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Background: There is a paucity of evidence regarding the job experience of nurses in Egypt. An unpublished previous pilot study conducted in the Port Said Technical Nursing Institute, which was based on 36 participants, showed that almost half of nurses were satisfied with their job; on the other hand, nurses indicated low salaries and high work-loads as main reasons for dissatisfaction. We explored job satisfaction of nurses working in public health services of the Port Said Governorate to inform future healthcare policy. Methods: A cross-sectional study including nurses from different public health services was conducted. Questionnaires were delivered in a sample of primary health care facilities as well as in the Port Said Governorate public hospital. Following a literature review, eight components were identified as contributors to job satisfaction; two closed questions for each of the eight components and two open questions were devised for a total of 18 questions. Results: The final study population consisted of 285 individuals. Almost 40.0% of the participants felt safe in their clinical environment while around 10.0% disagree on this. Almost 70.0% of participants complained about high work-load due to shortage of staff in the respective clinical area. Almost 85.0% of nurses reported that their salary did not cover living cost while only 13.0% indicated earning a fair salary. Almost 60.0% agreed with the fact that they have regular opportunities to develop in their career. Conclusion: Increasing job satisfaction among nurses in Egypt is critical to ensure quality of care for patients. Issues such as salary, staffing and cooperation with colleagues deserve specific attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mental disorder is extremely common globally and integration of mental health in primary health services represents a critical gap especially in low- and middle-income Countries like Egypt. The World Health Organization has repeatedly called for effective training and support of primary care providers in the identification and treatment of mental health problems over the last decades. Methods: This paper aimed to evaluate attitudes and knowledge of health care providers toward mentally ill patients and measure knowledge and retention of training messages over time. A 3-day mental health training workshop for nurses of public health facilities in the Governorate of Port Said was organized. Pre-training and post-training questionnaires (immediately after the workshop and 3 months later) were used. Significance of gain in scores was examined between baseline and following cross sectional rounds. Results: The 73 participants in the study revealed a statistically significant improvement in knowledge and attitude toward mental health from the baseline (pre-training), from a general mean score for desirable answers of 10.5 (± 1.2) to 21.2 (± 0.6). However, results slightly declined three months after from the workshop (18.5 (± 0.6)). Conclusions: Intensive short-term training on mental illness could be instrumental in improving knowledge and attitudes in countries like Egypt with extensive needs in terms of quality of comprehensive healthcare at primary and secondary level. However, additional evidence is needed to improve retention of information over time and to translate knowledge into clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]