Background: Warm compress is believed to reduce perineal tear occurrence and decrease pain intensity during the second stage of childbirth.Objective: This study aimed to determine the effect of warm compresses on perineal tear and pain intensity during the second stage of labor. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted between 28 September 2018 to 30 October 2018 in King Khaled Hospital (KKH), affiliated with the Ministry of National Guard Hospital Affairs, King Abdul-Aziz Medical City Western Region, Saudi Arabia. According to eligibility criteria, the sample randomly recruited through lottery included 100 primigravida pregnant women, with 50 in each intervention and control group. Data were presented in the form of frequency and percentages, standard deviation, and mean. Chi-square test was used for data analysis, with p-value significance at ˂ 0.05.Results: Sociodemographic data revealed no statistically significant difference in the age, education, occupation, and residence of both the control and experimental group. The perineum area’s pain intensity after birth showed a statistically significant difference between the intervention and the control groups (p = 0.001). The perineal tear was also significantly different between both groups (p = 0.001). Conclusion: The applied warm compresses on the perineum area positively reduce second and third-degree perineal tear and pain intensity during the second stage of labor and after childbirth. Therefore, midwives and nurses are expected to actively provide effective planned in-service training programs regarding warm compresses' advantages in the second stage of labor and apply this procedure actively.

Family engagement is a core component of patient- and family-centered intensive care. In Saudi Arabia, its implementation is shaped by cultural expectation

Background Health care professionals find themselves participating in insignificant events in human existence such as birth, pain, and death which is a privilege but also poses challenges as this participation involves decisions that can be life-changing and having an effect on everyone involved. The study aimed to explore moral distress within the context of Saudi Arabia. Methodology A simple qualitative design was used with a research paradigm of constructivism. Data collection included in-depth interviews with five critical care nurses who were purposively sampled. The setting for the study was the critical care units at King Abdul- Aziz Medical City- Jeddah. Data analysis included content analysis. Principles of academic rigor were followed. Findings Two themes emerged from this study with various subthemes. Theme 1: Turning away from nursing obligations: hands are tied, the burden of workload, no voice, not honoring oath; Theme 2: Bad practice: hierarchy in practice and feeling guilty. Conclusions This study highlights that moral distress within critical care units is a real problem that impacts on critical care nurses' physical and psychological stress. Health care institutions should mobilize resources to reduce these effects on critical care nurses and other health care professionals.

Background: Patient education (PE) is an essential component of quality healthcare and chronic disease management. However, effective implementation often faces patient-, nurse-, and organization-related barriers. This is particularly relevant in multicultural healthcare settings such as Saudi Arabia, where a highly diverse nursing workforce may influence PE practices. Aim: To examine the barriers and facilitators influencing patient education practices among nurses working in multiple hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 289 registered nurses recruited through convenience sampling from various hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected using a validated self-administered questionnaire consisting of demographic items and structured scales assessing PE barriers and facilitators. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: Language differences (64.3%) and cultural barriers (59.2%) were the most commonly reported patient-related obstacles. Among nurse-related barriers, staff shortages (72.4%), heavy workload (72.0%), and time constraints (59.9%) were prominent. Organizational barriers included limited educational resources (39.4%) and unsupportive environments (35.6%). Key facilitators identified by nurses included availability of policies and procedures (63.6%), provision of PE training (63.7%), and integration of PE into clinical workflow and nurse appraisals. Conclusions: Despite strong professional support for PE, multiple barriers hinder its implementation in Saudi hospitals. Addressing these challenges requires institutional strategies such as workforce reinforcement, policy integration, and resource allocation. Future efforts should also include integrating patient perspectives, developing culturally tailored education resources, and evaluating the impact of targeted interventions to strengthen PE delivery in diverse hospital settings.

Introduction: The shortage of nursing staff in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations is pronounced due to reliance on expatriates. Float‐pool practice, which entails redeploying ward nurses to other units, is a common strategy; however, its effectiveness in the GCC remains underexplored. Objectives: To explore the facilitators and barriers of float‐pool practice among ward nurses across several specialties in Saudi tertiary hospitals, using the Job Demands–Resources (JD‐R) theory. Methodology: A descriptive cross‐sectional online survey was conducted in three multispecialty hospitals in Saudi Arabia. A census design was used: all eligible ward nurses who had worked in their unit for at least 6 months were invited, while those in managerial and educational positions were excluded. A questionnaire developed from the literature and pretested by the research team and 12 nurses was used to collect data on demographics, floating experience, facilitators, motivators, barriers, and perceptions. Analysis involved descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 294 nurses across different specialties participated. Skill acquisition (46.4%) and incentives (42.3%) were the main motivators; however, only 40.2% reported skill enhancement and 14.4% reported having autonomy of choice regarding floating. Most participants did not agree that float‐pool practice addresses nursing shortages (73.2%) or supports continuity of care (74.3%). Over half expressed concerns about patient safety (51.5%). Most participants agreed that floated nurses should have a reduced workload (65.0%) and should not be allocated tasks beyond their competencies (73.2%). Conclusion: Although float‐pool practice may support organizational flexibility, its implementation is hindered by inadequate orientation, limited autonomy, and workload pressures. From a JD‐R perspective, orientation, competency‐based training, role clarity, and workload management are key resources that can offset the demands of interunit assignments. Strengthening these resources is critical to improving float‐pool practice in Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC.

Background/Objectives: Telehealth has promising opportunities for hypertension management through remote monitoring and enhanced patient–provider communication. However, the usability of these services may vary across patient populations, particularly with respect to age and clinical complexity. This study examined the association of age and specific comorbidity categories with perceived telehealth usability among patients with hypertension in Saudi Arabia. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study using questionnaire data linked with retrospective electronic health-record information was conducted among adults with physician-diagnosed hypertension who received telehealth follow-up following hospital discharge. Participants completed the Arabic version of the Telehealth Usability Questionnaire (TUQ). Sociodemographic and clinical data were extracted from electronic health records. Age in years was entered as a continuous variable in the primary multivariable model, while age group was examined as a categorical sensitivity analysis. Comorbidity was entered as a nominal categorical variable using hypertension only/no additional comorbidity as the reference group. Because group variances were heterogeneous, Welch’s ANOVA and Games–Howell post-hoc comparisons were used for group comparisons. Results: We included 266 adults with physician-diagnosed hypertension. Mean age among the 265 participants with valid age entries was 48.38 years (SD 18.80), and 56.0% were female. The mean total TUQ score was 93.11 ± 21.58, corresponding to a mean item score of 4.43 ± 1.03. According to the prespecified mean-item scoring framework, this represented moderate perceived usability. Significant differences were observed across age groups (Welch’s F(5,46.07) = 8.96, p < 0.001; η² ≈ 0.177), with the highest mean TUQ score among participants aged 20–30 years (110.75 ± 31.72) and the lowest among those aged >70 years (82.53 ± 7.33). In the corrected multivariable model, age was inversely associated with the TUQ score (B = −0.357, 95% CI −0.525 to −0.190; p < 0.001; β = −0.314). Compared with hypertension only/no additional comorbidity, the “other comorbidities” group had higher TUQ scores (B = 23.292, 95% CI 12.392–34.192; p < 0.001), whereas diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and respiratory conditions were not independently associated with the TUQ score. Conclusions: Perceived telehealth usability among patients with hypertension varied according to age and specific clinical characteristics. Older age was associated with less favorable usability perceptions, whereas the pattern across comorbidity categories was heterogeneous rather than uniformly positive or negative. These findings support age-sensitive, patient-centered telehealth design and targeted usability support for clinical subgroups experiencing greater barriers to digital care.