Impact of computerized order sets on practitioner performance.

Order sets have the potential to provide evidence at the point of care and improve healthcare practice. In this study we reviewed the literature to assess the effect of computerized order sets on practitioner performance. Our search in PubMed and Science direct identified 442 studies of which 16 met our inclusion criteria. In 15 studies order sets contributed to the improvement of at least one performance outcome. The effect of order sets was evaluated on 34 performance outcomes, of which 19 were improved and the rest remained unchanged. The results provide evidence that the use of order sets can improve health care practice

Association of characteristics of delivery and medical conditions during the first month of life with developmental defects of enamel.

BACKGROUND: Developmental defects of enamel (DDE) may be influenced by health problems and illness in children. The aim of the study was to identify the main characteristics of birth (delivery) and adverse medical conditions during the first month of life that may be related to DDE in permanent teeth. METHODS: 1000 schoolchildren between the ages of 9 and 11 years were selected for this cross-sectional study by multistage randomization from four educational zones in Shiraz in 2013. Intraoral examination was used to diagnose DDE according to World Health Organization screening guidelines and the Modified DDE Index. The data on seven birth factors as well as health and nutritional conditions during the first month of life were collected by a questionnaire completed by the parents, and were analyzed with the chi-squared test, Spearman's correlation and binary logistic regression. RESULTS: 469 (48.2%) out of 974 schoolchildren had at least one permanent tooth with DDE. The defects were significantly related with Apgar score at birth <7 (p = 0.003) and illness during the first month (p = 0.035). The frequency of DDE was significantly lower in the third child in families compared to the first and second child (p = 0.005). However, DDE showed no significant relationship with gestational age, delivery type, birth weight, gender or type of feeding during early infancy. CONCLUSIONS: Three associated factors were identified (birth Apgar score, illness during the first month of life, birth order) for DDE in permanent teeth. No specific illness was found to be significantly associated with DDE

Evaluation methods used on health information systems (HISs) in Iran and the effects of HISs on Iranian healthcare: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: The most important goal of a health information system (HIS) is improvement of quality, effectiveness and efficiency of health services. To achieve this goal, health care systems should be evaluated continuously. The aim of this paper was to study the impacts of HISs in Iran and the methods used for their evaluation. METHODS: We systematically searched all English and Persian papers evaluating health information systems in Iran that were indexed in SID, Magiran, Iran medex, PubMed and Embase databases until June 2013. A data collection form was designed to extract required data such as types of systems evaluated, evaluation methods and tools. RESULTS: In this study, 53 out of 1103 retrieved articles were selected as relevant and reviewed by the authors. This study indicated that 28 studies used questionnaires to evaluate the system and in 27 studies the study instruments were distributed within a research population. In 26 papers the researchers collected the information by means of interviews, observations, heuristic evaluation and the review of documents and records. The main effects of the evaluated systems in health care settings were improving quality of services, reducing time, increasing accessibility to information, reducing costs and decreasing medical errors. CONCLUSION: Evaluation of health information systems is central to their development and enhancement, and to understanding their effect on health and health services. Despite numerous evaluation methods available, the reviewed studies used a limited number of methods to evaluate HIS. Additionally, the studies mainly discussed the positive effects of HIS on health care services

Information seeking and retrieval skills of nurses: Nurses readiness for evidence based practice in hospitals of a medical university in Iran.

BACKGROUND: With the explosion of medical information, and emergence of evidence-based practice (EBP) in healthcare system, searching, retrieving and selecting information for clinical decision-making are becoming required skills for nurses. AIMS: The aims of this study were to examine the use of different medical information resources by nurses and their information searching and retrieving skills in the context of EBP. METHOD: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in four teaching hospitals in Iran. Data were collected from 182 nurses using a questionnaire in 2014. RESULTS: The nurses indicated that they use more human and printed resources than electronic resources to seek information (mean=2.83, SD=1.5; mean=2.77, SD=1.07; and mean=2.13, SD=0.88, respectively). To search online resources, the nurses use quick/basic search features more frequently (mean=2.45, SD=1.15) than other search features such as advanced search, index browsing and MeSH term searching. (1.74≤mean≤2.30, SD=1.01). At least 80% of the nurses were not aware of the purpose or function of search operators such as Boolean and proximity operators. In response to the question measuring skills of the nurses in developing an effective search statement by using Boolean operators, only 20% of them selected the more appropriate statement, using some synonyms of the concepts in a given subject. CONCLUSION: The study showed that the information seeking and retrieval skills of the nurses were poor and there were clear deficits in the use of updated information resources. To compensate their EBP incompetency, nurses may resort to human resources. In order to use the latest up to date evidence independently, nurses need to improve their information literacy. To reach this goal, clinical librarians, health information specialists, nursing faculties, and clinical nurse educators and mentors can play key roles by providing educational programs. Providing access to online resources in clinical wards can also encourage nurses to learn and use these resources

Information seeking and retrieval skills of nurses: Nurses readiness for evidence based practice in hospitals of a medical university in Iran

BACKGROUND: With the explosion of medical information, and emergence of evidence-based practice (EBP) in healthcare system, searching, retrieving and selecting information for clinical decision-making are becoming required skills for nurses. AIMS: The aims of this study were to examine the use of different medical information resources by nurses and their information searching and retrieving skills in the context of EBP. METHOD: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in four teaching hospitals in Iran. Data were collected from 182 nurses using a questionnaire in 2014. RESULTS: The nurses indicated that they use more human and printed resources than electronic resources to seek information (mean=2.83, SD=1.5; mean=2.77, SD=1.07; and mean=2.13, SD=0.88, respectively). To search online resources, the nurses use quick/basic search features more frequently (mean=2.45, SD=1.15) than other search features such as advanced search, index browsing and MeSH term searching. (1.74≤mean≤2.30, SD=1.01). At least 80% of the nurses were not aware of the purpose or function of search operators such as Boolean and proximity operators. In response to the question measuring skills of the nurses in developing an effective search statement by using Boolean operators, only 20% of them selected the more appropriate statement, using some synonyms of the concepts in a given subject. CONCLUSION: The study showed that the information seeking and retrieval skills of the nurses were poor and there were clear deficits in the use of updated information resources. To compensate their EBP incompetency, nurses may resort to human resources. In order to use the latest up to date evidence independently, nurses need to improve their information literacy. To reach this goal, clinical librarians, health information specialists, nursing faculties, and clinical nurse educators and mentors can play key roles by providing educational programs. Providing access to online resources in clinical wards can also encourage nurses to learn and use these resources

Evaluating factors associated with implementing evidence-based practice in nursing

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Evidence-based practice (EBP) has emerged as an innovation for quality improvement in health care. Nurses have important role in implementing EBP but they face many challenges in this context. Evaluation of factors influencing implementation of EBP seems necessary. The aims of this study were to examine nurses' attitude towards EBP, their self-efficacy and training needs, as well as supporting factors and barriers for implementing EBP. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 182 nurses from four teaching hospitals in Kerman, Iran. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of two main sections; a section to collect socio-demographic information of participants and a section collecting information on five topics (staff's attitude, self-efficacy skills of EBP, supporting factors, barriers and training needs for implementing EBP). RESULTS: The majority (87.4%) of the nurses had not attended any formal training on EBP and 60% of them were not familiar with the concept of EBP. Nurses' attitude towards EBP was unfavourable (2.57 ± 0.99) and their self-efficacy skills of EBP were poor (2.93 ± 1.06). The most important supporting factor was mentoring by nurses who have adequate EBP experience (3.65 ± 1.17) and the biggest barrier was difficulty judging the quality of research papers and reports (2.46 ± 0.95). There was a moderate demand for training in all areas of EBP (3.62 ± 1.12). CONCLUSIONS: Nursing care needs to move towards quality improvement using EBP. It is necessary to equip nurses with knowledge and skills required for EBP. Managers should design an appropriate strategic plan by considering supporting factors and barriers for integrating EBP into clinical setting

A Gradient Weighted Moving Finite-Element Method with Polynomial Approximation of Any Degree

A gradient weighted moving finite element method (GWMFE) based on piecewise polynomial of any degree is developed to solve time-dependent problems in two space dimensions. Numerical experiments are employed to test the accuracy and effciency of the proposed method with nonlinear Burger equation