Development delay in children under 6 years old is prevalent not only in both developed and developing countries. It is alarming that the number of delayed children is increasing. It is obliging to find out the family factors that possibly affect developmental delays in children six years old and younger. The objectives of the study were the following: (1) Describe the characteristics of families of children with developmental delays. (2) Determine the factors that significantly relate with developmental delays when comparing families of children, with delays and without delays.

The sample was composed of 52 delayed children and their families, and 52 normal children and their families who were purposively chosen. The data was collected from March to May 2011 with the approval of the Saint Louis University Research Ethics Committee. The Metro Manila Developmental Screening Test was used  to test child development. The Parent Behavior Checklist was used to assess  parenting behavior of mothers. A questionnaire was used to collect family and child factors.

The results of analysis revealed that higher frequencies of delays occurred in children one (23.08%) and three (23.08%) years of age; first born or only child (36.54%), and in households with three children or less (32.69%). Families of delayed children are of low socio-economic status, whose mother predominantly scored low in all categories of parenting. It was also found out that more frequencies  of delays occurred in the fine motor adaptive sector (86.54%), followed by the language (69.23%), gross motor (38.46%) and personal-social (32.69%) sectors respectively.

Results of the chi square test revealed that expectation parenting behavior is significantly associated to developmental delay in the gross-motor sector (p 0.005) in children under six years of age. Developmental delays in the gross motor sector in the three to less than six-year-olds are significantly associated with father's occupation (p 0.009) and expectation parenting behavior (p 0.022).

Analysis of factors associated with developmental delays when comparing delayed and normal children revealed that family factors are not significantly associated with developmental delays. A sub-analysis of age groups however revealed that mother's occupation and developmental delays are significantly associated in the three to less that six-year-old age group (p 0.026).

It is concluded that children with developmental delays belong to families with disadvantaged socioeconomic status whose mothers scored low in all subscales of parenting behaviors; and family characteristics, parenting behaviors of the mother and child characteristics are not significantly related to developmental delays  in children under six years old. Therefore, health workers should be more vigilant in identifying children with developmental delays regardless of family characteristics.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Child ; Child Preschool ; Infant ; Family ; Developmental Disabilities ; Parenting ; Child Rearing ; Social Class

BACKGROUND

Nursing, as a profession, is a facet where job satisfaction and performance matter. In the changing landscape of nursing practice in the Philippines and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative to revisit and to perform an empirical investigation of the current state of nurses' job satisfaction and performance in the hospital setting. This study aimed to describe the job satisfaction and performance among staff nurses in private and government hospitals in Baguio City.

DESIGN

Using a quantitative descriptive cross-sectional survey design, a sample of 313 randomly selected staff nurses working in two private and two government hospitals in Baguio City were surveyed from March to April 2023, using a questionnaire. This study's protocol was approved by two ethics committees, namely the Saint Louis University Research Ethics Committee and the BGHMC REC. Nominal data was analyzed using the SPSS trial version employing frequencies, percentages, and the Chi-square test.

FINDINGS

There are more staff nurses in both private and government hospitals who reported satisfactory job satisfaction levels (276 nurses, 87.9%) and had good job performance (303 nurses, 96.5%) in all domains. However, results show that there are more nurses (209 nurses, 90.7% ) in government hospitals who are satisfied with their jobs than in private hospital nurses (67 nurses, 80.1%) in the domains Intra practice Partnership/Collegiality (p=0.010); Challenge/Autonomy (p=0.001); Professional, Social and Community Interaction (p=0.010); Professional Growth (p=0.036); Time (p=0.009); and Benefits (p=0.045). In terms of job performance, more government nurses at 97.3% (224 nurses) rated a higher self-appraisal of job performance. In comparison, only 94.8% (79 nurses) of private staff nurses appraised themselves as having good performance. No significant differences were found in the domains of job performance, namely leadership, teaching, planning, communications, and professional development, except in critical care. In "Critical care," which showed significance, the results suggest that more nurses in government hospitals perceive higher job performance, revealing a significant difference (p=0.011) in the "critical care" domain, indicating that a higher proportion of nurses in government hospitals demonstrate superior performance in this area.

CONCLUSION

Through this study, it was learned that nurses in both private and government hospitals generally experience high job satisfaction and performance, reflecting a fulfilled workforce and indicating commendable competency among the staff nurses. However, more nurses in government hospitals report high satisfaction and perceived performance in critical care compared to those in private hospitals. Thus, the findings of this study can contribute to and serve as a rationale for policy making regarding creating a positive work environment, proper management and leadership, creation of training and skill development for critical care, providing opportunities for professional growth, and conducting regular evaluation and feedback----- all geared towards a satisfied and productive workforce.

Job Satisfaction ; Job Performance ; Work Performance ; Work Environment ; Working Conditions

Background: The crop of novice nurses who are currently employed is a product of flexible learning who had limited contact hours with actual patients, which is contrary to those who graduated from traditional learning modalities. Hence, it is essential to evaluate how the impact of flexible learning modality has affected the practice preparedness levels of novice nurses in the hospital setting. Objective: This study aimed to determine the level of practice preparedness and its associated factors among novice nurses who work in private hospitals. Methods: The study utilized a cross-sectional survey design. Data was gathered from a total enumeration of ninetyfour novice staff nurses who graduated from the flexible learning curriculum and are currently employed in private hospitals in Baguio City and La Trinidad. The tool used was a questionnaire in two parts. Part 1 consisted of questions related to demographic information and factors related to practice preparedness, and part 2 included the Nursing Practice Readiness Scale, with validity and reliability scores of >0.924 and 0.90, respectively. The data was analyzed using the SPSS V27 trial version. The protocol was approved by the Saint Louis University Research Ethics Committee. Results: Findings reveal that more novice nurses in private hospitals perceived themselves as well-prepared across all domains of practice preparedness: “Collaborative Interpersonal Relationship” (n = 94, 100%); “Patient Centeredness” (n = 92, 97.90%); “Self-regulation” (n = 90, 95.70%); “Clinical Judgment and Nursing Performance” (n = 78, 83.00%); and “Professional Attitudes” (n = 76, 80.90%). There is a significant association between practice preparedness and the following factors: “Attended more than one Training/Seminars per year” (p = 0.02), “Graduated from Private Schools” (p = 0.03), and “Assigned in Regular Wards” (p = 0.05).On the other hand, no significant association was found between practice preparedness and the following factors: “Sex” (p = 0.61) and “Membership in Professional Organizations” (p = 0.73). Conclusion In agreement with existing studies, practice preparedness is multifactorial. However, what this study contributes are new factors that are favorable in making novice nurses more confident in performing their roles and responsibilities. These include being a graduate of private schools, being assigned to regular wards, and attending professional training/seminars more than once annually. Advantageously, these factors that promote practice preparedness are modifiable.
nurses ; nursing staff, hospital ; hospitals, private