Exploring Factors Influencing Critical Thinking Skills in Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Mixed Methods Study

Health science education has been moving towards a model of Interprofessional Education in order to meet the increasing demands of Interprofessional Practice in Healthcare, which focuses on delivering high quality patient centered care. This model of Healthcare will lead to improved patient outcomes and overall efficiency of healthcare. Another integral component between effective health care practice and the education of health professional students is the development of critical thinking skills. In order for healthcare professionals to communicate effectively with their patients and their families and also with one another, as in interprofessional practice, critical thinking skills are required. Therefore, critical thinking would be necessary for interprofessional education and subsequently interprofessional practice. Critical thinking in the different health professions needs to be addressed in order for interprofessional education and practice to be effective. Critical thinking is a multi- faceted concept and is influenced by a variety of factors. However, throughout the literature on critical thinking, the influence of these factors is not consistent. The primary purpose of this study is to identify the factor(s) that influence critical thinking skills in health science professional students. A concurrent triangulation mixed methods design was used in order to collect both quantitative and qualitative data concurrently and with equal weight. The quantitative design is descriptive and cross sectional, exploratory, and experimental to gather survey data on critical thinking scores and the potential factors influencing critical thinking. The qualitative design is a one phase convergent design to obtain different but complementary data on the same topic and to validate the quantitative with the qualitative to better understand the problem. One hundred and forty students from three private Universities’ accredited BSN programs participated in this study. Study results revealed that the overall critical thinking score of undergraduate nursing students was a moderate level as measure by the Health Science Reasoning Test (HSRT). There is a significant but weak relationship between critical thinking and job shadowing experiences (p= 0.10), between critical thinking and club involvement (p=.003), and between critical thinking and athletics (p=0.035). Students involved in clubs had significantly higher overall critical thinking scores than students not involved in clubs (p= 0.002). Students involved in athletics had significantly higher critical thinking scores than students not involved in athletics (p= 0.050). Surprisingly, the stepwise regression analysis revealed only 10% of the variance in the critical thinking scores due to the involvement of clubs and healthcare experience through job shadowing. Therefore, the difference in critical thinking scores must be due to other factors not explored here, and factors not predominantly mentioned in the literature as well. The qualitative component of the study revealed that the students were involved in more teacher centered learning activities and did not have a strong understanding of what critical thinking is and its importance. This study lends support to the position that student centered learning will foster the development of critical thinking skills. The more interactive learning strategies, and opportunities for the students to form social and academic networks, the greater the development of critical thinking skills. Therefore by engaging in the active learning opportunities, the students will have the opportunity to further develop critical thinking skills by practicing and applying these skills, ultimately making them more productive, collaborative members of interprofessional education and practice

Exploring Factors Influencing Critical Thinking Skills in Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Mixed Methods Study

Health science education has been moving towards a model of Interprofessional Education in order to meet the increasing demands of Interprofessional Practice in Healthcare, which focuses on delivering high quality patient centered care. This model of Healthcare will lead to improved patient outcomes and overall efficiency of healthcare. Another integral component between effective health care practice and the education of health professional students is the development of critical thinking skills. In order for healthcare professionals to communicate effectively with their patients and their families and also with one another, as in interprofessional practice, critical thinking skills are required. Therefore, critical thinking would be necessary for interprofessional education and subsequently interprofessional practice. Critical thinking in the different health professions needs to be addressed in order for interprofessional education and practice to be effective. Critical thinking is a multi- faceted concept and is influenced by a variety of factors. However, throughout the literature on critical thinking, the influence of these factors is not consistent. The primary purpose of this study is to identify the factor(s) that influence critical thinking skills in health science professional students. A concurrent triangulation mixed methods design was used in order to collect both quantitative and qualitative data concurrently and with equal weight. The quantitative design is descriptive and cross sectional, exploratory, and experimental to gather survey data on critical thinking scores and the potential factors influencing critical thinking. The qualitative design is a one phase convergent design to obtain different but complementary data on the same topic and to validate the quantitative with the qualitative to better understand the problem. One hundred and forty students from three private Universities’ accredited BSN programs participated in this study. Study results revealed that the overall critical thinking score of undergraduate nursing students was a moderate level as measure by the Health Science Reasoning Test (HSRT). There is a significant but weak relationship between critical thinking and job shadowing experiences (p= 0.10), between critical thinking and club involvement (p=.003), and between critical thinking and athletics (p=0.035). Students involved in clubs had significantly higher overall critical thinking scores than students not involved in clubs (p= 0.002). Students involved in athletics had significantly higher critical thinking scores than students not involved in athletics (p= 0.050). Surprisingly, the stepwise regression analysis revealed only 10% of the variance in the critical thinking scores due to the involvement of clubs and healthcare experience through job shadowing. Therefore, the difference in critical thinking scores must be due to other factors not explored here, and factors not predominantly mentioned in the literature as well. The qualitative component of the study revealed that the students were involved in more teacher centered learning activities and did not have a strong understanding of what critical thinking is and its importance. This study lends support to the position that student centered learning will foster the development of critical thinking skills. The more interactive learning strategies, and opportunities for the students to form social and academic networks, the greater the development of critical thinking skills. Therefore by engaging in the active learning opportunities, the students will have the opportunity to further develop critical thinking skills by practicing and applying these skills, ultimately making them more productive, collaborative members of interprofessional education and practice

Understanding and Identifying The Knowledge and Attitudes of High School Coaches on Sport-Related Concussions

Background and Purpose of the Study: Sport-related concussions are a major public health issue, particularly so in the setting of sports. Sports dominate American culture and with millions of athletes of all ages participating in these sports these athletes predispose themselves to the risks of sport-related concussions. High-school athletes are of particular interest because of the heightened risks of long-term consequences and of particular note second impact syndrome, which is a catastrophic injury primarily reported in the adolescent aged athlete. Appropriate concussion assessment and management is necessary for reducing the possibility of these long- term effects of concussions. Properly trained and educated medical personnel such as Certified Athletic Trainers (ATC) can help reduce these risks, however, there is a lack of these qualified healthcare professionals throughout high-school sports. With this limited number of high schools employing Certified Athletic Trainers and medical professionals, coaches become the primary decision makers in their absence. Methods: This study utilized a modified mixed methods methodology with a triangulation design to measure the knowledge and attitudes of high-school coaches. A sample of 183 high school coaches participated in this study. Results: High-school coaches had adequate knowledge of sport-related concussions (Mean: 18.96) and good attitudes (Mean: 66.67) as measured by the RoCKAS-HSCH instrument. Statistically significant differences were found between high-school coaches’ knowledge and coaching experience (p=.008) and gender coached (p=.017). This indicated that those coaches who had higher levels of coaching experience and coached both male and female athlete’s had significantly higher mean knowledge scores. Significant differences also existed between high school coaches’ attitudes and experience (p=.010) as well as level of sport coached (.001) indicating those coaches with higher levels of coaching experience who coached a combination of freshman, junior varsity and varsity level sports had significantly higher mean attitude scores. Conclusion: It is vital to understand the knowledge and attitudes that coaches have about concussion and to persist with educational efforts and the assessment of their efficacy in a systemic and organized manner. Through ensuring that coaches are educated about sport-related concussion, athletic trainers and coaches can work together to make sure that the best care is being provided to athletes and develop Initiatives to assist the coaches in helping them establish team cultures that are supportive of concussion safety. Together, coaches and athletic trainers can ensure that athletes and parents are educated about concussion recognition and can work collaboratively to develop and implement concussion safety policies at their schools

Understanding and Identifying The Knowledge and Attitudes of High School Coaches on Sport-Related Concussions

Background and Purpose of the Study: Sport-related concussions are a major public health issue, particularly so in the setting of sports. Sports dominate American culture and with millions of athletes of all ages participating in these sports these athletes predispose themselves to the risks of sport-related concussions. High-school athletes are of particular interest because of the heightened risks of long-term consequences and of particular note second impact syndrome, which is a catastrophic injury primarily reported in the adolescent aged athlete. Appropriate concussion assessment and management is necessary for reducing the possibility of these long- term effects of concussions. Properly trained and educated medical personnel such as Certified Athletic Trainers (ATC) can help reduce these risks, however, there is a lack of these qualified healthcare professionals throughout high-school sports. With this limited number of high schools employing Certified Athletic Trainers and medical professionals, coaches become the primary decision makers in their absence. Methods: This study utilized a modified mixed methods methodology with a triangulation design to measure the knowledge and attitudes of high-school coaches. A sample of 183 high school coaches participated in this study. Results: High-school coaches had adequate knowledge of sport-related concussions (Mean: 18.96) and good attitudes (Mean: 66.67) as measured by the RoCKAS-HSCH instrument. Statistically significant differences were found between high-school coaches’ knowledge and coaching experience (p=.008) and gender coached (p=.017). This indicated that those coaches who had higher levels of coaching experience and coached both male and female athlete’s had significantly higher mean knowledge scores. Significant differences also existed between high school coaches’ attitudes and experience (p=.010) as well as level of sport coached (.001) indicating those coaches with higher levels of coaching experience who coached a combination of freshman, junior varsity and varsity level sports had significantly higher mean attitude scores. Conclusion: It is vital to understand the knowledge and attitudes that coaches have about concussion and to persist with educational efforts and the assessment of their efficacy in a systemic and organized manner. Through ensuring that coaches are educated about sport-related concussion, athletic trainers and coaches can work together to make sure that the best care is being provided to athletes and develop Initiatives to assist the coaches in helping them establish team cultures that are supportive of concussion safety. Together, coaches and athletic trainers can ensure that athletes and parents are educated about concussion recognition and can work collaboratively to develop and implement concussion safety policies at their schools

Tissue Engineering: Use of Growth Factors in Bone Regeneration

Tissue healing is a complex process involving a cascade of cellular and molecular events that are mostly shared by the different tissues of the body. Interestingly, the tissue repair process initiates immediately after a traumatic injury and is mediated and controlled by a wide range of cytokines, proteins, and growth factors released from platelets upon activation. Consequently, many growth factors have been considered as therapeutic molecules for the repair or regeneration of a wide range of tissues. Although their role has been only partially elucidated, the potential benefit of most growth factors has been demonstrated. In the last few years, the development of platelet-rich preparations has revolutionized the field of regenerative medicine, due to the repair capacities of the platelet-released growth factors that stimulate and accelerate both soft and hard tissue healing and regeneration. Today, autologous platelet concentrates (APCs) are used in a wide range of disciplines such as dentistry, oral surgery, orthopedics, sport medicine, dermatology, and plastic and reconstructive surgery. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the current evidence regarding the benefits of using autologous platelet concentrates in various oral surgery procedures, using a systematic review approach