The perception of nurses concerning computerised handover and its influence on the quality of patient care

Background: Nursing handover communications play an important role in ensuring the quality of care of patients. Aim: To understand the perception of Malaysian nurses concerning computerised handover and its influence on the quality of patient care. Materials and Methods: Focus group discussions (FGDs) were formed to elicit multiple opinions on topics related to computerised nursing handover. Twelve registered nurses from a public hospital in Malaysia were recruited for three groups of FGD. Conventional qualitative content analysis was used to derive the codes and themes directly from the data. The NVivo 10 software package was used to assist in coding, categorising, and constructing themes. Result: Four main themes were identified: (1) decreased nursing workload, (2) increased nursing workload, (3) technical problems related to computer that reduced work efficiency, (4) unpleasant effect from computerised nursing handover that jeopardised patient safety. Conclusion: Computerised nursing handover decreased the workload of nurses in some aspects, but also increased it due to duplicate charting. Technical problems related to computer hindered the smoothness of running a computerised nursing handover. The computerised nursing handover compromised the quality of care of patients when nurses copy and pasted patient clinical information carelessly, which exposed nurses to legal and/or ethical risk. Additionally, the prolonged use of computerised structured contents reduced nurses’ critical thinking skills in constructing and planning patient care. Nursing leadership is required to supervise the administrative process of the computerised nursing handover. Nursing continual education on patient care should be designed periodically on the ward to improve the critical thinking of nurses

Writing a research proposal

A research proposal is an important process of any research. The success of any research is depending on the quality of research proposal. The science and art of writing a research proposal depending on several factors, these include the time deadlines, quality benchmarks and associated costs. A research proposal should provide an overview of research, it gives the reader sufficient information about the research work, the complete work plan, the value and the scope of the research. A research proposal does not only communicates what researchers are trying to accomplish, but is also a tool for researchers to obtaining research fund. There are no specific rules on structure or format on writing a research proposal – it is depend on institution, funding agency and supervisor of thesis or dissertation. A research proposal may refine as the research on progress – it is not uncommon when comes to the final submission it might be a totally different document. Aim of this paper is to provide some guides and tips on writing a research proposal to new researchers, as well undergraduate or post graduate students

Factors associated with adherence among individuals with diabetes mellitus: a literature review

Background: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a condition that is characterised by an increase in the blood glycaemic level due to insufficient and defective insulin action in the body. The aim of this review was to examine the factors associated with adherence among individuals with DM. Method: A literature review was conducted on published work related to the factors associated with adherence among individuals with DM by searching online databases. Results: A total of 23 published studies that focused on the adherence to anti-diabetes drugs were reviewed. Fifteen cross-sectional studies identified several factors that were significantly associated with adherence, such as gender female (n=5), age (n=2), educational level (n=6), financial status (n=4), and knowledge or information about diabetes (n=4). Qualitative studies reported that family support and system-level facilitators were associated with adherence to the management of diabetes. Conclusion: It is suggested that diabetes education plays an important role in adherence. Health care professional should focus on the educational interventions to increase adherence to treatment

Predictors of oral hygiene practices among primary school children of Alzintan City, Libya

Background: Good oral health is essential for the well-being and development of young children. Preservation of good oral hygiene in children is important for the development of strong, healthy teeth and to decrease the possibility of dental caries. Oral health is maintained by regular eating and drinking, as well as daily mechanical and pharmacological cleaning of the mouth, for example, brushing teeth with fluoride toothpaste and flossing. The aim of the study is to determine oral hygiene practices among public primary school children in Al Zintan City, Libya. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted in three public primary schools in Al Zintan City, Libya. A total of 100 school children aged 9-12 years old participated in the study. Random sampling method was used. Result: Response rate was 92%. There was 53.3% of respondents who had correct practices on oral hygiene, and 46.7% of respondents had incorrect practices on oral hygiene. It was observed that statistically significant association was found between oral hygiene practices and different age groups of respondents (P = 0.04). There was no significant association between oral hygiene practices and other socio demographic characteristics (P > 0.05). No statistically significant association regarding oral hygiene practices between children with high and low knowledge, good and bad dietary habits, positive and negative dental history (P > 0.05). Oral hygiene practices are significantly associated with attitude toward oral hygiene among primary school children of Al Zintan City, Libya (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Correct oral hygiene practices is better among school children of older age. In addition, school children whose father had higher education level have correct oral hygiene practices. Attitude towards oral hygiene is one of the important predictors of oral hygiene practices

Spatial analysis in primary health care utilization: a systematic review

Utilization is an important indicator for health service planning and can be determined through the count of actual usage of health services. There are also several determinants to health care utilization. This systematic review aims to explore the technical components from spatial analysis in primary health care utilization, the determinants frequently discussed, and the gap in the spatial analysis from these studies. Two databases were searched according to search strategy. A total of 15 articles were eligible. Each study was different in terms of analysis unit, spatial analysis, and utilization outcome. Spatial accessibility, sociodemographic, and geographical aspect were the frequent determinants discussed among the study of spatial utilization in this review. Several studies found the association between the determinants with utilization. However, spatial analysis in primary health care utilization studies still subjected to several limitation in term of their unit of analysis and source of data

Acculturative stress level among international postgraduate students of a public university in Malaysia

Background: Acculturative stress among international students is a serious issue, resulting of linguistic and cultural differences in the host country. Levels of acculturative stress vary among different groups of international students who may encounter different problems. While international postgraduate students tend to take more stress from academic concerns, financial burdens as well as responsibility for family. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the acculturative stress level of international postgraduate students in Malaysia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the international postgraduate students in a public university in Malaysia, using multistage random sampling proportionate to the size from six faculties in the university. Data was collected using a pretested, self-administered questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic factors and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) with 10 items. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS version 22.0. Descriptive analysis was used to determine the factors contributed to acculturative stress. Ρ value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result: A total of 404 respondents were assessed in this study, with the response rate of 82.1%. The obtained data showed that the prevalence of moderate acculturative stress was 77.7%, with 5.2% high stress. Mean age of the respondents was 32 years, whereas the majority of respondents (75.7%) were male students. Respondents were mainly from Middle East (42.3%) and Africa (37.1%). There were 71.5% international students living without their spouses/ single/ alone and 28.5% accompanied by their family while studying at UPM. Conclusion: The findings of the study reveal that over four fifths of international postgraduate students studied were in moderate to high acculturative stress level. Female students, Christian religion group, and those who came from Middle East had more possibilities to experience higher levels of stress compared to other groups of international students

Practices regarding secondhand smoking among Malay housewives in rural community in Jempol, Negeri Sembilan

Introduction: Secondhand smoking occurs in public and private spaces and it causes serious adverse health effects. The initiatives to establish smoke free policies in private spaces are more challenging as it is an area of autonomy. Thus, this study aims determine the knowledge, attitude and practices of a group of housewives in a Malay community who were secondhand smokers in the privacy of their own homes and their association with these women’s socio demographic profiles. Methods: A total of 114 housewives who lived with at least one smoker participated in this study. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the characteristics of the respondents (age, level of education and income), their knowledge, attitude and practices towards secondhand smoking and also information about their secondhand smoking. Their practices were then categorized into ‘appropriate’ and ‘not appropriate’ practices. It was then tested for association with age, level of education, income, knowledge and attitude categories. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 42.12±11.13 years, 56.1% of them at least finished primary school and 90.4% had monthly household income of less than RM 2000. Exposure to secondhand smoking at home was 59.6%. Most were exposed to less than 10 cigarettes and less than 10 minutes per day (69.3% and 49.1%, respectively). A total 66.7% of the respondents had appropriate practice towards secondary smoking and this practice was significantly associated with the level of knowledge about secondary smoking (P=0.034). Conclusion: National efforts to suppress smoking in private spaces such as homes and cars need to be enhanced. As knowledge is significantly associated with appropriate practice towards secondary smoking, more efforts should be made to increase and disseminate knowledge about the harmful effects of secondhand smoking especially to second hand smokers

Adherence among parents on under-five childhood immunization schedule: a review

Background: Adherence on under-five childhood immunization schedule has been an area of study that has seldom been explored. Adherence has been the subject of focus in determine if the results of outbreaks and vaccine preventable disease is related to the adherence of the parents to the vaccine schedule. Materials and Methods: A systematic review of articles on the factors of adherence on under-five childhood immunization schedule was performed using various keywords utilizing multiple databases (Medline, PubMed, Science Direct and CINAHL). Studies conducted between 2000 to present, English language and were either observational or qualitative designs were included. Result: Of 45 articles identified, 13 studies were eligible for inclusion. The studies showed that the majority of factors were divided into modifiable and non-modifiable factors. These factors were then further classified into various groups according to its relevance. The modifiable factors were identified as knowledge, vaccine, awareness and perception towards childhood immunization. Whereas non-modifiable factors were sociodemographic factors of parent and child, logistic factors and administration factors. Conclusion: There were many factors identified significantly to be associated with adherence among parents on under-five childhood immunization schedule

Systematic review on effectiveness of methods of delivery and reminder of health education module to improve adherence on childhood immunization schedule

Background: There are currently various methods of delivery that can improve adherence on under-five childhood immunization schedule. The methods differ significantly and there is the conventional method of providing a health education module, reminders and recalls to improve adherence and some other non-conventional methods to improve adherence. A systematic review was conducted on the effectiveness of methods of delivery and reminder of health education module to improve adherence on childhood immunization schedule. Materials and Methods: The systematic review performed utilized searched on available electronic databases and bibliographies of studies and also previous reviews. The databases were broad search and began with the use of generic terms to identify search terms that were relevant. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and MetaAnalysis) by Moher et al (2009) was used. Databases including PubMed, Science Direct, Medline and CINAHL were utilized for this systematic review. Results: The studies in the review conducted was conducted in various countries with the United States of America (USA) contributing 7 studies, followed by the United Kingdom and Pakistan with 3 studies each and Kenya, Australia, New Zealand and India with 1 study respectively. The lowest number of respondents was 12 while the most was 9213 respondents. All studies were Randomized Control Trial’s (RCT’s) and 1 Quasi Experimental study. Conclusion: The studies showed multiple factor and effective methods of delivery with reminders for health education. Utilizing technology showed to be one of the most effective methods

Socioeconomic factors associate with smoking among rural adult population in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Background: Smoking is the single most important cause of death. The use of tobacco in cigarettes among smokers is the leading cause of premature mortality and morbidity. Objective: The aim of the study is to determine socioeconomic factors associated with smoking among rural adult population in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out from 1,136 respondents by using a questionnaire which was pre-tested, and face to face interview was conducted. The questionnaire was divided into 5 separate sections which were socio-demographics characteristics, tobacco use patterns, peers and family influences, knowledge related to smoking and perception on anti-smoking programme. A multistage random sampling method was used to obtain the sample size. The target population was from District of Jempol, a rural District in state of Negeri Sembilan. Result: Out of 1,136 eligible respondents, a total of 998 respondents have participated in this study which made the response rate 87.85 percent. The findings showed that 45.3% of the respondents were smoker. The age range of respondents was between 45 and 64 years old. 51.8% are male, married (64.6%), and with education level of secondary school (47.9%) and majority of them were Malay (95.6%) and Muslim (95.9%). Main occupation is lorry drivers (41.3%), and 96.1% of the respondents with income between RM1000-1999 (96.1%).The findings showed that the followings are important factors influencing smoking behavior among respondents: friend influence (β= 4.347, P-value= 0.001), employment status (β= 3.574, P-value= 0.001), family member (β= 2.123, P-value= 0.001), income (β= 2.066, P-value= 0.011), advertisement (β= 1.452, P-value= 0.001), marital status (β= 1.050, P-value= 0.001), education level (β= -0.549, P-value= 0.036) and knowledge (β= -2.759, P-value= 0.001).Social factors are more important than economic factors. Conclusion: The study concluded that both social and economics factor play important role influencing respondents smoking behavior and social factors play more important role