ESHTIAQ ABDULAZIZ AL FARAJ

@iau.edu.sa

Assistant Professor, Nursing Education
Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University

ESHTIAQ ABDULAZIZ AL FARAJ


                     Download Compact PDF  
https://researchid.co/ealfaraj

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Nursing Education

RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Nursing, Leadership and Management, Issues, ethics and legal aspects, Health Informatics

FUTURE PROJECTS

Critical thinking in nursing education:” assessing critical thinking skills among nursing students and barriers for teaching critical thinking skills as perceived by Nurse Educators”

IRB #:2022-04-314, Date of Approval 11/9/2022


Applications Invited
9

Scopus Publications

32

Scholar Citations

3

Scholar h-index

1

Scholar i10-index

Scopus Publications

  • Exploring the Accuracy of Near-miss Reporting: A Mixed-methods Study
    Asma Alfayez, Duaa Aljabri, Arwa Althumairi, Eshtiaq Alfaraj, Ahmed Alkwaiti, Turki Alanzi
    Journal of Patient Safety, 2026
    Objective: To explore health care professionals’ descriptions of near-miss events and assess the validity using the World Health Organization (WHO) patient safety classification framework. Methods: A total of 2805 near-miss reports were reviewed from a tertiary hospital from 2021 to 2024 using a retrospective, mixed-methods approach. Descriptive statistics were used to examine reporting trends and patterns. Qualitative analysis was performed through evaluating each report’s narrative using a structured decision-making process based on WHO criteria to determine whether it qualified as a near miss, adverse event, no-harm incident, or reportable circumstances. Results: Eighty-four percent were validated as true near misses, mostly related to medication safety. However, significant misclassification was observed in patient care and workplace safety reports, where many events were incorrectly labeled as near misses despite involving patient harm or reaching the patient without causing harm. Conclusion: The findings reveal substantial near-miss detection and reporting by the pharmacy department, in particular, which signifies the pharmacists’ role in validating prescriptions for patient safety. It simultaneously identifies critical reporting gaps related to the misunderstanding of safety event taxonomy by the reporting staff, which limits the accuracy of reported data and the potential resolution. Therefore, the study emphasizes the need for adopting a near-miss reporting framework that is comprehensive and standardized with a transparent definition, a structured analytical methodology, and a robust feedback mechanism to streamline the reporting process to ensure consistency of near-miss reporting across departments and optimize patient safety efforts.
  • Nurse Educators’ Perspectives on Nursing Students’ Critical Thinking Skills and Barriers for Effective Teaching: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study
    Shereen Ragab Dorgham, Friyal Mubark Alqahtani, A. Sana Al-Mahmoud, A. Eshtiaq Al-Faraj, Jordan Tovera Salvador, Lilibeth Dela Victoria Reyes, Kathlynn Buenaobra Sanchez, Basim Mohammed Alanazi, Ahrjaynes Balanag Rosario
    Nursing Forum, 2026
    Background Critical thinking enhances the capacity of contemporary nurses to manifest high‐order meta‐cognitive thinking competencies in clinical reasoning and judgment, decision‐making, and problem‐solving. Aim The present study aimed to assess the nurse educators’ perspectives on nursing students’ critical thinking skills and barriers for effective teaching in Saudi Arabia. Methods A descriptive cross‐sectional design was employed. The data collection phase was executed over four months, from the beginning of October 2022 to the end of January 2023. Two questionnaires were developed and updated by the researchers after reviewing related literature to collect the required data from the study population, which consisted of nurse educators and undergraduate nursing students from Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), College of Nursing in Saudi Arabia. Convenient sampling was applied. The sample included 53 nurse educators and 415 nursing students. Data were analyzed using the SPSS program. Results It can be noticed that more than 50 percentages (58%) of the students were perceived as moderate level of critical thinking, about one‐third (34%) as low level, and the rest as high level. Furthermore, the perceived barriers of critical thinking by nurse educators illustrated that the highest percentage was related to students’ intellectual characteristics, followed by institutional environment, policy of the educational system, and educational program. The lowest was related to nurse educators. Conclusion It can be concluded that the critical thinking skills’ levels were moderate as perceived by the nurse students. While a low level of barriers was documented by educators, which indicated a positive trend toward the integration of critical thinking in nursing education. A statistically significant relationship was demonstrated between demographic characteristics such as academic year and critical thinking skills. The t ‐test compares two groups’ means, while ANOVA compares multiple groups’ means. Significance is set at p < 0.05, with p < 0.01 being highly significant.
  • A Descriptive Phenomenological Inquiry of Nurse Educators' Leadership Practices and Styles During Pandemic Crisis in Saudi Arabia
    Jordan Tovera Salvador, Eshtiaq Abdulaziz Alfaraj, Friyal Mubarak Alqahtani, Sherien Ragab Dorgham, Sana Abdulkareem Almahmoud, Basim Muzil Al‐Anazi, Jeneth Tarrayo Gutierrez, Maria Abigail Trinidad, Ahrjaynes Balanag Rosario, Kathylyn Buenaobra Sanchez, Darwin Damsani Agman, Lilibeth Dela Victoria Reyes, Mary Ann Cabansag Nery
    Nursing Open, 2026
    Aim This study examines the leadership strategies and styles adopted by nurse educators in Saudi Arabia in response to the global crisis instigated by the COVID‐19 pandemic. A multitude of leadership theories and methodologies have emerged throughout history. Nevertheless, only certain approaches can guarantee the most effective strategy for addressing diverse conditions and scenarios, particularly in nursing education. The pandemic crisis prompted nursing experts to seek other leadership models more appropriate for comparable circumstances. Methods Descriptive phenomenology. Seventeen nurse educators from a government university in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, were recruited, utilising purposive sampling. Semi‐structured interviews took place between June 2021 and January 2022. Colaizzi procedures were used to analyse data, and a COREQ checklist was used to inform reporting. Results Four major themes emerged and included: (1) challenging the process, (2) motivating others to work toward a common goal, (3) allowing others to take action, and (4) strengthening the spirit. Different ways to maintain the quality of student education during the pandemic crisis emerged from the leadership practices and styles of nurse educators. Educators worldwide can learn from the participants' own experiences and be better prepared to face and overcome similar challenges in the future. Patient or Public Contribution Nurse educators in a government university were involved as participants in the study.
  • Streamlined digital students' feedback management in higher education: A sustainable approach
    Ahmed Al Kuwaiti, Arun Vijay Subbarayalu, Eshtiaq A. Abdulaziz Al Faraj
    Higher Education and Quality Assurance Practices, 2024
    Higher education institutions worldwide aim to simplify digital survey processes for sustainability and engagement and technology should be utilized to effectively address this. A case study approach was adopted to illustrate the sustainable paperless online system, “Estibana”, to manage Students' satisfaction surveys at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU) and addressed the gains attained. To study the Estibana digital system's effectiveness, the volume of surveys and its respective response rate achieved following its implementation were observed. In addition, end-user feedback was sought to study its efficacy The number of colleges that used “Estibana” for surveys with a response rate of over 50%, which was 9 and 13 in the first and second semesters of 2012-2013, has reached 19 in 2022-2023. Over 90% of the students rated the application as ‘High Quality' in terms of its usability, friendliness, accessibility, privacy, efficiency, and overall quality. It also addressed the limitations of Estibana and suitable strategies adopted by IAU to overcome them.
  • Breastfeeding practice during covid-19: ‘Saudi women perspectives’
    Breastfeeding Review, 2024
  • Leadership Perspectives on Talent Management in Saudi Universities: Challenges and Success Factors
    Arun Vijay Subbarayalu, Eshtiaq Abdulaziz Al Faraj, Ahmed Al Kuwaiti, Fahad A. Al-Muhanna
    Insights into International Higher Education Leadership and the Skills Gap, 2024
    This chapter proposes an in-depth study of higher education leaders (HELs) in Saudi Arabia, with a particular focus on the challenges, obstacles and success factors of talent management (TM) in Saudi universities. A mixed methods study design was adopted in which a general literature review was conducted to uncover the skills gap in the higher education sector and its impact on university leadership, taking into account both the external and internal environments. In addition, a survey would be conducted among a wide range of university leaders, including rectors, vice-rectors, deans, vice-deans and department heads, on the existing TM practices in their respective universities. Through this approach, the authors have uncovered how HELs perceive and deal with the skills gap phenomenon, including the barriers and success factors in TM in their universities, with due consideration of the influence of both external market forces and internal institutional dynamics.
  • Nurses’ perception on the quality of healthcare services: A cross-sectional study.
    Ajayan Kamalasanan, Arun Vijay Subbarayalu, Athirarani MR, Harikrishna GL, Vinoth Raman, Ola Ibrahim Ramzi, Manoj Kumar L, Eshtiaq Alfaraj
    International Journal of Healthcare Management, 2024
    Background Nurses play a critical role in delivering healthcare services, and their perception of the quality of those services is critical to better patient care. This study aimed to capture nurses’ perceptions of healthcare services in India.Materials and Methods An exploratory study design was adopted. 554 nurses from selected public and private hospitals in Kerala, India, were randomly selected for the study. The data were analyzed quantitatively with SPSS 23.0.Results The perception of nurses in all dimensions of the HQP is observed as high (>3.5), with the exception of their involvement in quality management, which is reported as medium (2.5–3.49). Further, a significant difference between public and private hospitals (p < 0.05) is observed for all variables, except for the perceived effectiveness of quality improvement (p = 0.81) and the availability of training and development opportunities (p = 0.80). Additionally, nurses working in accredited hospitals (mean = 3.78) have more positive perceptions than non-accredited hospitals (mean = 3.69) (p < 0.05). Female nurses show a significantly more positive attitude toward the quality of health services than their male colleagues.Conclusion The participating nurses were aware of various aspects of the quality management systems in their respective hospitals. In addition, the public and private hospitals and the accredited and non-accredited hospitals differed in their quality practices, as reflected in the nurses’ voices. This study would help healthcare policy planners enhance the quality of the public sectors in India.
  • Health science students’ perceptions about Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) as a method of clinical evaluation
    Amal Alaskar, Arun Vijay Subbarayalu, Eshtiaq Alfaraj, Ola Ibrahim Ramzi, Njoud Saleh Alameri, Ameen Alhababi, Minimole Vijayan
    Electronic Journal of General Medicine, 2022
    Background: For decades, practical clinical examinations have been valid and reliable methods to evaluate health sciences undergraduate students’ clinical performance and competencies for a wide range of skills. Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is a widely used practical clinical examination. This study aims to assess health sciences students’ perceptions about OSCE as an evaluation method of clinical skills acquisition. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used, and 157 students of five health science programs, who undergo real-time OSCE at Prince Sultan Military College of Health Sciences (PSMCHS), Dhahran, were invited to participate in this study. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed quantitatively. Results: The findings revealed that 57.8% of the participants perceived OSCE positively due to its unique features related to structure, logical sequence, standardized score tools, and coverage of a broad spectrum of critical clinical skills. On the contrary, 62.3% (n=96) of participants believed OSCE was stressful, and 58.4% (n=90) thought it was threatening because of inadequate preparation. Conclusion: Health sciences students perceived OSCE as an effective evaluation method for clinical skills. However, OSCEs generate feelings of uncertainty and aggravate a high-stress level. This stress requires the educators at the academic and clinical settings to conduct dry run simulated scenarios beforehand to orient and guide students to manage and confound their stress and anxiety during real-life OSCE experiences.
  • Feedback on the Preceptor's Experience Post-training: “A Quasi-experimental Design”
    Shereen R. Dorgham, Eshtiaq Alfaraj, Sana A. Al-Mahmoud
    Open Nursing Journal, 2022
    Background: The conventional clinical practice component of undergraduate nursing education is insufficient preparation for contemporary professional nursing practice. The preceptorship program became a substitute for limited clinical training in nursing school. Few studies have been conducted to demonstrate its practice impact above that of conventional clinical training. Therefore, the preparation of nurse preceptors is vital to any of the preceptorship roles. The preceptor plays a significant role during the transition period from being a student to a competent nurse. He/she provides direct supervision, support, and guidance, and offers a role model to consolidate scientific knowledge, practice clinical skills, and develop professional attitudes and values. Objective: The objective of the study is to assess differences between the preceptors' knowledge pre- and post-training program, evaluate preceptor’s feedback regarding the training program, assess the effect of the training program on preceptor’s performance three months post-training, and evaluate student’s satisfaction with the preceptor’s performance three months post-training. Method: A quasi-experimental design was adopted in this study. Overall, there were 79 (n=34 Saudi and non-Saudi nurse demonstrators and lecturers who have working experience of at least six months and n=45 nurse students) study participants. Questionnaires were used to collect data. Results: A statistically significant difference was found between pre-test and post-test values of nurse demonstrators and lecturers' awareness of preceptorship. Conclusion: Participants perceived the preceptorship program positively as they learned to assume different roles as a preceptor, an educator, a facilitator, a role model, and an evaluator. The preceptorship program focuses on essential skills pertinent to clinical and educational settings. It develops clinical preceptors' roles and helps them support, develop and integrate new graduate nurses' clinical competence using an individualized and systematic approach. The ultimate aim is to ensure patient safety, i.e., the preceptee masters the clinical skills needed for competence before moving into more advanced nursing care tasks.

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Exploring the Accuracy of Near-miss Reporting: A Mixed-methods Study
    A Alfayez, D Aljabri, A Althumairi, E Alfaraj, A Alkwaiti, T Alanzi
    Journal of Patient Safety, 8 , 2026
    2026
  • A Descriptive Phenomenological Inquiry of Nurse Educators' Leadership Practices and Styles During Pandemic Crisis in Saudi Arabia
    JT Salvador, EA Alfaraj, FM Alqahtani, SR Dorgham, SA Almahmoud, ...
    Nursing Open 13 (1), e70430 , 2026
    2026
  • Leadership Perspectives on Talent Management in Saudi Universities: Challenges and Success Factors
    AV Subbarayalu, EA Al Faraj, A Al Kuwaiti, FA Al-Muhanna
    Insights Into International Higher Education Leadership and the Skills Gap … , 2025
    2025
  • Streamlined Digital Students' Feedback Management in Higher Education: A Sustainable Approach
    A Al Kuwaiti, AV Subbarayalu, EAA Al Faraj
    Higher Education and Quality Assurance Practices, 335-364 , 2025
    2025
  • Breastfeeding practice during COVID-19:'Saudi women perspectives'
    MM AlDubaiban, MM Al-Madani, E Alfaraj
    Breastfeeding Review 32 (3), 13-26 , 2024
    2024
  • Leadership Perspectives on Talent Management
    EA Al Faraj
    Insights Into International Higher Education Leadership and the Skills Gap, 273 , 2024
    2024
  • Nurses’ perception on the quality of healthcare services: A cross-sectional study.
    A Kamalasanan, AV Subbarayalu, A MR, H GL, V Raman, OI Ramzi, ...
    International Journal of Healthcare Management 17 (4), 817-826 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 8
  • Feedback on the Preceptor's Experience Post-training: “A Quasi-experimental Design”
    SR Dorgham, E Alfaraj, SA Al-Mahmoud
    The Open Nursing Journal 16 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 8
  • Health science students' perceptions about Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) as a method of clinical evaluation.
    A Alaskar, AV Subbarayalu, E Alfaraj, OI Ramzi, NS Alameri, A Alhababi, ...
    Electronic Journal of General Medicine 19 (6) , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 16
  • Nursing Professional Framework: "a necessity for a heahhcare organization"
    E Alfaraj
    lnternational Conference on Education,Culture and Society at Hamper College … , 2014
    2014
  • Impact of Role-play as Clinical and Theorietical Teaching Strategy
    E Alfaraj, S Al-Mahmoud
    Annual Multidisciplinary Conference for Academic Discipline at University of … , 2014
    2014
  • Experiences of student nurses in Saudi Arabia: the impact of clinical exposure on their decision to continue or leave nursing''
    E Alfaraj
    https://search.proquest.com/openview/682f910946fe03ca8ad50cce09df9367/1?pq … , 2008
    2008
  • Training in Health Sector
    E Alfaraj
    University of Edinburagh, Morry House Institute of Education, Scotland, UK , 2001
    2001

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Health science students' perceptions about Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) as a method of clinical evaluation.
    A Alaskar, AV Subbarayalu, E Alfaraj, OI Ramzi, NS Alameri, A Alhababi, ...
    Electronic Journal of General Medicine 19 (6) , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 16
  • Nurses’ perception on the quality of healthcare services: A cross-sectional study.
    A Kamalasanan, AV Subbarayalu, A MR, H GL, V Raman, OI Ramzi, ...
    International Journal of Healthcare Management 17 (4), 817-826 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 8
  • Feedback on the Preceptor's Experience Post-training: “A Quasi-experimental Design”
    SR Dorgham, E Alfaraj, SA Al-Mahmoud
    The Open Nursing Journal 16 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 8
  • Exploring the Accuracy of Near-miss Reporting: A Mixed-methods Study
    A Alfayez, D Aljabri, A Althumairi, E Alfaraj, A Alkwaiti, T Alanzi
    Journal of Patient Safety, 8 , 2026
    2026
  • A Descriptive Phenomenological Inquiry of Nurse Educators' Leadership Practices and Styles During Pandemic Crisis in Saudi Arabia
    JT Salvador, EA Alfaraj, FM Alqahtani, SR Dorgham, SA Almahmoud, ...
    Nursing Open 13 (1), e70430 , 2026
    2026
  • Leadership Perspectives on Talent Management in Saudi Universities: Challenges and Success Factors
    AV Subbarayalu, EA Al Faraj, A Al Kuwaiti, FA Al-Muhanna
    Insights Into International Higher Education Leadership and the Skills Gap … , 2025
    2025
  • Streamlined Digital Students' Feedback Management in Higher Education: A Sustainable Approach
    A Al Kuwaiti, AV Subbarayalu, EAA Al Faraj
    Higher Education and Quality Assurance Practices, 335-364 , 2025
    2025
  • Breastfeeding practice during COVID-19:'Saudi women perspectives'
    MM AlDubaiban, MM Al-Madani, E Alfaraj
    Breastfeeding Review 32 (3), 13-26 , 2024
    2024
  • Leadership Perspectives on Talent Management
    EA Al Faraj
    Insights Into International Higher Education Leadership and the Skills Gap, 273 , 2024
    2024
  • Nursing Professional Framework: "a necessity for a heahhcare organization"
    E Alfaraj
    lnternational Conference on Education,Culture and Society at Hamper College … , 2014
    2014
  • Impact of Role-play as Clinical and Theorietical Teaching Strategy
    E Alfaraj, S Al-Mahmoud
    Annual Multidisciplinary Conference for Academic Discipline at University of … , 2014
    2014
  • Experiences of student nurses in Saudi Arabia: the impact of clinical exposure on their decision to continue or leave nursing''
    E Alfaraj
    https://search.proquest.com/openview/682f910946fe03ca8ad50cce09df9367/1?pq … , 2008
    2008
  • Training in Health Sector
    E Alfaraj
    University of Edinburagh, Morry House Institute of Education, Scotland, UK , 2001
    2001

Publications

Nurses’ perception on the quality of healthcare services: A cross-sectional study.
International Journal of Healthcare Management
2023-08-22 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1080/20479700.2023.2246241
CONTRIBUTORS: Ajayan Kamalasanan; Arun Vijay Subbarayalu; Athirarani MR; Harikrishna GL; Vinoth Raman; Ola Ibrahim Ramzi; Manoj Kumar L; Eshtiaq Alfaraj

Feedback on the Preceptor's Experience Post-training: “A Quasi-experimental Design”
The Open Nursing Journal
2022-12-30 | Journal article
DOI: 10.2174/18744346-v16-e221117-2022-32
Part of ISSN: 1874-4346
CONTRIBUTORS: Shereen R. Dorgham; Eshtiaq Alfaraj; Sana A. Al-Mahmoud

Health science students’ perceptions about Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) as a method of clinical evaluation
Electronic Journal of General Medicine
2022-09-17 | Journal article
DOI: 10.29333/ejgm/12466
CONTRIBUTORS: Amal Alaskar; Arun Vijay Subbarayalu; Eshtiaq Alfaraj; Ola Ibrahim Ramzi; Njoud Saleh Alameri; Ameen Alhababi; Minimole Vijayan