Performance evaluation of the faculty in some universities

Abstract Background: Faculty members are the most significant personnel of a university. Evaluation of their performance is an important factor in the organization and the main task of managers in professional development and promotion. Performance evaluation of nursing faculty members is more complex than others, but it is necessary because one of the primary ways to assure mission accomplishment and goal achievement in medical universities is to indicate the role of faculty members in promoting the quality of health system. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to review evaluation systems of faculty members at some of the major universities and schools around the world. Methods: By using available resources, some of the advantages and strengths of the evaluation systems were specifically extracted to be applied for evaluation improvement at Iranian universities.   Conclusion: This study showed that in spite of extensive areas of performance, most colleges/universities evaluate three major domains, namely, education, research and services. The quality and quantity of these areas are evaluated by using multiple sources. The effective evaluation is flexible and allows a person to choose their activities in the defined framework. By choosing and weighing criteria along with the missions and strategic goals of universities/colleges, the level of faculty efforts and contributions in accomplishing them is recognized. Using mentoring system for outcome evaluation is an important factor for the promotion of faculty members. The evaluation process can be more feasible if evaluation committee consists of the same disciplinary members.  Key words: Performance evaluation systems, Faculty members, Nursing                  Schools

Application of qualitative content analysis for identifying performance evaluation domains of nurse faculties

BackgroundNurse faculty members are the backbone of nursing schools to move toward their mission and goals. Therefore, their performance should be identified and evaluated to identify the attainment of organizational goals.  Purpose The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify main performance evaluation domains of nurse faculty members. MethodsData were collected by individual semi-structured interviews with authorities and inspection of actual evaluation forms, procedures and policies. The qualitative content analysis was applied in 22 transcriptions of the individual interviews and 26 sets of actual evaluation documents. The purposive sampling method was used for the selection of experts and all actual evaluation forms, procedures and policies were collected. ResultsThree main domains including personal competencies of lecturer, process of task accomplishment as well as task outcome and their components were abstracted by the analysis. ConclusionEvaluation of the three domains emphasizes on mix combination of three primary systems for performance evaluation of nurse faculty members, namely, personal competencies, process-based and mission-based.      Keywords: Performance evaluation domains, Nurse faculty members, Qualitative content                   analysis

Effects of instructing WHO’s guidelines regarding postpartum hemorrhage on knowledge and practice of midwives

Background and aimEach year, many women in developing countries including Iran die of postpartum hemorrhage. As a result, in 2007, WHO emphasized on instruction of correct principles in delivery attendants.This quasi-experimental study was conducted to determine and compare the effects of instructing WHO’s guidelines on knowledge and practice of midwives of Fatemiyeh Hospital in Hamedan city.Materials and methodsAll midwifery personnel of the hospital took part in the study. They were instructed theoretically and practically regarding WHO standards in 10 sessions. Data collection tools included a pretest, a posttest and an observation checklist for practice. Content and test-retest methods were used for validity and reliability of the tools respectively.FindingsA significant difference was found between knowledge (

Sampling in quantitative research

AbstractIntroduction: Sampling is an important phase in research, which directly influences on applicability and generalizability of findings. Therefore, it is critical in research process. Purpose: The purpose of this review was to assess sampling methods in published articles at the first 3 issues of  the Journal of "Nursing Research" in 2004.  Materials and Methods: A checklist was first made by reviewing literature and all articles in the issues were chosen. A critical appraisal of literature review, methods, results and discussion of the articles was performed by the checklist. SPSS package was used for data analysis. Results: Findings showed that samples in most studies were healthy people. Published articles explained about the target population, accessible population, the number of subjects and their features. However, a systematic bias was observed in all studied studies. Conclusion: Most authors did not describe the sampling method of their studies completely. This may make the critical review of sampling design, duplication of study and future meta-analysis hard. In addition, sample representativeness, sampling errors and systematic bias cannot be thoroughly evaluated. In most articles, authors referred to limitations resulted from failure in sampling design, which may restrict generalization.    Keywords: Research Critique, Sampling

Factors influencing health self-management in adherence to care and treatment among the recipients of liver transplantation

Malihe Sadat Moayed,1 Abbas Ebadi,2 Masoud Khodaveisi,3 Mohssen Nassiri Toosi,4 Ali Reza Soltanian,5 Mahnaz Khatiban6 1Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran; 2Nursing Education, Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Life Style Institute, Faculty of Nursing, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Chronic Diseases (Home Care) Research Center, Community Health Nursing Department, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran; 4Internal Medicine, Hepatologist, Liver Transplantation Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 5Modeling of Noncommunicable Diseases Research Center, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran; 6Mother and Child Care Research Center, Medical-Surgical Nursing Department, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran Introduction: Liver transplantation is the global treatment of end-stage liver diseases. Since the patients’ survival rate has been improved, the patient may experience reductions in physical, cognitive, and psychosocial functions after liver transplantation influencing their adherence to care and treatment. The transplant survival is complex and patients’ adherence to care and treatment should be considered when health care providers make decisions regarding treatment. This qualitative study aimed to explore factors influencing health self-management in adherence to care and treatment among the recipients of care and treatment.Methods: In this study, 23 interview sessions were carried out with a total 18 patients, 2 family members and 3 transplantation team members from May to November 2017. The patients were selected using the purposive method from both genders, with a various age range and initial diseases leading to liver transplantation, and time passed from liver transplantation. A semi-structured interview guide was developed based on literature review and pilot interviews. The participants were asked to describe their experiences of self-management behaviors in adherence to treatment and care. The data were analyzed using a conventional content analysis method and managing via the MAXQDA-10 software.Results: Two themes were developed during data analysis as “self-regulation” and “self-care”. “Self-regulation” consisted of “intentionally changing”, “positively thinking”, “information seeking”, “problem-solving”, “past knowledge transferring”, and “self-controlling”. “Self-care” had three sub-themes “shift to independence”, “vigilance”, and “self-care support”.Conclusion: The participants perceived the health self-management in adherence to care as a set of factors related to “self-regulation” and “self-care” behaviors. “Self-regulation” is required to create a balance in life. Also, “self-care” efforts can help with maintaining and improving patients’ health. Keywords: liver transplantation, qualitative research, self-management, self-care, self-regulation, adherence, recipient, compliance, treatmen