Low recruitment of Saudi nationals into the nursing profession, coupled with a growing population, has led to a severe nursing shortage in Saudi Arabia, particularly of nurses with advanced qualifications in clinical nursing. While the role of nurse practitioner has been successfully integrated into the healthcare systems of the U.S., Canada, the UK and Australia for decades, the advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), which includes nurse practitioners and clinical nursing specialists, is still not being implemented effectively in Saudi Arabia due to a variety of regulatory, institutional and cultural barriers. The author looks at some of those barriers and offers recommendations of how they might be overcome. Given that in many parts of the world, nurse practitioners are considered an essential component to meeting healthcare demands, the author considers the question of whether APRNs can find a role in Saudi Arabia’s healthcare system.

Transition from theoretical knowledge to real-life practice is often challenging, emotionally exhausting and stressful for nurses in acute settings, to deliver safe nursing care in an environment of increased accountability, responsibility of patient care and heavy workloads.These circumstances are common across various regions, as for instance; Solutions (2016) indicated that increasing rate of turnover has been observed with the approximate value of 18.2% in the hospitals located in north-east, which not only impacts the quality of care but also adds to the hospital expense (Blegen, Spector, Lynn, Barnsteiner, & Ulrich, 2017). This gives rise to the need of developing strategies that may minimise the turnover rate of new graduate nurses.

Background: Preceptors play an essential role in supporting new nurses during the transitional period in professional roles. Moreover, graduate nurses experience several challenges during their transitional role from students to professional nurses, despite the considerable relationship between nurses and preceptors.Purpose: The study aims to evaluate the relationship between the experiences of nurses using Casey-Fink Graduate Nurse Experience Survey and the number of preceptors in Saudi hospitals.Methods: A cross-sectional study design was adopted, and Casey-Fink Graduate Nurse Experience Survey was used to collect data from 84 newly graduated nurses. Descriptive and regression analysis was used for data analysis.Results: Results showed that there was no statistically significant relationship between the responses of 5 factors of the Casey-Fink Graduate experience survey and the number of preceptors. Based on the survey, (33.8%) had to stress whereas significant causes of stress were student loans (41.9%), personal relationships (13.5%), living situation (27%), and finances (10.8%).Conclusion: No statistically significant relationship was found between variables including; support, patient safety, communication/leadership, professional satisfaction, and job satisfaction. The significance of preceptorship programs should be considered by the primary health care corporation to support and prepare preceptors of newly graduated and recruited nurses.

The concept of empowerment is broad and is frequently viewed as a way to give more power to the powerless in numerous aspects of life. However, the empowerment of patients seeking health care has received less attention. Consequently, this article aims to examine how the notion of empowerment is defined in the scientific literature pertaining to healthcare. This concept analysis was conducted utilizing the eight-step Walker and Avant approach (2014). The data resources used in the analysis were obtained from health-related literature retrieved from the CINAHL, PUBMED, and PsycINFO online databases. Four distinguishing characteristics, including Mutually beneficial connections, Knowledge and skills, Self-determination and shared decision making, and Sharing of social power, were retrieved from the analysis. This concept analysis demonstrated to both patients and medical practitioners the optimal method for initiating the therapeutic relationship. Empowerment can facilitate health professionals' practice and increase patients' and consumers' confidence and happiness with health services. Additional analysis can be conducted to get a fresh understanding of the concept, contributing to the body of health-related information.