Professional Resilience among Trauma Emergency Department Nurses in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: Nursing staff’s professional resilience plays an important role in overcoming the stressful and adverse situations common to the trauma emergency department and helps to achieve positive outcomes. Objective: This study intended to explore the concept of resiliency among Iranian trauma emergency department nurses. Methods: Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 21 trauma emergency department nurses and analysed through a deductive content analysis based on the general conceptual model of resilience derived from King and Rothstein’s study. Results: All codes were nested into the four main categories of the above-mentioned model including: 1) Personal characteristics; 2) Opportunities, supports and resources; 3) Self-regulatory processes; 4) Positive outcomes. Some new sub-categories including Professional abilities (sub-category of Personal characteristics) and Cooperation with colleagues and Volunteers’ declaration of readiness (sub-categories of opportunities, supports and resources) were developed in this study. In the positive outcomes category, three sub-categories including Improved professional abilities, Personal growth, and Job retention were developed. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that Iranian trauma emergency department nurses could achieve positive outcomes using specific affective, cognitive, and behavioural personality traits, professional abilities and effective external supports from different resources during self-regulatory processes. It is suggested that nurses should be selected for work in the emergency department based on appropriate characteristics and skills

Professional Resilience among Trauma Emergency Department Nurses in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: Nursing staff’s professional resilience plays an important role in overcoming the stressful and adverse situations common to the trauma emergency department and helps to achieve positive outcomes. Objective: This study intended to explore the concept of resiliency among Iranian trauma emergency department nurses. Methods: Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 21 trauma emergency department nurses and analysed through a deductive content analysis based on the general conceptual model of resilience derived from King and Rothstein’s study. Results: All codes were nested into the four main categories of the above-mentioned model including: 1) Personal characteristics; 2) Opportunities, supports and resources; 3) Self-regulatory processes; 4) Positive outcomes. Some new sub-categories including Professional abilities (sub-category of Personal characteristics) and Cooperation with colleagues and Volunteers’ declaration of readiness (sub-categories of opportunities, supports and resources) were developed in this study. In the positive outcomes category, three sub-categories including Improved professional abilities, Personal growth, and Job retention were developed. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that Iranian trauma emergency department nurses could achieve positive outcomes using specific affective, cognitive, and behavioural personality traits, professional abilities and effective external supports from different resources during self-regulatory processes. It is suggested that nurses should be selected for work in the emergency department based on appropriate characteristics and skills

Knowledge and Clinical Competence of Medical Emergencies Students in Facing Trauma

Introduction: Since pre-hospital care is the first line of trauma care, its right and accurate implementation can reduce problems such as long-term disabilities and mortality due to trauma. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate knowledge and clinical competence of bachelor of medical emergencies students in facing trauma. Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional one. All the students of medical emergencies in Alborz University of Medical Sciences were included using convenience sampling. To gather data a demographic questionnaire, “clinical competence checklist” including 9 skills, and an oral test were used. Face and content validity, and reliability of the tool were evaluated and approved by 10 experts. In addition, reliability coefficient was calculated to be 0.82 for all the skills. Data gathering was done by taking oral and OSCE tests and observation of skill performance and filling the checklists. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 20 and using univariate t-test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: The findings of the study showed that 6.5% of the students had poor knowledge, 82.6% had fair, and 10.9% had good knowledge regarding trauma. In addition, 89.1% of the studied student had good clinical competences, and 10.9% had fair competence regarding trauma. In comparing the competence with an ideal state, there was a significant gap in all sub scales. There was a significant correlation between clinical competence level and work experience (p < 0.001, r = 0.595). However, no significant correlation existed between theoretical knowledge and clinical competence (p = 0.646, r = 0.07) or work experience (p = 0.478, r = -0.107). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that most bachelor of medical emergencies students in Alborz University of Medical Sciences had acceptable knowledge and competence regarding taking care of trauma patients in a pre-hospital setting. However, considering the significant gap between the acquired points and ideal state, continuous training in this regard seems necessary

Gap Analysis of Educational Services Quality based on SERVQUAL Model from Iranian Medical Students’ Viewpoint (2014)

Introduction: Identifying service recipients’ perceptions and evaluating service quality are the basic steps toward compiling quality assurance programs. In this regard, the present study aimed to determine the quality of educational services using service quality (SERVQUAL) model and from students’ viewpoint. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 176 Iranian students of Alborz University of Medical Sciences in 2014 who were selected trough stratified random sampling. Students' perceptions and expectations of educational service quality were measured through a questionnaire that was designed according to SERVQUAL approach based on five dimensions of assurance, responsiveness, empathy, reliability and tangibles. Data was analyzed by the SPSS 21 software through paired-sample t-test and one-way ANOVA statistical tests. Results: The results revealed that, in all five dimensions of SERVQUAL, students’ expectations were higher than their perceptions and there was a significant quality gap between their perceived and expected educational services provision. The highest and the lowest quality gaps belonged to the tangibility (1.16) and reliability (1.03) dimensions, respectively. Moreover, The empathy’s sub-dimensions of "exterior attractiveness of physical facilities like buildings, classrooms, chairs, and restrooms" and "respectful behavior of teachers toward students" showed the highest )-1.93) and the lowest (-0.80) quality gaps, respectively. Also, the results showed that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of different majors in all aspects of service quality and significant differences in empathy, reliability and tangibles dimensions between the different academic degrees (P<0.05). Conclusion: According to the results, the quality of current services provided by this public university was not meeting the expectations of students particularly in case of physical space of faculties. Thus, it is recommended to provide and deliver services based on students’ needs and expectations

ارزیابی میزان دانش و مهارتهای بالینی دانشجویان دوره کارشناسی فوریت های پزشکی در مواجهه با تروما و ارتباط این دو با یکدیگر

Introduction: Since pre-hospital care is the first line of trauma care, its right and accurate implementation can reduce problems such as long-term disabilities and mortality due to trauma. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate knowledge and clinical competence of bachelor of medical emergencies students in facing trauma. Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional one. All the students of medical emergencies in Alborz University of Medical Sciences were included using convenience sampling. To gather data a demographic questionnaire, “clinical competence checklist” including 9 skills, and an oral test were used. Face and content validity, and reliability of the tool were evaluated and approved by 10 experts. In addition, reliability coefficient was calculated to be 0.82 for all the skills. Data gathering was done by taking oral and OSCE tests and observation of skill performance and filling the checklists. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 20 and using univariate t-test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: The findings of the study showed that 6.5% of the students had poor knowledge, 82.6% had fair, and 10.9% had good knowledge regarding trauma. In addition, 89.1% of the studied student had good clinical competences, and 10.9% had fair competence regarding trauma. In comparing the competence with an ideal state, there was a significant gap in all sub scales. There was a significant correlation between clinical competence level and work experience (p &lt; 0.001, r = 0.595). However, no significant correlation existed between theoretical knowledge and clinical competence (p = 0.646, r = 0.07) or work experience (p = 0.478, r = -0.107). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that most bachelor of medical emergencies students in Alborz University of Medical Sciences had acceptable knowledge and competence regarding taking care of trauma patients in a pre-hospital setting. However, considering the significant gap between the acquired points and ideal state, continuous training in this regard seems necessary. مقدمه: ارزشیابی توان علمی و عملی دانشجویان دوره کارشناسی گروه فوریت­های پزشکی به عنوان کارکنان حال حاضر و یا آینده مراکز اورژانس کشور و در خط مقدم برخورد با بیمار، می­تواند بازتابی مناسب از عملکرد آموزش آنان در دوره کاردانی و نیز دوره جدید تحصیل را  فراهم نماید. این پژوهش با هدف ارزشیابی میزان دانش و مهارتهای یالینی دانشجویان دوره کارشناسی فوریت­های پزشکی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی البرز در مواجهه با تروما انجام شد.روش­ کار: مطالعه حاضر از نوع مقطعی است. کلیه دانشجویان دوره کارشناسی فوریت­های پزشکی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی البرز به صورت سرشماری وارد مطالعه شدند. ابزار جمع­آوری اطلاعات، پرسشنامه جمعیت­شناختی و "چک لیست مهارتهای بالینی" شامل 9 مهارت، و آزمون تئوری بود. اعتبار صوری و محتوایی ابزار توسط 10 نفر از مدرسین و صاحبنظران مورد بررسی و تایید قرار گرفت. همچنین ضریب پایایی برای مجموع مهارت­ها 82/0 محاسبه گردید. جمع­آوری داده­ها با برگزاری آزمون تئوری و نیز آزمون آسکی و مشاهده انجام مهارت­ها و تکمیل چک لیست­ها انجام شد. تجزیه و تحلیل داده­ها با نرم­افزار SPSS نسخه 20 و با استفاده از آزمون­های آماری تی تک نمونه ای و ضریب همبستگی پیرسون انجام شد.نتایج: نتایج مطالعه نشان داد که در زمینه تروما 5/6 درصد دانشجویان از سطح دانش ضعیف، 6/82 درصد از دانش بالینی متوسط و 9/10 درصد نیز از سطح دانش خوبی برخوردار بودند. همچنین، در رابطه با سنجش میزان مهارت بالینی افراد مورد مطالعه در زمینه تروما ، یافته‌ها حاکی از آن بود که 1/89 درصد از سطح مهارت خوب و 9/10 درصد  نیز از مهارت بالینی متوسط برخوردار بودند. در مقایسه میزان مهارتها با سطح ایده آل نتاج نشان داد که در همه زیر مقیاس ها یک شکاف مهارتی معنی دار در سطح 01/0 وجود داشت. نتایج آزمون همبستگی پیرسون نیز نشان داد که در این مطالعه بین دانش تئوری و مهارت بالینی موارد پژوهش رابطه معنی‌داری وجود نداشت.نتیجه­گیری: با توجه به فاصله معنی دار بین امتیازات کسب شده و سطح مطلوب و نیز اهمیت کار کارکنان اورژانس به عنوان اولین پاسخ دهندگان، انتظار می رود که با آموزش با کیفیت تر کلیه ارائه دهندگان خدمات اورژانس 115 قادر باشند خدمات خوب و با کیفیت در حد مطلوب به مددجویان ارائه نمایند. 

Three-semester planning of nursing curricula, the strengths and weaknesses

Background and Aim: Lack of attention to curriculum planning or reliance on traditional methods will limit the opportunity to use different methods of educational planning. The aim of this study was to evaluate the three&ndash;semester planning for the academic year in the nursing course and finding out its weaknesses and strengths in medical universities. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-comparative study, nursing undergraduate course planning base on its educational curriculum was compared in two different (two versus three semester) scenarios. In both scenarios, the educational time per week was 40 hours. According to the distribution of the number of weeks of education, the average educational hours of students in both scenarios were equal and were about 5 hours. Results: &nbsp;The number of teaching days, exams, and inter-term holidays in the two-semester scenario is lower than the three-semester scenario and direct education of students in both scenarios accounts for only 50% of the year's day. In the trimester scenario, the number of course units were less and the teaching hours per unit was higher. The teaching staff activities in trimester planning had more balanced distribution versus semester planning. Conclusion: Recommendation of two or three semester planning has advantages and disadvantages that can be beneficial or inadequate for different academic disciplines and curricula on the basis of education and training potential of the universities. &nbsp

Investigating the Factors Affecting the collision of Two Passenger Trains: A Case Study

Introduction: Recognizing the factors affecting rail accidents plays a very important role in preventing its recurrence in the future. This study aimed to investigate the factors affecting the collision of two passenger trains near the &quot;Haft Khan Station&quot; between Semnan-Damghan in 2016. Methods: This case study was conducted to collect data from documentation and reports available at news sites and scientific associations, incident reports, and on scene observations of the staff. Results: After describing the accident and exploring the obvious causes of its occurrence, the underlying factors in the accident were identified in three groups: management, individual and environmental conditions. Conclusion: The results of the study showed that there are many factors involved in accidents and controlling effective factors can prevent the occurrence of these events

Immune system on the stage: The effect of teaching basic immunology using theater on the students\' academic performance and satisfaction

Introduction: Nuring is an intensive course which may cause stress and, in turn, decrease learning abilities. Given the important role of nursing graduates, efficient teaching methods should be used. Acting is one of the new simulation methods that improve learning. Hence, the effect of acting along with lecturing was compared with pure lecturing of basic immunology on student's learning. Methods: Two separate classes of nursing students were selected. For one class, the course was taught only through lecturing and for the other, through lecturing plus acting. In the latter, each student played as an immune response element taught in that session. At the final session, all of the students were involved and played the role of immune system elements against an infectious agent. At the end of the semester, a final exam was given to the students containing 40questions with similar difficulty and discrimination index. The results were analyzed, and the students' satisfaction was evaluated using a questionnaire Results: There was a significant increase in the average satisfaction of the class which was taught through lecturing and acting. Of course, the mean score for the female students was significantly higher. However, males did not show a significant difference. Results of the questionnaire showed that 100% of the students enjoyed this teaching method and believed their knowledge had increased. Conclusion: Acting helps deeper learning of immunology and changes the learning from a boring process to a pleasant one. More importantly, the students could be asked conceptual questions during the performances. Citation: Pouragha B, Norouzinia R, Ghazivakili Z, Pakravan N. Immune system on the stage: The effect of teaching basic immunology using students&rsquo; theater on the nursing students' academic performance and satisfaction. Journal of Development Strategies in Medical Education 2018; 5(2): 63-74

Effect of Conceptual Mapping in Small Groups on Academic Performance and Student Satisfaction in Basic Immunology

Introduction: Basic immunology is one of the basic sciences in which deep understanding and link between the contents is essential. Teaching using small group is one of the student-centered approaches that have not been used to teach basic immunology. Concept map, as one of the educational methods that helps deep understanding of the content and link between concepts, was also considered.&nbsp; This study aimed to investigate the effect of teaching using the methods of &quot;small group and concept maps&quot; on the students' performance and satisfaction. Methods: The study was performed on the students who had taken the course of immunology during two consecutive semesters at the Paramedical Faculty of Alborz University of Medical Sciences. Basic immunology was taught to both groups through lecturing. In one class, group discussions were also performed on concept maps. Final exam was given, the students' satisfaction was evaluated using a questionnaire, and the results were analyzed. Results: Final score of the two groups did not differ significantly. Noteworthy, GPA of the lecture group was significantly higher than that of the lecturing for the small group-taught group. Comparison of final scores between boys of the two groups suggests that small group plus lecturing is more efficient for boys than girls. Results of the questionnaire showed that lecturing for small groups increases motivation (84%), passion (92%), and intimacy between students and instructors (92%). Conclusion: Utilizing concept map for small groups did not improve academic performance but creates enthusiasm, motivation, and establishes better communication between students and the teachers.. Citation: Pouragha B, Norouzinia R Ghazivakili Z, Pakravan N. Effect of Conceptual Mapping in Small Groups on Academic Performance and Student Satisfaction in Basic Immunology. Journal of Development Strategies in Medical Education 2018; 5(1): 54-6