Investigating admitted patients' satisfaction with nursing care at Debre Berhan Referral Hospital in Ethiopia:a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: The aims of the study were (1) to assess the level of patient satisfaction with nursing care and (2) to identify factors influencing patient satisfaction. DESIGN: A hospital-based, cross-sectional study was conducted with 252 admitted patients in the medical, surgical and paediatric wards. SETTING: Debre Berhan Referral Hospital, Debre Berhan, Ethiopia, with a catchment population of 2.8 million. PARTICIPANTS: All patients admitted at least for 2 days and capable of independent communication were included. However, patients were excluded on any one of the following conditions: admitted for less than 2 days, cannot understand Amharic language, with critical illness or cognitive impairment that affects judgement, or inability to provide written informed consent. The mean age of the patients was 37.9 (SD=12.9) years, and half (50.4%) of them were male. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: Patient satisfaction with nursing care, measured by the Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scale, was the outcome variable. Using a mean split approach, patient satisfaction scores were dichotomised into 'satisfied' and 'unsatisfied'. RESULTS: 49.2% of patients were satisfied with nursing care. Educational status and history of admission were significant factors influencing patient satisfaction with nursing care. Patients who had high educational status were 80% less satisfied compared with those who had no formal education (p=0.01, OR=0.2, 95% CI 0.1 to 0.7). Patients who had a history of admission were 2.2 times more satisfied compared with those who had no history of admission (p=0.02, OR=2.2, 95% CI 1.2 to 4.2). CONCLUSIONS: About half the admitted patients were satisfied with the nursing care. Satisfaction differed significantly by patients' educational attainment and history of admission. This study provided evidence on patient satisfaction with nursing care in Ethiopia. This information may be useful in comparative studies of patient satisfaction and in identifying characteristics that may explain or predict patient satisfaction

Value Chain Analysis of Onion in Dugda District, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

The study on onion value chain primarily aimed to identify the actors in the value chain, quantify actors costs and profit margin and identifying constraints and causes of the main problem. The data was generated by mainly desk study from a wide range of secondary sources such as books and journals, internet services using Google and Google scholar and unpublished sources. The study finding shows that onion value chain actors include input suppliers, producers, collectors, farmer-traders, middlemen/brokers, wholesalers, retailers, consumers whereas the identified chain supporters include the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MoANR), Small and Micro Financial Institutions (SMFI), District Irrigation Development Authority (DIDA), Awash Melkasa Agricultural Research Center (AMARC). About five channels of onion marketing were identified and out of five, two market channels (II & III) were found to be dominant in terms of volume of the transaction which accounts 74.2% and 21.2%, respectively. The study also identified the value addition/kg of onion; where central retailers and central wholesalers had the highest share but farmer-trader had the least value. Central retailer obtained the highest profit share (31%) per kg; however, farmer-trader attained the least profit share per kg which is about 19%. The main constraints identified include; price fluctuation, lack of credit availability, scarcity of fertilizers, less availability of inputs, high onion seed cost which is caused by the existence of an oligopolistic market, high involvement of brokers and less awareness of farmers about the market. Recommendation drawn from the study findings necessitate changing the oligopolistic market structure, changing the role of brokers in the market and supporting local onion markets

Structure and Performance of Vegetable Marketing in East Shoa Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Analysis of marketing performance of vegetable plays an important role in an ongoing or future market development plan. The study primarily examines market structure of major actors and assessing the market performance for key vegetable marketing actors and channels by quantifying costs and profit margins. The data was generated by household survey using pre-tested structured questionnaires. This was supplemented by secondary data collected from different published and unpublished sources. The study result shows that the total gross marketing margin was 30% with producer participation margin of 70% implying higher marketing margin of smallholder producers. The market intermediaries incurred different marketing costs such as costs of packing, sorting, transportation, loading and unloading. Central wholesalers obtain relatively highest profit in channel numbered II and III, which amounted to Birr 204,827 and 58,675, respectively. The study result signifies that the first four largest volumes of vegetable purchased by first four big traders (CR4) constitute 50% of market share, which indicates the market structure for vegetable is strongly oligopolistic. OLS regression results also revealed that there are economies of scale for wholesalers at Meki market, which clearly indicates the presence of barrier to entry/exit for wholesalers in the market. Policy implications drawn from the study indicate that changing oligopolistic market structure, capacitating unions to supply inputs and outputs and supporting actors involved in local vegetable markets. Keywords: Vegetable, market structure, market margin, Ordinary Least Square regression

The Home-Grown Wind Instruments Social Beliefs and Attitudes for the Peoples of Wolaitta : The Case of Dinkiya and Chacha-Zayiya, Southern Ethiopia

The Dinkiya and Chachazaiyiya music for spiritual actions was specifically created for the occasion publicly performed in the context of the worship In some cases participation in these events was selective usually for initiates and was not open to every member of the community The concept of performance composition in ritual place is one of the unique features of Wolaitta music especial Dinkiya and Chachchzayeya wind-instruments The Wolaita nation s Social structure involves three levels of stratification The privileged class of nobles Kawonata the commoners Goqqaa at the upper strata is followed by the artisans called the Chenashasha Blacksmiths Degelaa leather workers From above mentioned social structure the artisans Chenashasha play vital role in musical industry The artisans are professional musicians in the community of Wolaita They took these professional by birth or inheritance The nations of wolaita musicians might be professionals Thos are called Chenashsha These musicians serve numerous functions for a variety of occasions in traditional Wolaita society Given that all members of the professionals participate in music making The Wolaita nation s musicians trained music by inheritance My informants told that a wolaitta professional musician is learned primarily through social experience and communal partakin

Market Chain Actors and Their Role in Vegetable Market Chain in Dugda Woreda, Ethiopia

The vegetable market chain actors were broadly classified into three categories: input supplier, direct market actors (producers, brokers, farmer traders, wholesalers, retailers and consumers) and enablers (extension service providers and credit providers). The study primarily focused on direct market actors. Vegetable producers sell their products to different market intermediaries and final consumers. About five vegetable marketing channels were identified. The total amount of vegetable that was transacted through these marketing channels in 2014/15 was 32,010 quintals. Channel two was found to be the dominant marketing channel in terms of volume of vegetable supply, where about 23,752 quintals of vegetable (74.2% of the total vegetable) was supplied to the market. Channel three was the second dominant market supplier, where about 6,786 quintals of vegetable (21.2%) supplied through this channel. Some market actors (brokers) were doing all types of businesses in the market chain without any license. Thus, policy implications drawn necessitate legalizing and supporting actors in the local vegetable markets and changing the role of brokers in the market and capacitating unions to supply inputs. Keywords: Vegetable, actor, market chain, market channe

ENHANCED IN-SITU TRANSESTERIFICATION OF JATROPHA CURCAS IN THE PRESENCE OF ALKALINEPHASE TRANSFER CATALYST

Raw material and processing costs are adversely affecting the economic viability of biodiesel technology. In-situ transesterification of non edible oil seed particles such as jatropha curcas can minimize the costs of feedstock, oil extraction and purification; slow conversion rates due to limited solubility of oil in methanol can be enhancedby using phase transfer catalysts; microwave pretreatment of seeds can make oil molecules more reactive. In the present work, these three concepts were utilized together to investigate in-situ transesterification of microwave pretreated jatropha curcas seed particles in the presence of alkaline phase transfer catalysts (PTC) such as cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTMAB), benzyltrimethylammonium hydroxide (BTMAOH) and crown ether (CE); BTMAOH was observed to be better than CTMAB and CE. It was observed that use of alkaline BTMAOH as a PTC and microwave heat pretreatment of jatropha curcas seed particles have substantially increased the reaction rate of in-situ transesterification reaction

Epidemiology of rubella virus cases in the pre-vaccination era of Ethiopia, 2009–2015

Abstract Background Rubella is a common mild rash illness caused by rubella virus. The majority of infections occur in children and young adults. The infection is the cause of a serious birth defect known as Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) when a woman acquires infection early in pregnancy. Ethiopia has not yet established rubella virus surveillance and has not yet introduced rubella vaccine into the routine immunization program. We characterize the epidemiology of laboratory confirmed rubella virus cases collected through measles surveillance from 2009 to 2015 to better understand the burden of the disease in the country. Methods A descriptive analysis was made to characterize rubella cases reported through the national measles case based surveillance system. The measles case definition was used to capture potential rubella cases. A suspected measles case was a person with generalized rash and fever with cough, or coryza or conjunctivitis. Those cases whose sera were negative for measles IgM antibodies were tested for rubella IgM antibody. A confirmed rubella case was a person who tested positive for rubella IgM. Only laboratory confirmed rubella cases were analyzed in this article. Results Between 2009 and 2015, a total of 28,284 serum/plasma samples were collected and tested for measles IgM antibody and 11,151 (39.4%) were found positive. A total of 17,066 measles IgM negative or indeterminate samples were tested for rubella virus IgM and 2615 (15.3%) were found positive during the same period. Of 2615 confirmed rubella cases, 52.2% were females. The age of confirmed cases ranged from one month to 42 years with a mean age of 7.3 years. Three-fourth of all confirmed rubella cases were aged less than 10 years. The number of laboratory confirmed rubella cases linearly increased from 83 in 2009 to 856 in 2013 but dropped to 222 and 319 in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Higher number of cases occurred in the hot dry season (January through June) and in the central and western part of Ethiopia with 127 lab-confirmed outbreaks in the study period. Conclusions Based on our analysis, rubella was found to be endemic throughout Ethiopia. Children below the age of 10 years were the most affected. The burden of rubella cases varied from year to year but had a seasonal peak in March. To better understand the magnitude of rubella prior to vaccine introduction, establishing rubella surveillance system, conducting sero-prevalence studies among child bearing age females and establishing CRS sentinel surveillance among young infants are critical

Structural Change in Mozambique: Economic Performance Before and After the Civil War

This paper analyses the economic performance of Mozambique during the three different period, namely: pre civil war period (1980-1992), reconcstruction period (1992-2001) and stabilizaing periood (2001-2013). The apparent existence of structural change during these periods suggests that the civil war affect the economy. Annul macroeconomics time series data, such us the gross domestic product, foreign direct investment, gross capital formation, savings and the exports, were used. The study revealed that Mozambique economy has been subject to a structural change before and after the civil war. The confirmatory analysis was done using the Chow test. The results indicate that for the variables under investigation the endogenously determined break date closely correspond to the important phenomena in the performance of Mozambican economy since 1994

Ethiopia National Learning Alliance (NLA) Vision, Mission and Boundary partners

Department for International Development, United Kingdo

Malaria Surveillance System Evaluation in Ankober Woreda North Shewa, Amhara Region, Ethiopia, 2022

Background: Malaria is a major public health concern worldwide, with the African region accounting for the majority of cases. Routine malaria surveillance data is crucial for assessing incidence and trends over time and detecting cases early for prompt management. The purpose of evaluating malaria surveillance systems is to assess how well they operate to meet their objectives and ensure efficient and effective monitoring of problems. This study aimed to evaluate and assess the performance of the existing malaria surveillance system and the status of surveillance attributes of malaria in Ankober woreda, North Shewa, Amhara. General objective: To evaluate and assess the performance of the existing Malaria surveillance system and the status of surveillance attributes of malaria in Ankober woreda, North Shewa, Amhara from December 16-26 2022. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study were conducted from December 16-26, 2022. Ankober woreda were selected randomly among 239 malaria elimination targeted districts and total of nine health facilities were selected. The data were collected from surveillance officers in the selected health facilities using CDC surveillance system evaluation guideline check-list. Result: The results showed that case definitions were posted in all health centers, and understanding of them was good. The woreda reported a total of 26 confirmed malaria cases among 195 clinically suspected cases and zero deaths in 2014 EFY. The overall completeness and timeliness of the woreda surveillance for 2022 were 100% and 97%, respectively. Malaria epidemic monitoring charts were used to detect changes in cases but not analyzed by place and person. Irregular feedback and supportive supervision were conducted. High staff turnover and less trained and poorly incentivized health personnel with poor motivation and job satisfaction were found. The surveillance system was found to be useful, simple, flexible, acceptable, sensitive, and representative to all surveillance officers. Conclusion: Malaria surveillance system found to be satisfactory to achieve the intended objective of surveillance for public health action. Most surveillance system attributes are good.  Working surveillance as an additional job and reduced training opportunity added with poor incentive mechanism will make low motivation and satisfaction with their job that definitely affect the stability of the system. The Malaria surveillance system presented in all assessed health institutions of Ankober woreda was found to be able to determine the magnitude of the disease for planning and intervention and detect change in malaria mortality and morbidity. &nbsp