title: Research Priorities for School Nursing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
abstract: School nurses are challenged with more children having complex conditions, who are now surviving into school age. This is paralleled by a shift in focus of health systems toward primary care, and national efforts to develop the health-care services, especially those offered to vulnerable populations. Being at the forefront of this change, school nurses in United Arab Emirates (UAE) are finding themselves under pressure to adapt to and facilitate these changes both by improving their practice and by contributing to its underpinning evidence. A cross-sectional design was used in this study in which 370 school nurses participated, identifying 11 research priorities. The three most important, as ranked by participants, were management of children with complex health-care needs; nutrition, obesity, and lifestyle issues of schoolchildren; and managing illnesses, injuries, and emergencies in schools and provision of medical support. These priorities should direct future research activities in the field.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.|2 Research Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.|3 Faculty of Science, School of Nursing, and Midwifery and Indigenous Health, Charles Sturt University, Orange, Australia.
authors.forename: Nabeel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Al-Yateem
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Docherty
authors.affiliation: 4 School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brenner
authors.affiliation: 5 Ajman Medical Directorate, Ajman, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Jameela
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alhosany
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Hanan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Altawil
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Muna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al-Tamimi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012573:School Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D014479:United Arab Emirates; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: United Arab Emirates; cross-sectional study; research priorities; school nursing