The effect of job-stress on patient-safety in hospitals affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

BACKGROUND: Patient-safety is one of the main pillars of healthcare. Given that nurses are the largest group associated with patients, so with safety harms, job-stress among then can reduce patient-safety in hospitals. The aim of this article was to investigate the effects of job-stress on patient-safety in hospitals affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, data gathering tools consisted of a reliable researcher-made job-stress questionnaire, and a patient-safety checklist. 320 nurses in hospitals affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences, who were selected using simple randomized sampling method, completed the questionnaire, and the checklist was filled by the researcher. Data were analyzed at two levels of inferential and descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Job-stress and also patient-safety were at average levels in studied hospitals. Among the demographic factors, only the relationship between job-stress and marital status was statistically significant (P < 0.050). There were no significant relationships between different aspects of job-stress among nurses and patient-safety. CONCLUSION: According to average level of job-stress among studied nurses, the quality of offered services would decrease and patient-safety would become undermined, if no action take place to reduce the job-stress among them. Therefore, it is necessary to increase nurses’ physical, psychological, and social health to increase patient-safety

Use of Two Step Small Group Discussion to Enhance Learning of Basic Immunology

Background & Objective: Discussion in small groups is one of the most reliable methods that will lead to a deeper learning. This method is based on the active participation of all members of the group. The immunology course necessitates thought and connection among the presented content. Therefore, in this study, the efficacy of this method in increasing students’ understanding of the relationship between the components of the immune system was evaluated. Methods: The course lectures were presented in 12 sessions each lasting 2 hours. Then, the students were given the opportunity to study for a few days. An exam was taken based on the presented content, and then, the students were divided into groups under the titles of immune system cells. The discussion sessions were conducted. A second exam was taken after the discussion. Scores of pre- and post-discussion in small groups were compared. Students' satisfaction with this approach was asked orally and through open questions and recorded. Results: A statistically significant increase was observed in students’ scores after the discussion in small groups compared to before the discussion. Among the students, 65% believed that this method had a great effect on deep understanding and were willing to repeat this approach. Furthermore, 82% of students believed that their confidence increased in respect to what they had learned. Conclusion: Small group discussion is a potent educational method, because its implementation in 1 session on taught content resulted in an increase in scores. The implementation of this method may be difficult for the teacher, but this approach has significant effects on student learning behavior. Keywords: Small group discussion; Self-confidence; Communication skills; Learning behavio

The effect of job-stress on patient-safety in hospitals affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

BACKGROUND: Patient-safety is one of the main pillars of healthcare. Given that nurses are the largest group associated with patients, so with safety harms, job-stress among then can reduce patient-safety in hospitals. The aim of this article was to investigate the effects of job-stress on patient-safety in hospitals affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, data gathering tools consisted of a reliable researcher-made job-stress questionnaire, and a patient-safety checklist. 320 nurses in hospitals affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences, who were selected using simple randomized sampling method, completed the questionnaire, and the checklist was filled by the researcher. Data were analyzed at two levels of inferential and descriptive statistics.RESULTS: Job-stress and also patient-safety were at average levels in studied hospitals. Among the demographic factors, only the relationship between job-stress and marital status was statistically significant (P &lt; 0.050). There were no significant relationships between different aspects of job-stress among nurses and patient-safety.CONCLUSION: According to average level of job-stress among studied nurses, the quality of offered services would decrease and patient-safety would become undermined, if no action take place to reduce the job-stress among them. Therefore, it is necessary to increase nurses’ physical, psychological, and social health to increase patient-safety

Evaluation of Discharge Against Medical Advice in Victims of Traffic Accidents at the Emergency Department: A Case study

Background: Annually in the world 2.1 million people are killed and more than 50 million people are either injured or disabled in road accidents. Discharge against medical advice (DAMA) has increased risk of morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to evaluate the rate and reasons for DAMA in the traffic accident victims at the emergency department (ED) to provide solutions in reducing its complications. Methods: This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. The population in this study consisted of the victims of traffic accidents referred to the ED of Imam Khomeini Hospital affiliated by Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The  random sampling method was usedand by Cochran formula 147 people were selected and examined for two months. In order to evaluate the validity of checklists, 10 patients were randomly assigned to call and the cause of discharge was requested. Data collection was done through DAMA checklist in the patients’ documents. The finding were entered into spss16 for descriptive statistics and analysis. Results: Most of traffic accident victims (79.6%) discharged with physicians’ recommendations. The DAMA was 17.7% and 2.7% escaped from hospital. In all of patients’ DAMA (26), 46.15 percentage was about all four reasons, 23.08 percentage was treatment reason, and the last reason was due to hospitalized issues (3.85%). Conclusion: Among the four causes of DAMA, treatment problems was higher than others. Patients’ participation in the selection of treatment and focusing on medical equipment are recommended. It is a challenge to the quality of health care services when patients do not adhere to their physicians’ recommendations for treatment

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

Futures Study in Health: A Review Study

Background: Future is being continuously created at any moment and never stops. By reviewing the future, it can be discovered, evaluated and assessed to create desirable future. The health sector is daily faced with a variety of threats at different environmental, social, cultural, economic and political scales. To deal efficiently with these threats, it is necessary to use the future as an opportunity to promote people's health by investigating, anticipating and building it, and managing it properly. Therefore, this review was conducted with the aim of determining the domains and methods of future studies in the health sector. Methods: In this review article, searching was performed by terms futures study or forecasting or fore sighting and health sector in four  databases consisting of Two Persian databases Magiran and the Scientific Information Database and Two English ones Google Scholar and PubMed. In the first search, 531 articles were selected and retrieved. After the titles and abstracts were read and duplicate articles were excluded, and then the full texts of the remaining articles were reviewed, seven articles were included in the final analysis. Results: The results of studies in the health sector show that future studies is an important tool and evidence for policy makers in almost all areas of the health system's functions, such as determining the amount and types of services needed, training specialists and other health sector’s staff, allocating funds, the number of beds and other facilities, developing and constructing of hospital wards, etc. Conclusion: The results of studies in the health sector indicate that futures study provide important tools and evidence for policymakers in almost all areas of the health system's functions, such as determining the amount and types of services needed, allocating funds, number of beds, expansion of hospital departments, technology requirements, the impact of policies and programs

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

The performance of select universities of medical sciences based on the components affecting medical education [version 1; referees: 2 approved]

Background: Every educational institution requires an evaluation system in order to find out about the quality and desirability of its activities, especially if it is a complex and dynamic environment. The present study was conducted to evaluate the educational performance of schools affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences to help improve their performance. Methods: This descriptive analytical study was conducted in six schools affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences in April 2016-October 2016 and October 2016-April 2017. The evaluation was carried out in two stages: self-assessment by service executives across schools, and external assessment in person by the university’s expert staff. The study tools included the components, criteria and desirable standards of educational performance in ten categories. Data were analyzed in SPSS. Results: The results obtained showed that, in April-October 2016, the highest performance evaluation scores pertained to the "secure testing" and "rules and regulations" components and the lowest to the "packages for reform and innovation in education" and "the school action plan" components. In October 2016-April 2017, the highest scores pertained to "workforce empowerment" and "secure testing" and the lowest to "faculty affairs" and "electronic education management system". Conclusions: Offering a balanced portrayal of the actual performance of schools using the right performance indicators in two consecutive periods can help further motivate the superior schools and encourage the weaker schools to strive harder. Competition among schools to get a higher score in the components affecting medical education helps mobilize them to move toward reform and improvement