followed by a t-test and an analysis of variance (ANOVA). Significance was assured through the Bonferroni test; the effect size was measured through partial η2 when appropriate. The A-ASCOP mean score of each dimension ranged from 4.29 to 4.72 (overall mean = 4.59). Significant overall ASCOP score variations were evident, with higher ASCOP among expatriate nurses, females, Hospital Operation Program (HOP) nurses, and nurses with postgraduate qualifications. Partial η2 showed a small effect of <0.016. Low-complexity nursing tasks showed insignificant differences no matter the nurse’s position, but were less practiced by Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and advanced-degree nurses than by those with a diploma education. High complexity of ASCOP was practiced significantly more often by postgraduate-prepared nurses than by diploma-educated nurses. The study showed that there is a range of variation in nursing practice, but that the lack of internal regulations (nursing scope of practice) has no effect on nursing duties. In a country such as Saudi Arabia, where massive national improvement initiatives are frequent, clearly defining the scope of practice for nurses is essential and needs to be done through government mandates. Further studies are essential to define what the scope of practice should include.

Background: GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have been shown to improve glycemic control and insulin sensitivity and reduce body weight in obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). This trial sought to evaluate the therapeutic effect of oral and subcutaneous semaglutide in NAFLD and its sequelae in obesity and/or T2D. Methods: In an open-labelled intervention study, the sample was 180 patients classified into three parallel groups (1:1:1): group I received oral semaglutide, group II patients received injectable semaglutide, and group III received pioglitazone and/or vitamin E. Patients were evaluated at 6 and 12 months. Results: There was a substantial improvement in lipid profile, liver enzymes, and body mass index, especially in group II. As for HDL, only group II showed a consistent increase at both 6 months (51 ± 4.62 mg/dL) and 12 months (50.08 ± 2.45 mg/dL) compared with baseline (45.6 ± 6.37 mg/dL) (p-value < 0.001). Despite the non-significant difference in NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS) (p-value = 0.45 and 0.63), group II had significantly lower scores of the fibrosis-4 score (FIB-4), liver stiffness measurement (LSM), and controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) at 6 and 12 months (p-value < 0.001). Conclusions: Semaglutide improves lipid profile, liver steatosis, and fibrosis parameters and reduces the BMI in T2D and obese patients with NAFLD.