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The deadly pandemic spread due to infections with the Coronavirus (COVID-19). It has a disproportionately large effect on healthcare workers and presents unique challenges for this vital sector of society. As a result, the pandemic has heightened public awareness of the dangers that nurses face around the world. This study aimed at exploring the lived experiences of five purposively selected nurses in a public hospital in the southern Philippines. The phenomenological inquiry brought out themes encompassing (1) putting up with occupational stress, (2) reconfiguring personal and social time, and (3) coping with the situation’s gravity. These themes have been fleshed out to capture deeper meanings in the experiences of nurses during the health crisis in which they are deemed to be crucial front liners. The study concludes that while the nurses’ quality of life has been impacted due to the unprecedented situation, they remain committed to their profession. The study then implies that the government should be more responsive to the needs of the nurses and that support and assistance in their practice of the nursing profession amid the pandemic be provided substantially. Implications for hospital administrators and future researchers are also offered.

health, behavioral health, health policy, health service, health education, health economics, medical ethics, health protection, environmental health, and equity in health. As the journal is Open Access, it ensures high visibility and the increase of citations for all research articles published. The Journal of Health and Medical Sciences aims to facilitate scholarly work on recent theoretical and practical aspects of Health and Medical Sciences.

The Roman Catholic Church, just like other churches in the world, has seen an unprecedented influx of afflicted followers as fear of death looms around the globe with the spread of an unseeable enemy the Covid-19 pandemic. This study analyzed how the Church's supreme pontiff, Pope Francis, mirrors his intentions in his ten randomly selected homilies to project his powers and ideologies amid the pandemic. Grounded on the supposition of discourse that language reflects and shapes social order and individuals interact and react to the words of others to better themselves and the world, this study revealed that Pope Francis' intentions in delivering the pandemic homilies encompass asserting the theological teachings of the Church, directing the congregation to act, committing himself and his audience to respond as a community, and expressing a mixture of personal emotions, which were revealed through the scrutiny of illocutionary forces used to assert legitimate, expert, and referent powers and profess magisterial, covenantal, volitional, and revelational ideologies. Notably, it could be observed in the findings that there appears to be a unification of powers to mirror the overriding ideologies that emerge. Indeed, the findings imply that the pope's homilies serve multiple purposes, including asserting theological teachings, directing the congregation to act, fostering community response, and expressing personal emotions through illocutionary forces establishing a meaningful correspondence between preaching and communication.

Non-native English speakers, venturing abroad to work as English teachers, have drastically grown in number. In the United Arab Emirates, a country that regards English as a vital aspect of progress and sustainability and a home to more than 200 nationalities, Filipino and Indian teachers have found their platform to practice their profession, while facing the reality that such a country openly prefers to hire native speakers over non-native ones. Hence, this study was conducted to explore the lived experiences of 12 non-native English speakers (six Filipinos and six Indians) in the context of working as English language teachers in the UAE. Responses, collected through in-depth interviews, were analyzed to shed light on the overarching question. Findings revealed that informants came to the UAE to earn a bigger salary, grow personally and professionally, and enhance their communication skills. Furthermore, issues and challenges experienced by these teachers were clustered into personal matters (homesickness, new environment adjustments, and language barriers) and professional matters (preference for native speakers, curriculum adjustment, classroom environment, and teacher-parent connection). Data also unraveled the coping mechanisms of the informants: recalling motivations, building connections, utilizing various teaching approaches, and practicing cultural sensitivity. Finally, this study reflected the insights of the teachers, categorized in themes of unlimited learning, native vs. non-native speakers’ salary difference, uninterested learners, and the importance of understanding the work contract. Based on the findings, implications on administrative and pedagogical practices were explicated, leading to recommendations for future research on the phenomenon of teacher migration.