Introduction: As COVID-19 Pandemic hit across the globe, the closure of higher institutions and the shifting to online platform has become the stress factors related to learning activities for the nursing students. Hence, this study was conducted among Malaysian undergraduate nursing students to determine the level of perceived stress and to examine the relationship between the stressors and the perceived stress level. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using convenience sampling conducted among undergraduate nursing students in one public university in Malaysia. The study participants (n=201) had been recruited by distributing an online survey which was consisted of three parts; socio-demographic characteristics, stressor factors, and Perceived Stress Score (PSS-10). Results: Majority of the respondents had moderate stress (n=154, 76.6%) with the total mean PSS-10 was 21.29 (SD=±5.57). Significant differences in PSS-10 score were found in terms of level of study, satisfaction in nursing study, current living location, and negative life events (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results from the study indicated that most of the undergraduate nursing students had moderate stress and it is associated with level of study, satisfaction in nursing study, current living location and the present of negative life events. This finding could inform the nursing lecturers and the Malaysian educational institutions for establishing a mechanism of identification and support system for the nursing students associated with the stressors.

In Malaysia, working in a university with Islamic vibes that boost spiritual well-being and reduce burnout needs to be supported with empirical evidence. The aim of the study is to examine the relationship between listening to Islamic music, spiritual well-being, and burnout among employees of public universities. A cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted among 140 employees in a public university during the Covid-19 movement control order in Malaysia (April to May 2021). The set of questionnaires includes socio-demographic data, the types and frequency of music listened by the employees, Modified Maslach Inventory Burnout (MBI), the Duke University Religion Index (DUREL) and spiritual well-being (SWB). The data was analysed using SPSS version 26.0, and hypotheses were tested using the Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis and Spearman correlation. The majority of employees listened to music every day, and 51.4% of study participants listened to Islamic music or audio. The study participants have a high level of religiosity (DUREL Mean = 24.02, SD=±2.352), high spiritual well-being (SWB) (Mean= 109.84, SD=±9.014). For the burnout category, there was a low level of depersonalization (Mean= 8.54, SD=±5.728), moderate emotional exhaustion (Mean=20.51, SD=±9.866), and high personal accomplishment (Mean=31.87, SD=±7.956) among employees. SWB correlates positively with personal accomplishment and negatively with emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation (p<.05). The present study highlights that listening to Islamic music has the potential to support the mental well-being and productivity of employees.

Introduction: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching become a new teaching method to replace the face-to-face teaching. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, many develop countries have implemented online learning as compared to the local universities. However, the implementation of e-learning which was presumed as the best method might give a different impact to the university students due to the uncontrolled pandemic situation itself. The objective of this study is to determine the impact and effectiveness of e-learning during pandemic COVID-19 among the university students. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study with convenience sampling study has been conducted among 349 students at one public university in Malaysia. Data were gathered by using online questionnaires via Google Form that was distributed to undergraduate students. The data were analysed by SPSS version 20, using descriptive, Independent T-test and One-Way ANOVA. Results: The majority of the respondents felt that e-learning did not affect their study and learning performance. They also felt satisfied with the usage of e-learning that was considered as an effective method. There was a significant association between area of living out campus and satisfaction level in e-learning (p<.05). Conclusion: E-learning does not impact the students’ academic performance during the pandemic. Students reported that e-learning is suitable, effective, and they felt satisfied with the usage of e-learning during pandemic.

Introduction: The taxonomy of spirituality is fraught with complexities concerning mental health studies, due to contextual variables such as religion. While many studies on spirituality have reported positive mental health outcomes, little is known concerning spirituality’s effects on bipolar disorder. This study aims to provide a contextual understanding of spirituality from the religious worldview of people with bipolar disorder. Method: This is a qualitative study involving semi-structured and one-to-one in-depth interviews. 25 participants diagnosed with bipolar disorder were recruited from two psychiatric outpatient clinics. All interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim by the researcher. Thematic analysis is used to analyse the data and Bourdieu’s concept of habitus is used to explore the findings in relation to participants’ subjective account of their religious form of spirituality. Results: The theme ‘Maintaining a positive sense of self’ mainly comprises the religious element in the participants’ everyday life: faith in God, religious practices and a sense of spiritual harmony (i.e. peacefulness and connectedness). The role of religion and social agency was inclusive in promoting spirituality among the study sample Conclusion: Through Bourdieu’s lens of religious habitus, this study provides the understanding of religious-spirituality and a healthy mental state in such a way that it implies a relationship with God through religious beliefs and practices. This study invites others to pay attention to the dynamic roles of religious agency and society in promoting religious faith and practices among individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

This is a methodological paper which addresses the need to conceptualize the characteristics of spirituality from the perspective of healthcare service users by using qualitative approach. The need to provide a conception of spirituality as derived from empirical data lead to the justification of choice for the constructivist grounded theory over other qualitative methodologies. This paper highlights the subjective nature of spirituality that suits with the symbolic interactionist and interpretivist as philosophical paradigm underpin such approach in qualitative inquiry. The implication of applying qualitative approach and constructivist grounded theory is that the empirical work may portray the contextual nature of spirituality for the population of interest, especially when it is arguable non-applicable to global context.