Concern among health professionals has been raised by the ongoing rise in the prevalence of malaria in recent years. Herbal treatments have been deemed the most popular form of traditional medicine in Africa and a high percentage used it for malaria treatment. Poor health care services with unaffordable malaria have been a major barrier to malaria control. This study investigated the use and effectiveness of traditional medicine in treatment of malaria in Osun State, Nigeria. 15 people with malaria across the three senatorial districts of Osun State were selected, using snow balling sampling techniques. Experimental design was utilised to assess the level of knowledge on malaria. Descriptive survey was used to assess the use of traditional medicine, and true experiments to test efficacy of herbal medicine. This study found that respondents have inadequate knowledge of traditional medicine for treatment of malaria and lack adequate knowledge that anopheles mosquito cause malaria. However, use of traditional medicine is high among respondents, with most of the listed herbs achieving a significant point for mean (2.5). Majority of respondents either have malaria parasites hibernated and experience malaria relapse later or the herbal medicine used were ineffective in the first place. The effectiveness of these combined herbs is also dependent on the intensity of the malaria infection. The study concluded that traditional medicine is effective among just in a few of the respondents, who combined, prepared herbs appropriately and took it as prescribed by experienced herbs experts. Keywords; Malaria, Treatment of malaria, Herbal medicine.

The adolescence state is the progressive transition from childhood to adulthood. They have specific needs which vary with gender, life circumstances, and socioeconomic level. In this stage, they suffer from various forms of problems and conflicts, which ultimately impair normal development and move to a depressive state. This study assessed the level of well-being among school-going adolescents in the south region of Tamilnadu; The uni-variable, descriptive- cross-sectional research design was adopted. Through the convenient sampling technique,120 school-going adolescents responded to the adolescent’s well-being questionnaire (11-16 years) through online Google forms. The collected data were analyzed through the SPSS package. In the results, the majority of school-going adolescents (77%) were depressed and there is a significant association found between gender and grade (P= 0.05%). The nursing fraternities of community and public health nurses and stakeholders in the community take the initiation of remedial measures to support and promote the mental health of adolescents. Keywords: Well-being, School going Adolescents, Conflicts, Depression, and mental Health.

Malaria control has been a challenge around the world for decades. In malaria endemic nations like Sub-Saharan Africa, traditional herbal medicine is the most common option for treating malaria. About 80% of the world's population relies on the use of herbal medicine to treat a variety of diseases, and the use of plant materials in the treatment of illnesses has continuously expanded. This study sought to assess the level of knowledge and attitudes towards the use of traditional medicine in the treatment of malaria in southwest Nigeria. Descriptive design and multistage sampling techniques were utilised. During the first stage, three States were chosen through a balloting process utilising random sampling methods. Four (4) sections of the questionnaire were used to collect sociodemographic data and other factors that were important to the achievement of the given objectives. The findings revealed that 31.7% of the respondents had inadequate knowledge about traditional medicine for treatment of malaria. 20.8% had positive perceptions to the common herbal medicines used in the treatment of malaria. Majority stated malaria is not a serious disease to be concerned about, and that traditional medicine is superior to modern medicine. Conclusively, the results highlighted the respondent’s lack knowledge on the consequences of traditional medicine. A strong correlation between traditional medicine uses and perception in the treatment of malaria in southwest Nigeria was also discovered. The result of the study prompted a recommendation that the public health department of the ministry of health need to intensify campaign against use of unapproved herbs for treatment of malaria. Keywords; Malaria, Herbal Medicine, Treatment of Malaria.

The novel Coronavirus or Covid-19 infection is one of the infectious diseases that has covered the world like a storm and sent the scientific communities scrambling for a cure with the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020) declaring it as a Pandemic on March 11th, 2020. Nurses as frontline workers become overwhelmed with the large number of cases thereby affecting their physical, social, and psychological wellbeing. For this reason, this study will explore the psychological impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the performance of nursing staff at the Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute, Bermuda. The study explored a qualitative research method utilizing purposive sampling technique adopted under the auspices of Husserl’s phenomenological philosophical theoretical framework. Twelve participants recruited for the study were Registered Nursing Staff at the Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute, Bermuda. One on one interview used as a method of data collection using interview guide. The data was analyzed using Colaizzi’s descriptive phenomenological method. Ethical approval obtained from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Bermuda Hospital Board. Three themes emerge: mental/psychological response to Covid 19, Psychological effect of Covid-19, and Impact of Covid 19 on staff performance. Covid 19 pandemic has affected the performance of Registered Nursing Staff of MAWI in Bermuda. Therefore, to forestall further effects, there is need for the MAWI Bermuda to provide adequate mental and psychological support to Registered Nurses affected by Covid 19 Pandemic. Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic, Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute- Bermuda, Nursing staff, psychological impact, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The nurses in Kenya have the numerical power because they form the highest population of the health care system in Kenya. Despite this, they have been unable to have a strong voice to champion their rights and influence health policy formulation at policy tables. In the hospital management and at national level, the nurses hold mostly subordinate roles compared to medical counterparts. No record exists for nurses who have made it to the Kenyan National Parliament and Senate. Literature on the participation of Nurses in national politics and health policy in Kenya is scanty. This makes the situation wanting because without nurses’ participation at legislative arena the nursing profession will retrogress. The purpose of the study therefore aims at determining the participation of nurses in national politics and health care policy development. The specific focus was to find out the knowledge, perception and participation in health policy development and national politics and health policy development. The study adopted a descriptive cross- sectional study design. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data. The sample size was 49 registered nurses. Simple random sampling was used to select the respondents. Knowledge and perception were assessed using a set of questions that were scored on a Likert scale. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2007. The findings revealed that nurses at Meru Level 5 General Hospital had limited participation in national politics and healthcare policy development, with political participation majorly limited to voting in the general elections and health policy implementation respectively. Very few nurses were engaged in agenda setting, policy formulation and policy evaluation stages. 92% reported that politics was good for the profession, with 65% expressing that political discussions have a direct impact on their salaries and working conditions. All participants (100%) reported that nurses have a responsibility to engage in health policy development because they are knowledgeable and direct healthcare providers. Keywords: Advocacy, Health care policy, Health policy development process, Participation, Politics, Policy.

Covid-19 is one of the most lethal infections, causing a global pandemic. An alternative serological test was developed in response to the increased demand for Covid 19 diagnosis. This study compared the diagnostic performance of Saytul and Global Access to the gold standard (Sars-COV-2) in Abuja, Nigeria. The diagnostic performance of Covid-19 serological assays was determined in a cross-sectional study (Saytul and Global access). All three tertiary health facilities in the FCT, as well as the Zankli Research Center, were purposefully chosen as Covid-19 referral laboratories, and all of the institutions selected provide medical student training. Quota sampling was used in the study. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 23.0, with statistical significance set at p<0.005. Eight hundred and six respondents participated in the study. Most of the respondents (71%) were age 16-30 years. The positivity rate is higher SarCov2 compared to Saytul and Global Access. Saytul shows a sensitivity of 47.2% and specificity of 98.0% while Global access shows a sensitivity of 43.8% and specificity of 98.0%. There was a statistically significant difference in the results between SarCOV2 PCR and Saytul (p=0.001) and Global Access (p=0.001). We discovered that the serological tests have low sensitivity but high specificity. Low sensitivity has implications for missing cases, which could lead to further infection spread. With improved technology and understanding of the virus, highly accurate and effective tests to help prevent coronavirus infection can be made available. Keywords: Serological test, Covid 19, Sensitivity, Specificity.

Antenatal and delivery care are essential maternal health services (MHS) for survival and wellbeing. Nigeria has the highest global burden of maternal mortality with low utilization antenatal and delivery services. Though early marriage is a strong predictor of early pregnancy and childbirth, it is not clear if it is associated with low use of MHS. This study assessed early marriage as a determinant of poor MHS utilization in Nigeria. This study used data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) which is based on descriptive cross-sectional survey design. The data was limited to ever married women aged 15-24 years. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. This study indicates lower likelihood of women who marry early to use antenatal care (OR=0.25, 95%CI=0.21-0.31), receive minimum 4 ANC (OR=0.22, 95% CI=0.18-0.26), receive iron supplementation (OR=0.38, 95%CI=0.33-0.45) and IPTp for malaria prevention (OR=0.57, 95%CI=0.50-0.66). Conversely, Early marriage was found to be associated with higher likelihood of facility delivery (OR=4.6, 95%CI=4.02-5.26) and lower likelihood of delivery by unskilled attendant (OR=0.31, 95%CI=0.26-0.31). These associations disappear in the adjusted model. Nevertheless, the nuanced analysis showed association in the adjusted odd ratio for use of antenatal care (AOR=0.44, 95%CI=0.20-0.99) and number of antenatal care visits (AOR=0.37, 95%CI=0.14-0.95) among women who married at less than fourteen years. Early marriage below age 14 years negatively affect utilization of MHS. There is the need to strengthen legislation against early marriage below 14 years and address socioeconomic challenges that exacerbate vulnerability. Keywords: Antenatal care, Child marriage, Delivery, Early marriage, Maternal health services, Nigeria.

Evidence-Based Practice: Nurses’ knowledge and implementation; in the prevention of Pressure sore amongst debilitating patients was carried out in selected Government Hospitals in Delta State. The research method for the study was a correlational survey design. A simple random sampling was used to select 250 respondents. Permission to collect data was sought from the Ethical Committee of the Hospital Management Board and from respondents. The data collection instrument was a self-developed structured questionnaire that was validated before use. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and the test statistic used for the hypotheses was the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient at 95% CI (i.e., at 0.05 significance level). The results demonstrated 54.4% had knowledge of EBP, 19.6% of nurses employed EBP to prevent pressure sore while and 19.6% employed best practice. There exists a significant relationship between nurses’ level of knowledge of EBP and the prevention of Pressure sore in debilitating patients (r=0.338, df-248, p<0.05). There was a relationship between the implementation strategy of EBP and the prevention of Pressure sore in debilitating patients (r=0.258, df-248, p<0.05). This study revealed the majority had knowledge of EBP. However, there is still a wide gap in knowledge as 38.8% of nurses indicated that opinion, expertise, and intuition are sufficient in preventing Pressure sore in debilitating patients. Nurses are to use nursing models. Models not only increase patient’s satisfaction and quality of nursing care but also offer a useful set of frameworks to guide education and nursing practice as failure to translate research evidence into practice hinders patients from adequate care and is likely to have skin breakdown. Keywords: Evidence-based practice, Implementation, Nurse’s knowledge, Pressure sore, Prevention.

Hospital Acquired Infections occur worldwide and affect hundreds and millions of people, and they are related to high rates of morbidity and mortality among patients who are admitted in hospitals or health facilities and are a major problem to patients’ safety and in settings where health care is to be made safe, their close watch and avoidance should be the topmost priority. The purpose of the study was to determine the factors within the nurses that were associated to the prevention and control of Hospital-acquired infections. The study was conducted at Ngora Fredica Hospital Ngora district Eastern Uganda. Results: 63.6% and 77.3% of nurses were found to be knowledgeable on causes and transmission of HAIs, respectively, which reflected good practices on medical waste segregation (85.2%), washing hands (77.3%), and storing sharps in safety boxes (92%). Respondents demonstrated good practice on infection prevention and control. Gender (female with COR = 1.54), experience (less than four years with COR = 1.43), and cadre (COR = 1.41) were significantly associated with nurses’ prevention and control abilities. Based on the key findings, the following were the conclusions: The study has demonstrated that the majority of the nurses who had adequate Knowledge about infection prevention and nearly above one-third of healthcare providers had poor practices towards infection prevention. Individual factors (gender, advanced age, educational status - cadre, serving year-experience, specialty, Knowledge, perceptions, and practice were significantly associated with nurses’ infection prevention and control. Keywords: Control, Hospital acquired infections, Nurses, Prevention.

Cultural and gender factors are a major obstacles to informed discussions about sexual and reproductive health issues, particularly regarding contraception. This paper presents the findings of a cross-sectional quantitative study exploring socio-cultural and gender impacts on resilience access to and utilization of contraceptives service during the Covid-19 Pandemic by women of reproductive age in Oyo state, Nigeria. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 471 users of Maternal New-borne and Child Health (MNCH) services such as postnatal and family planning that responded to 43 structured questionnaires that included socio-demographical characteristics, access, and utilization, socio-cultural and gender factors amidst Covid-19 pandemics. Of the 471 respondents, the mean age of respondents was 29.63± 3.29years, with (34.2%) within the 26-30 years age group. The findings show that of the total respondents, 59.4% required permission/consent to use contraceptive services, of which 96.1% mentioned spouses must give consent/approval for them to visit health facilities for contraceptive use. On the way that their spouses do influence, 43.5% mentioned cost, choice of methods 41.6%, and timing by 14.4%. On the respondents’ concerns/issues as a result of poor access to contraceptive information/services; 10.8% expressed unplanned pregnancy, fighting with spouses (11.3%), and poor mutual sexual relationships by 12.3% and experienced side effects by just 1.1%, while the rest 64.5% expressed no concerns/issues. Other societal influences mentioned included friends/relations, in-laws, clergy, and social class/group. The socio-cultural and gender effect included strict caution/disapproval by spouses (7.0%), carefree attitudes in society (4.0%), and fear of Covid-19 infection by 19.7%. Chi-square analysis for gender and socio-cultural revealed p=0.008 and p=0.002 on access and utilization of contraceptive services. The study therefore provides insight to the socio-cultural and gender impacts on women’s s health decision-making. This is important for public health programme designs, even in the face of any pandemic like Covid-19, towards resilience access and service utilization of contraceptive services. Keywords: Access and utilization, Contraceptives, Covid-19, Gender, Socio-cultural.