This editorial presents the current concern on situating caring as a grounding for curriculum among the helping professions. The context of the discipline of nursing and its curriculum in the Philippines was presented as an exemplar for discussion.

Nursing education's fundamental goal is to prepare students to effectively transition into practice. Success in this endeavor occurs when the student has a clear sense of themselves as a professional in relationship with their peers and grounded in disciplinary knowledge. Faculty must intentionally create opportunities for students to explore and mature their professional selfhood (PSH) to assist in a smooth transition from academia to practice. Educational strategies which enhance the awareness and continued development of PSH as a birthplace for professional identity may enable the graduate to navigate the healthcare system, mitigate ethical dilemmas, and enhance the quality of life for those they care for and themselves. Aesthetic narratives could be utilized to engage students in the analysis of their PSH as an alternative beyond the dominant text as an expression.

Background: Evidence-based practice (EBP) is one strategy that enables clinicians to succeed in handling emerging literature, and integrating it to achieve high-quality patient outcomes. Although beneficial and innovative it is not considered a priority by many. Most nurses have little, if any, exposure to the clinical research process. 
 Purpose: This study aimed to conduct a baseline assessment of perceived knowledge, attitude toward EBP, and barriers to adopting EBP in nursing. 
 Methods: The study used a descriptive cross-sectional quantitative design. A convenient sample of 406 nurses participated and completed the EBP questionnaire. For ethical clearance, granted approval from Hospitals’ Research Ethics Committee and to HAU-IRB. 
 Results: Nurses (n = 156, 38.4%) believes that EBP holistically is composed of patient data and preference, healthcare professionals’ skills, and research findings. They (n = 256, 63%) have a positive attitude towards EBP and are willing to accept new healthcare strategies based on research. But expresses less confidence (M = 3.90, SD = 0.64) in identifying clinical issues/problems and translate these into a well-crafted clinical question. They perceived themselves to possess moderate levels of skills to undertake different EBP activities (M = 3.76, SD = 0.61). Knowledge (x(4) = 12.174, p = 0.02), attitudes toward EBP (U = 13947.5, p = 0.04) were significantly better among nurses who had previous EBP training. Similarly, respondents with EBP-related training are more confident in integrating EBP into their practice (U = 13408, p = 0.01). 
 Conclusion: Nurses’ highest level of education and years of clinical experience affects their implementation skills in adopting EBP. The study reflected the benefits of training, continuing education, and length of experience in the acquisition of skills. Findings can serve as a basis for developing programs to improve nurses' knowledge and attitudes towards EBP. Nurse administrators can create policies that address barriers identified in the study.

In Kristeva’s (1991) By What Right Are You a Foreigner?, she described the historic images of a foreigner, how these individuals are stigmatized, their otherness in a society that paradoxically welcomes and, to a certain extent, puts them on ‘leash’ as a means of controlling these foreigners, these others. Reflecting on this article, and being an immigrant and an internationally-educated nurse (IEN) from a developing country, the author reflects on Kristeva’s work in relation to the discourse on IENs’ experiences, along with his personal reflections, experiences, and journey of becoming and being a nurse in Canada, with the hope of initiating a dialogue to address the issues surrounding IEN transitioning in Canada.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone's health and well-being and has resulted in the shift of conventional face-to-face classes to online instruction. This has had major negative effects on students who are facing the difficulty of online classes in terms of their physical and mental health. 
 Objectives: The study determined the relationship between stress and anxiety on emotional social and psychological well-being among nursing students. 
 Methods: The study utilized descriptive cross-sectional research and a purposive sample of 210 nursing students was included in the study. The data were collected from November 2020 to December 2020. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), General Anxiety Disorders Scale (GAD-7), and Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) (which measures emotional, psychological, and social well-being) were used to collect the necessary data. Frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson's r correlation were utilized to analyze the gathered data. 
 Results: The participants were shown to have a moderate level of stress (M=19.53; SD=±3.29), moderate level of anxiety (M=14.43; SD=±7.62), and moderate mental health. Further, stress was shown to have a significant negative correlation with emotional well-being (r= -0.218; p=0.000), social well-being (r= -0.175; p=0.000), psychological well-being (r= -0.219; 0.000), and the over-all mental well-being (r= -0.222, p=0.000). Also, it was noted that anxiety has a significant negative relationship with emotional well-being (r= -0.418; p=0.000), social well-being (r= -0.280; p=0.000), psychological well-being (r= -0.331; p=0.000) and over-all mental well-being (r= -0.362; p=0.000). 
 Conclusion: In light of mental health concerns among nursing students, faculty and administrators have a professional responsibility to address foreseeable psychological stressors and promote the mental well-being of students in their institution. The protection and development of mental well-being will allow students to maintain academic excellence and facilitate future success.


 Background and Objective: The shift to an online from the face-to-face system of pedagogy among Higher educational institutions in the Philippines as a mode of adaptation to the current pandemic has inevitably produced varied set-back among its members, one of which is online bullying. This study. This study, grounded on Halldorsdottir's (1996) theory, explored the structure of bullying, taken as an uncaring encounter, in an online environment within the academic setting. 
 Methods: Six participants, recruited via a combination of snowball and referral system, were selected based on the following preset criteria: (1) They are nursing students exposed to the online educational system platform for at least one semester and are currently enrolled with at least 18 units (2) They are enrolled in the institution for at least a year at the time of the interview (3) They have witnessed and /or were participants to what they deemed as bullying incident during their online educational experience at least twice, (4) They are willing to express and share their experiences. Narratives from the participants were gathered via two methods: 1) In-depth individual interviews and 2) Storytelling sessions. These narratives were later analyzed using thematic analysis to present the structure of bullying through its expressions, nature, and essence. 
 Results: From the analysis of the participants' individual experiences, four recurring patterns were gleaned, namely, 1.) Borderless boundaries: the perceived extent of bullying, 2.) Apathetic bystanders as enablers of bullying, 3.) Misplaced empowerment: role assumption in bullying, 4.) Obfuscated reality: The online environment. The essence, "Indifference: The prime ingredient of uncaring," was gathered from these patterns. The patterns gleaned from the narratives posited that bullying, seen as an uncaring encounter, in an online environment on the academic setting is borderless occurring within an obfuscated digital environment, involving apathetic bystanders where the bullied may unconsciously assume the role of the bully in a seemingly apparent role reversal. Primordial to these encounters is the assumption of being indifferent. 
 Implications: The need for policies and programs that foster empathy and compassion among all academic community members and continued support for students experiencing and witnessing bullying are implied from the findings of this study.

The Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED), through Memorandum Order 46 Series 2012, unmistakably espouses outcome-based education (OBE) as the main approach to higher education learning. To attain its goal of developing a critical mass of high-quality graduates, research that will drive technological innovation, economic growth and global competitiveness and provide directions to the country’s policies and strategies must be supported. Research plays at least two roles in ensuring quality in outcome-based education – in curriculum development and in the implementation of OBE. Greater student involvement in research to hone their skills in research will help them become independent producers of knowledge and capable lifelong learners. Teachers enrich the content of their courses with research experience and findings, both from reviewing the literature and from the conduct of actual experiments and studies. To overcome problems with OBE implementation, research can be utilized as a problem-solving activity. Researches can provide situational analysis on the level of quality of education and monitor its trends, seek causal factors that account for variations in the attainment of quality standards, test for educational interventions and identify good/best practices in teaching and learning. This paper provides suggestions for designs for the application of research for these purposes.

Background: Immunization is a vital public health service that reduces transmission of communicable diseases among population groups. In the Philippines, reports of adverse reaction from the dengue vaccine raised doubts about its safety and efficacy. This in turn can bring about a decline in vaccine acceptability among mothers and later on result to reduced vaccine coverage in the country. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional correlational design were used to explicate the influence of dengue vaccine controversy awareness and vaccine health literacy on vaccine acceptability among mothers. Data were collected among 200 mothers from August – November 2018 in rural communities of Bulacan. Stepwise forward and backward multiple linear regression were done to determine the relationships between the variables of interest. Results: Majority of the mothers who participated belong to 26-35 year old age bracket and received basic education. Mothers’ functional health literacy (B=0.189, p=0.006) and critical health literacy (B=0.247, p=0.000) revealed a significant relationship to vaccine acceptability. However, the communicative health literacy (B=0.008, p=0.917) showed no significant relationship to vaccine acceptability. Moreover, the dengue vaccine controversy awareness (B=0.057, p=0.415) had no significant relationships to the mothers’ vaccine acceptability. Conclusion: Health literacy favorably influences vaccine acceptability. Likewise, awareness of controversies surrounding dengue vaccination is not a deterrent to the decision of mothers to continue submitting their children to immunization. Hence, nurses should invest more in educational interventions to promote compliance of communities to the national immunization program and engage stakeholders to support its implementation.

A pilot interprofessional education (IPE) program in the Philippines has been initiated in a private higher education institution by three Filipinos who were formally trained in IPE from a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Research and Training on IPE. Guided by the WHO educator and curricular mechanisms on IPE and an understanding of the local context, a four-stage action plan was created for the pilot IPE program, which involved 10 health science programs. The experience from the initial implementation was challenging and required perseverance as well as inclusive leadership. Nevertheless, the program’s accomplishments such as continuous faculty training in IPE, constant communication among faculty members and students on IPE, and an inter-university collaboration to host the first-ever local IPE conference were noted. The article concludes with lessons learned from the pilot IPE program and future directions in further contributing to the growth and sustainability of IPE programs in the Philippines.

Background: The concept of stigma and discrimination discussed in literature illuminate patient's experiences in the hands of health care providers. The review aims to assess the existing literature published in internet databases focusing on the personal perception of stigma and discrimination of health care workers as well as the patient's perception of their attitudes that may be stigmatizing and discriminatory. Methodology: A web-based search was done in the three (3) databases including EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, and PubMed. The search utilized five keywords: 'Stigma'; 'Discrimination', 'Perception', HIV/AIDS,' and 'Nurses.' Inclusion criteria includes full-text, peer-reviewed, academic journal in the English language, and published between the years 2013-2018. The studies were screened according to their relevance to the objectives of the study. The quantitative and qualitative checklist of the Standard Quality Assessment Criteria for Evaluating Primary Research Papers and Joanna Briggs Institute data extraction protocols were utilized by two interrater in the analysis of the literature. The extracted data were synthesized using a table highlighting the key findings of the studies. Results: A total of fourteen (14) titles were included in the review after evaluating its relevance to the objective and appraising its high quality. Content analysis was done and resulted in the formulation of four themes which include: (1) General Characteristics of the Literature (2) HIV/AIDS Stigma and Discrimination as perceived by health care providers; (3) Perception of health providers' attitude among HIV infected persons; and, (4) the consequences of HIV/AIDS stigma. Conclusion: The issue of HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination is a significant component that affects patient - care provider interaction. Health care providers understand the role they play in improving the lives of their PLHA patients. Likewise, patients perceive that stigma is existent and tangible in health care facilities. HIV/AIDS stigma is a barrier between the patient and the health care team and can lead to the detriment of the patient's health outcomes and satisfaction.