Background Mothers parenting children with leukemia face innumerable challenges in meeting their own personal needs, as well as the needs of their ill child. Objective To explore the lived experiences of Omani mothers who are parenting children with leukemia, using interpretative phenomenological analysis design. Methods Data were collected from 10 mothers who were parenting children with leukemia who shared their experiences through a face-to-face recorded interview. Data were analyzed using the interpretative phenomenological analysis approach methods. Results Three main themes emerged from the mothers’ experiences: (1) unexpected shocking diagnosis; (2) life is not the same anymore; and (3) viable support systems. Mothers found their child’s diagnosis to be shocking and terrifying. The diagnosis and treatment cast a shadow on the mothers’ lives. Mothers abandoned their work and left their healthy children to their spouses. Mothers relied on other mothers also parenting children with cancer and on the support of the extended family and health team members to cope and prayed to God to help them overcome the calamity. Conclusion The mothers perceived their life as changing immediately upon hearing their child’s cancer diagnosis as they experienced a plethora of emotions. They sought support at various points during their child’s illness to cope and overcome the challenges during the cancer treatment journey. Implications for Practice Pediatric oncology nurses can support mothers during their transition to caring for a child with leukemia and can provide the needed support to reduce maternal distress and increase effective coping with the challenges.

Pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) properties are critical to reservoir as well as production engineers, in particular. PVT properties could be determined experimentally. But, experiments are time consuming and costly. Moreover, laboratory PVT analysis does not consider the variations of PVT properties with respect to temperature since they are measured at reservoir temperature at the time of sampling. For that matter, the data is not benefitable. But, even if experimental analysis is done, it is difficult to obtain representative results to develop a new field. To tackle the above and other related problems, relying on sound PVT emperical correlations would be the ultimate solution. In this work, the intent is to develop stochastic models for PVT properties pertaining to Omani crude oils since it is believed that such correlations are scarce and not very precise. The empirical equations are developed for saturated Omani crude oils. The correlations are tested and validated. The empirical equations evaluation and assessment are done against existent experimental data and published correlations. 89

Objectives: Pediatric leukemia is the most common cancer among children younger than 14 years of age. Children with leukemia require palliative care as additional support from the health care team. Providing palliative care to children is challenging. Thus, this study explored the challenges experienced by nurses in providing pediatric palliative care to children with leukemia. Methods: Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted on a purposive sample of 11 nurses in the hematology-oncology units of a tertiary care hospital in Oman. Results: Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis, which revealed three main themes and seven subthemes related to challenges in providing pediatric palliative care: Personal challenges: Nurses were unable to neutralize their emotions, which burdened them emotionally; due to multitasking, nurses were unable to manage their tasks within the expected time frame; nurses were stressful when they participated in explaining the diagnosis to the parents; and nurses felt powerless when the health condition of some children deteriorated. Educational challenges: Nurses felt unprepared to meet the physical/psychosocial aspects of caring for children with leukemia. Organizational challenges: Nurses stated that families and nurses required rooms to pray, rest, and read Quran, and they needed a private place to speak to families; and nurses mentioned that there are limited number of psychologists to meet the psychological and social needs of children and their families. Conclusion: Prioritizing and implementing strategies for a supportive workplace, guided clinical practice, and maximizing nurses’ satisfaction are crucial.

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