Bipolar Disorder has been one of the leading psychiatric conditions here in the Philippines. . It is characterized by mood swings from profound depression to extreme euphoria (mania), with intervening period of normal mood (euthymia). The frequency, duration, and severity of manic and/or depressive episodes varies and is unique to each individual (Haber, 1997). In general, there are five in every 100 Filipinos who are suffering from some form of depression, and other may have a different reaction such as hyperactivity or swinging from depression to euphoria, unable to function normally, and in real danger of hurting themselves and others. Sadly, many of those with bipolar illness are left undiagnosed and, consequently, untreated. This case study presents how nurses play a role in helping patients overcome the challenges of having a psychiatric illness particularly those with Bipolar Disorder. 

Human ; Male ; Adult ; Bipolar Disorder ; Depression ; Euphoria ; Depressive Disorder ; Cyclothymic Disorder

The increasing demand for mental health services worldwide and the continuing development of government policies for mental health require a huge contribution from psychiatric mental health nurses. However, previous studies reveal that the roles of psychiatric mental health nurses lack distinctiveness compared with other members of the health care team; thus the need for clearer identification of their role. This study intended to describe the perceived roles of psychiatric mental health nurses in selected hospital-based psychiatric settings. Qualitative descriptive study design was used. A purposive sample of eleven (11) psychiatric mental health nurses and twelve (12) non-nurses (i.e. psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social worker, and occupational therapists) participated in semi-structured interviews about their perceived roles of psychiatric mental health nurses. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. It was found out that the perceived roles of psychiatric mental health nurses are direct care provider, facilitator of family and therapeutic group activities, manager of therapeutic environment, educator, collaborator, patient advocate and researcher. It also showed that the roles of psychiatric mental health nurses are clearly established in hospital-based psychiatric settings and that the perception of psychiatric nurses about their roles is consistent with the roles that other mental healthcare professionals expect from them.
Occupational Therapists ; Psychiatric Nursing ; Psychiatry

This paper describes the COVID-19 response efforts through strategic partnerships of a nursing school in the Philippines. The roles of the academe through teaching as well as continuing education and community extension services programs were particularly harnessed. Existing academe-government-community partnerships were leveraged, and personal networks mobilized to provide support on risk communication, community engagement, and capacity building. Challenges and limitations encountered serve as points for improving the academe's strategies and activities. The lessons from this undertaking highlight the crucial role of nursing schools as relevant resources in COVID-19 pandemic response initiatives. Partnerships and networks built prior to the pandemic are instrumental in providing the space and opportunities for faculty and student nurses to aid in strengthening the local response. Recommendations are outlined to enhance current roles, strategies, and activities of the academe in the COVID-19 pandemic and lay future directions for Philippine nursing schools given the increasing incidence and severity of disasters in the country.
Public Health Nursing ; Disaster response ; Disaster nursing ; COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with societal and technological changes around the globe, demanded adaptations to nursing education. This educational case report is an idiographic narrative of an institution’s experience of shifting to flexible learning in nursing education in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Various subjects, involving foundation, intervention, and intensive nursing courses, were implemented in flexible learning modes during the Academic Year 2020 to 2021. This case report identified how curricular integration and curricular redesign were carried out to ensure the achievement of BSN Program Outcomes. Faculty development on flexible learning was implemented with training outcomes to include the application of key concepts and instructional design principles toward flexible learning. Training outcomes were evaluated through embedded activities on course package development by the faculty participants. This case report also identified various teaching-learning strategies, and how they addressed emerging issues, including differences in technological competence and accessibility. The report highlighted how the college transitioned to flexible learning through curriculum integration and course redesign which has been effective and efficient in the achievement of educational outcomes. Appropriate training and guidance of the faculty to enable them to integrate and redesign courses, and address emerging issues and challenges, could help in the transition to flexible learning. Flexible learning is an effective pedagogical approach to implementing nursing education. Timely implementation of measures must be taken to ensure relevant and appropriate curricular integration and redesign of courses, and consequently, the nursing program.

Human ; Education, Nursing

: One of the most commonly used tools by clinicians to identify cases of anxiety and depression in medically ill patients is the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, or the HADS Filipino version. However, there were some “gray areas” with its use, particularly for those who are in the non-psychiatric setting. Some translated items may pertain to something else which could influence patients' responses. Furthermore, local studies showed differences in the conception, understanding, and expression of depression unique to Filipino culture and could be potentially missed during the assessment. This paper determined the validity and reliability of the Anxiety and Depression Symptom Assessment Guide or ADSAto a sample of 91 adult cardiac Filipino patients in the in-patient setting. In addition to the 29-item ADSAtool that was generated from HADS, the review of literature and other sources was also reviewed by experts from two rounds of Delphi Survey. It was written in a yes-or-no format and available in both English and Filipino versions. The tool was tested for internal consistency, intra-class and inter-item reliability. Another test used was criterion-based validity utilizing HADS to identify cases of anxiety and depression. The results showed that ADSAis highly reliable with Cronbach's alpha of 0.97, poor-to-moderate intra-class correlation (0.670 for anxiety, 0.440 for depression), and consistent/acceptable interitem correlation (0.528 for anxiety, 0.382). Both HADS and ADSAwere positively correlated with correlation coefficients of 0.667 and 0.391 (p-value<0.5) for anxiety and depression respectively. Using a cut-off score of 5, ADSA has moderate sensitivity and specificity of 72.5% and 78.4% for anxiety, and 66.7% and 64.3% for depression. Further research is needed to strengthen ADSA's validity by increasing the sample size and the multi-center sites.
Anxiety ; Depression

Objective: To describe the trend and landscape of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)-related publications in nursing authored by at least one Philippine-based author. Methods: This study is a bibliometric analysis of documents retrieved from Scopus using the search terms “COVID-19” and “nurs*” in the article title, abstract, and keywords. The documents were limited to those published in English, affiliated with Philippine-based authors, and those published from 2020 to 2023. We used the ‘analyze report’ function in Scopus to analyze the data including the number of publications, types, sources, authors, and affiliations. We used VOSViewer for the co-authorship analysis of countries and co-occurrence analysis of author keywords. Results: A total of 136 documents were found. Majority of these documents were classified as original articles (83%). There was a rapid increase in COVID-19 publications in nursing authored by at least one Philippine-based researcher published from 2020 to 2021 and plateaued from 2022-2023. Co-authorship analysis showed that Philippine-based authors have written documents with authors from 111 countries most notably from Saudi Arabia, the United States, Indonesia, and Australia. Most documents were published in the Belitung Nursing Journal. Authors from the University of Santo Tomas had the most publications. The most cited articles focused on psychosocial impacts, resilience, workplace stress, and online education. Author keywords commonly used in the documents were COVID-19, nursing, and nursing students, covering topics such as pandemic impacts, workplace impacts, nurse well-being, psychosocial impacts, and nursing education. Keywords have evolved through the pandemic period with a recent focus on stress and professional values. Conclusion Philippine-based authors actively contributed in understanding the impact of COVID-19 on nurses and nursing education. Their scientific productivity was driven partly by their collaboration with foreign-based researchers. To sustain this trend in productivity and collaboration, policies, programs, and strategies are needed to promote, support, and foster research collaboration among local and international nursing researchers and institutions.
Human ; bibliometrics ; COVID-19 ; nursing ; Philippines