Red Palm Weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus is a lethal pest which has been described as a serious pest that reduces the production of coconut tree and other major cultivated palms. RPW infestation was initially detected by Department of Agriculture (DOA) in 2007 in all eight Terengganu districts. Rhu Tapai plantation area is one of the highly infested areas in Terengganu. Until now, limited reports on population abundance of this lethal pest have been discussed particularly in Rhu Tapai. Therefore, a study on population abundance is a must in order to understand the population dynamic of RPW which will be the first step of its control strategy. A total of 12 traps were installed and synthetic pheromones (P028 Ferrolure+) were used in attracting the RPW adults. Overall, 81 individuals of RPW were successfully collected after 16 weeks of pheromone trapping (3rd September until 28th November 2018). The trend of weekly RPW captured was eventually decreasing from Week 1 to Week 16 but showed a sudden increment in Week 10. Pandan cultivar plot captured the highest number of adult RPW compared with Mawa cultivar plots. Result showed no significant difference between RPW sexes percentage of sexes which was 53% of male and 47% of female (1:1 ratio) (U= 0.143, p > 0.05). Daily rainfall and temperature significantly reduced the trapping efficiency (R²rainfall = 0.142, p = 0.145; R²temperature = 0.0858; p = 0.258). These results will be the baseline information for future study regarding control management strategy using pheromone-based mass trapping system.
This study aimed to determine the potential pollinating agents of Ixora coccinae and Ruellia simplex at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) campus based on the foraging activities of the flower visitors. The diurnal observations (0700 hr to 1800 hr) were conducted for a total of 144 hours and 96 hours for I. coccinae, for R. simplex respectively. The flower visitor activities (landing or hovering at the flowers) and the time spent at the flowers however were recorded for only the first 10 minutes of every hour between 0700 hr and 1000 hr for four days. A total of 383 flower visitations was recorded by 17 insect species and a bird species, the olive-backed sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis). For I. coccinae, the most common visitors were Apis cerana, Heterotrigona itama and Xylocopa confusa, in which all species were found to show only landing behaviour to forage at the flowers, and the time spent foraging at the flowers was not significantly different between the species (Kruskal-Wallis test, H = 1.323, df = 2, p = 0.055). For R. simplex, the most common visitors were A. cerana with 100% landing, and C. jugularis which recorded 80% landing and 20% hovering during their visits to the flowers. Between the two, A. cerana recorded significantly longer time spent at the flowers as compared to C. jugularis (Mann-Whitney test, U = 17.355, p < 0.001). Based on the visitation rate and feeding behaviour of the flower visitors, A. cerana, H. itama and X. confusa were the potential pollinating agents for I. coccinae while for R. simplex, A. cerana showed higher potential to be a pollinating agent as compared to C. jugularis. Therefore, this study highlighted the importance of recording the behaviour of each flower visitor to determine the relative contribution to the pollination success of the plant species visited.
Dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever are diseases caused by dengue virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. Dengue fever has caused a high rate of mortalities among Malaysians every year. Even though many campaigns had been conducted by the government to reduce dengue cases, the number of infected people in this country is still high. We conducted this survey to determine the status of dengue fever awareness among residents in Kuala Terengganu. For data collection, face-to-face interviews were conducted, and a questionnaire was administered. There were three categories of respondents, namely urban area residents, rural area residents and university students. Results showed that respondents across the three groups were knowledgeable regarding dengue fever issues and there was no significant difference between the three categories of respondents in the number of residents who had been involved in dengue awareness programmes. However, most of the respondents regarded the dengue awareness programmes as moderately effective and could be overcome if prevention efforts and approaches were being carried out on a continuous basis.
MeSH terms: Aedes; Animals; Dengue; Dengue Virus; Government; Humans; Surveys and Questionnaires; Students; Universities; Severe Dengue
Food insecurity is interrelated with low food supply consumption which have high disposition to poor diet quality. However, less study has been done in assessing the relationship between food insecurity and diet quality of children in Malaysia. Therefore, this study objectives are to determine food insecurity level and diet quality of children from B40 families in Kedah. This cross-sectional study was carried out among 106 children aged 7 – 12 years old from one selected district in Pendang, Kedah. Radimer/Cornell Hunger was used to determine food insecurity level of the children, while diet quality of the children was assessed by applying modified Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2005. Based on the result, 43.4% of the household were categorized as food secure while 56.6% were food insecure. Those food insecure were classified into three levels and the study found that 61.0% were household food insecure, 28.0% were individual food insecure and 11.0% of the household were child hunger. About 28.3% of them had poor diet quality, 69.8% of them had diet that needs improvements and only 1.9% of them had good diet quality. However, there was no significant relationship found between food insecurity and diet quality of these children (p = 0.436). This is somehow indicated that food insecurity does not reflect the diet quality of children from the B40 families in this study.
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of different ratios of low protein flour to oyster mushroom (Pleurotus sajor-caju) powder on the physicochemical properties and sensory acceptability of edible tablespoon. Fresh grey oyster mushroom was dried in a convection oven at temperature of 55.0˚C ± 2.0˚C for 20 h prior to the grinding process. The low protein flour (LPF) was then incorporated with oyster mushroom powder (OMP) at different ratios of 100:0, 96:4, 92:8, 88:12 and 84:16, before being with vegetable oil, sugar, egg white and water in formulating the edible tablespoon. The proximate analyses were carried out in triplicate for calorie content, colour profile, hardness value and morphological structure of edible tablespoon. This study revealed that with decreasing LPF and increasing OMP in the formulation, the ash content (1.24% to 1.92%), crude fat content (8.98% to 10.40%) and fiber content (0.13% to 1.24%) were observed to have increased as well as the hardness value (2042.03g to 2844.57g) and pore’s size of the morphological structure of edible tablespoon. However, the carbohydrate content (78.64% to 75.56%) significantly decreased (p>0.05) together with L* value (from 68.47 to 61.71) when the decrease was in the the percentage of LPF and an increase the percentage of OMP. The calorie content, moisture content and protein content of edible tablespoon were not significantly (p>0.05) affected by different ratios of LPF to OMP. The edible tablespoon formulated with up to 8% of OMP was accepted by the sensory panelists but further increase in OMP addition significantly decreased the degree of likeness in terms of colour, odour, taste and overall acceptability of edible tablespoon. This study suggested that oyster mushroom edible tablespoon could be potential alternative disposable cutlery which will help to reduce the use of huge amount of non-biodegradable materials for environmental conservation.
Cucullanus sp. is a genus of nematode infecting Barbonymus schwanenfeldii. It is categorized under Family Cucullunidae. The genus Cucullanus sp consists of various species around the world, parasitizing freshwater, brackish-water or marine fishes. Cucullanus sp are mainly found in internal organs like stomach, intestine, kidney, and spleen. This parasitic organism can cause an economic impact, especially for animals with high market value, which are commercialized and used for human consumption. The objectives of this study are to study the morphological characteristics of Cucullanus sp and to identify genus of Cucullanus sp which are found on tinfoil barb, Barbonymus schwanenfeldii at Kenyir Lake, Terengganu. There is not enough data on Cucullanus sp on B. schwanenfeldii. Six samples of tinfoil barb were collected at Kenyir Lake from 25 to 27 October 2018. Each sample of fish was measured and recorded for length and weight using ruler and weighing balance respectively. The fish were examined at camping site at Lawit Resort, Kenyir Lake. The nematode species found were brought back to Health of Aquatic Organism laboratory. The abdominal and gastrointestinal tracts of the fishes were dissected and placed in petri dishes. The nematodes found were collected and observed under the dissecting microscope. The nematode specimen was placed on a glass slide with a drop of lactophenol and observed under the compound microscope fitted with dino-eye. The sample was later fixed with 70% alcohol. The morphological characteristic was drawn using camera lucida fitted to a compound microscope. (40X magnification). The picture of nematode was captured by using Advanced Research Microscope (Nikon Eclipse 80i) and measurements of the nematode was also made. Hence, the nematode found was identified as male Cucullanus sp.
Nowadays, the world is confronting the increasing energy demand, reduction of emissions and security of energy supply. The high energy demand leads to a severe problem, and we need to reduce the usage of non-renewable energy to avoid adverse climate change. Thus, renewable energy is an important role obtained from the natural environment and can be replenished naturally from those sources without environmental degradation. Water energy is one of the most promising renewable energy sources today, especially in the aquaculture industry. Hydropower played a vital role in producing large scale power and electricity. This study was set up to determine the electrical energy output depending on the different sizes and shapes of tanks. It is also to measure the water flow rate based on different size and shape tanks. Besides, the Pelton type of water turbine generator micro-hydroelectric DC 12V output was used in this experiment. Two types of tanks (rectangular and circular) with three different sizes (0.5 ton, 1.0 ton and 2.0 ton) were tested to measure high value of output energy (V) and flow rate (m3/s) by using clear water and wastewater. The result significantly shows that the circular tank had a higher water flow rate and output energy than the rectangular tank due to higher gravitational force, where the outlet placed in the middle and edge of the tank, respectively. The finding of this study benefits the aquaculture industry, where it introduced an alternative and cheaper method of reusing wastewater, reducing the cost maintenances and enhancing the profit of the business.
Danio rerio or commonly known as zebrafish are a very popular fish among scientists and also a well-known vertebrate model species widely used in research. Zebrafish, are also a popular species among aquarists and have been put in aquariums all around the world as ornamental fish. The acid rain phenomenon has lowered the pH level of the wild habitat of zebrafish by shifting it to a more acidic pH level. This study was carried out to observe the effect of low pH level on the reproductive performance of zebrafish. The zebrafish were quarantined for a week to make sure they were healthy to be used in the experiment. The zebrafish were reared continuously for 14 days in three different pH treatments T1 (pH 2-4), T2 (pH 4-6), T3 (pH 6-8)). T3 (pH 6-8) was used as the control treatment. Hydrochloric acid (HCl) was used to control the pH level of treatments T1 (pH 2-4), T2 (pH 4-6), T3 (pH 6-8) with three replicates of each treatment. The male chasing female frequency was significant (p: 0.0001) and the data showed the highest frequency (2568.000±140.6272) at treatment 3 (pH 6-8). For the spawning frequency of zebrafish, treatment 3 (pH 6-8) showed the highest value (4.000±0.5774) followed by treatment 2 and treatment 1 and the data was significant (p: 0.0004). The fertilisation rate of the zebrafish was significant (p: 0.0001) and the highest was shown at T2 (pH 4-6) with 89.8018±0.3782, followed by T3 and treatment T1. For the hatching rate of the zebrafish, the data collected were significant (p: 0.0002) and the highest value of 2.9350±0.4070 was shown at T3 (pH 6-8), followed by T2 (pH 4-6) and T1 (pH 2-4). The overall result showed that pH 2-4 had the worst effect on the reproductive performance of zebrafish. Therefore, low pH has a significant effect on reducing the reproductive performance of zebrafish. The local fish population can be affected by the decrease of pH level due to acid rains and chemical waste pollution.
This experiment was conducted to study the potential of solid electrolyte from the fish waste of Clarias gariepinus for battery application. The battery was one of the important components that supplies electrical energy to users throughout the world, and it strongly contributed to technology development in the economic sector, transportation, residential as well as agriculture. The presence of ammonia in organic fish waste could produce renewable energy and helped to reduce the use of lithium-ion batteries in modern industries. Two different parameters were being observed in this study, which was the quantity of fish and the number of the cell layer. The process of collecting the fish waste was carried out in the hatchery at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu using two methods, which were filtering and soaking. The result showed that the highest value of energy output was 0.430V from waste filtering of 50 fish and 0.207V from soaking in waste of 50 fish. Meanwhile, the lowest energy output was from the tank that contained ten fish with an energy output of 0.177V for filtering and 0.101V for soaking. Besides, for a different number of the cell layer, the highest value of energy output was 0.414V at 25 layers, and the lowest voltage was 0.175V at five layers. Thus, from the study was observed that the produced voltage was dependent on the quantity of fish and the number of the cell layer, when the quantity of fish and number of cell layer increases, the output energy was also increased.
Black snail, Faunus ater is an abundant species in Malaysia yet not many research have focused on its physiological and biological activities. This research aimed to assess the condition index (CI) and reproductive status based on the gonadosomatic index (GSI) for short-term duration. Samples were collected monthly from Merchang Lagoon, from November 2018 to January 2019. Four different types of condition indices equation were applied in this study and the results revealed that there were significant differences between four equations for measuring the CI (P=0.000). However, the result for the GSI shows no significant difference between three month of sampling (P>0.05). CI based on fresh weight measurement (Fww/Tww x 100) and dry weight measurement (Fdw/Fww x 100) reached its peak when GSI decreased. The rest of the trend for CI fluctuated and CI was not affected by GSI. Overall, this study concluded that, there were trends observed in CI and GSI for the black snails. However, it is suggested that longer term observation in future research is needed have a better understanding on the black snails.
Introduction: Simulation is widely practiced as learning strategies in many disciplines including nursing. It is con- sidered an updated technological approach towards providing safe and sound patients care. Thus, this study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge among nursing students using a simulated mannequin for cardiovascular assessment. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study design focusing Year 4 nursing students at Kulliyyah of Nurs- ing, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). A simulation mannequin was used for students performing a cardiovascular assessment. Level of knowledge was tested using an adapted questionnaire. The study was approved by the Kulliyyah of Nursing Postgraduate Research Committee (Ref: IIUM/313/DDAA/20/4/10) and IIUM Research Ethics Committee (Ref: IREC 2018-024). Results: A total of 57 nursing students involved in this study revealing good cardiovascular assessment knowledge. Majority of them reported that simulation exercise is one of the good learning strategies to enhance their capabilities and increase their confidence level. Conclusions: The results from this study could indicate that using technological simulation approach could provide a similar effect in performing cardiovas- cular assessment among nursing student IIUM. Future larger scale is needed including for any other disciplines in nursing to facilitate students’ preparation towards the real clinical setting.
MeSH terms: Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Malaysia; Manikins; Surveys and Questionnaires; Students, Nursing; Universities; Nursing Research; Exercise; Ethics Committees, Research
Introduction: Measuring the competence of nurses in spiritual care and their ability to provide spiritual care is im- portant and check the validity and reliability of the instrument is recommended in the literature. Thus, the aim of this study was to validate the translation of the spiritual care competence (SCC) scale to the Malay language version. Methods: Data were collected from staff nurses at the hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. A total of 270 nurses par- ticipated in the study (female: 92.6%, male: 7.4%), with the mean age of 35 years (SD = 8.4). Spiritual care compe- tence was assessed with the 27-item SCC-M. Standard forward–backward translation was performed to translate the English version of the SCC into the Malay version (SCC-M). All the participants completed the SCC-M. Results: The initial measurement models tested (6-factor models) did not result in a good fit to the data. Subsequent investigation of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results recommended some modifications, including adding correlations between the item residuals within the same latent variable. These modifications resulted in acceptable fit indices for the 6-factor model (RMSEA = .050, CFI = .900, TLI = .885, SRMR = .065). The final measurement models comprised all 27 SCC-M items, which had significant factor loadings of more than .40. The composite reliability was .696-.853 for 6-factors model. These results suggest that the subscales in 6-factor SCC-M model are unique, the factors do not overlap much, and each factor explains different variance than the other factors. Conclusions: The translated version of the SCC-M was valid and reliable for assessing the level of spiritual care competence among hospital nurses in Malaysia.
Introduction: Collaborative working culture is an important milestone to be inculcated in a hospital setting. In the process of preparation for the upcoming teaching hospital of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (HUMS), the organisational value of innovative, collaborative, compassionate, empowering, and sustainable needs to be inculcated to the both management and clinical staffs. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of a collaborative practise workshop in staff. Methods: A two days experiential learning workshop was conducted to deliver and inculcate the organisational value of HUMS to 32 existing and newly recruited healthcare professionals, which include doctor, nurses, assistant medical officer, dental assistant, pharmacist, and radiographer. The topics consisted of principles of collaborative practice, skill of validation, feedback-giving method, approach for value identification and goal setting, reflective practice, public communication during crisis, shared decision making, and organisational problem solving. Different delivery methods include round table discussion, role play, and group work were used. Innovative real time practice of giving feedback to the management was performed directly to the hospital chief executive officer and chief clinical officer. Results: Immediate feedback from the participants found that the candidates found the course was enriching and it helped them to develop an alternative perspective on how to get work done. The staffs expressed their idea, concern, and expectation more openly with the method learned using what they had learnt. The limitation included the challenge of transition from previous working culture to new environment without further supervision. Conclusions: Further systematic evaluation using more detailed assessment tool is needed to understand the long term efficiency and translatability of the learning outcomes into clinical practice once the hospital is ready.
MeSH terms: Allied Health Personnel; Communication; Delivery of Health Care; Dental Assistants; Feedback; Goals; Health Personnel; Hospitals, Teaching; Humans; Learning; Malaysia; Motivation; Pharmacists; Physicians; Chief Executive Officers, Hospital; Problem-Based Learning
Introduction: Increase in antibiotic resistance (ABR) worldwide, specifically in developing countries, requires the need to pay attention to self-medicated antibiotics, perception and attitude of ABR. Self-medication on antibiotics practices have a major pitfall, which is that users do not follow a prescribed course of drug and may usually stop the drug regimen once they feeling better. The spread of ABR is known to be associated with inadequate dosing, and incomplete courses which increases the actual cost of treating illnesses and social burden. This research is motivated by the alarming spread of ABR in Malaysia, the paucity of data on self-medication with antibiotics, and the alarming rate of pharmacy or drug stores that sell antibiotics and prescription-only medicines that are unauthorized to do so. Thus, the study has been done to observe the pattern of antibiotics usage of undergraduate students in a public uni- versity. Methods: Quantitative study with cross-sectional study have been chosen in this study and the target sample is localUniversiti Malaysia Sarawak(UNIMAS) undergraduate students with use of convenience sampling method. Besides, data collection has been done at main library (Centre for Academic Information Services)of UNIMASand students pavilion, UNIMAS by using the fully English online and hardcopy self-administered questionnaire adapted from previous study. Then, the data collected has been analysed by using SPSS Version 22. Results: In this study, 30.5% out of 403respondents have admitted that have taken antibiotics within 6 months and common reason of taking antibiotics given are fever, respiratory tract infection, and pain. Besides, there are 36% of respondents are not compliance to their antibiotics once prescribed with reason of already felt better and healed from the illness. More than 50% of the respondents are believed that antibiotics can treat the viral infection and work on the cold or coughs. For the attitude’s aspect, more than 60% of the respondents are expecting the doctor to prescribed them antibiotics when they are having cold symptoms and 49.9% will take antibiotics when they get cold to help them recover more quickly. Conclusion: This study has showed that there about a quarter of respondents (36%) still using antibiotics in improper method of consumption. Besides, some of the respondents have misunderstanding perception toward anti- biotics and bad attitudes on compliance toward the antibiotics. Thus, this problem from the young adult population could contributes to the increasing trend of antibiotics resistance in Malaysia.
MeSH terms: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Attention; Attitude; Cough; Cross-Sectional Studies; Developing Countries; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Humans; Information Services; Malaysia; Motivation; Pain; Perception; Pharmacy; Surveys and Questionnaires; Respiratory Tract Infections; Self Medication; Students; Virus Diseases; Prescriptions; Young Adult
Introduction: The east coast hospitals of Malaysia are regularly stricken by flood disaster and nurses make up the majority of frontline responders in disaster. So, they should equip themselves with knowledge and skills related to disaster management. The objective of this study was to explore the factors associated with attitude and practice in disaster management among critical care nurses in the east coast hospitals of Malaysia. Methods: This was a quanti- tative study with a descriptive cross-sectional study design that were involved 250 critical care nurses from the east coast hospitals of Malaysia by used stratified random sampling method. Data were collected by using a validated questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with attitude and practice in disaster management. Results: A majority of the critical care nurses had a positive attitude (92.4%, n=231) and adequate practice (80%, n= 200) in disaster management. Among the selected factors studied, attending disaster training/ education was significantly associated with attitude (AOR 4.23, 95% CI: 1.474, 12.144, p = 0.007) and practice (AOR 4.203, 95% CI: 2.102, 8.402, p = 0.000). Disaster response experience had a significant association with practice (AOR 2.697, 95% CI: 1.122, 6.479, p = 0.027) but no significant association with attitude. Level of education, years of service and workplace showed no significant association with attitude and practice in disaster management. Conclusion: This study revealed that disaster training/ education was one of the factors that would ensure positive attitude and adequate practice in disaster management among critical care nurses in the east coast hospitals of Malaysia. Therefore, it is recommended for disaster management programme to be included in continu- ing education training for critical care nurses to ensure them to be well-prepared and respond competently when disaster happen.
1st UMS INTERNATIONAL NURSING CONFERENCE IN CONJUNCTION WITH 11TH INTERNATIONAL NURSING STUDENTS’ FORUM. A view into the future of nursing: Nursing Transformation towards IR-4.0; Held at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia; On 6-8th March 2020
Introduction: Lipohypertrophy is one of the most common complications of insulin injection. Early detection of lipo- hypertrophy is very important to prevent the risk of hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia, arisen due to inconsistencies in absorption of insulin. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of lipohyperthrophy in insulin-treated type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Methods: This is a quantitative descriptive study which was carried out from June to August 2017 in one of tertiary hospital in Sabah. Participants were recruited via purposive convenience sampling. This study was divided into 2 parts which includes questionnaire survey and examination of lipohyperthrophy based on inspec- tion and palpation techniques. Study participants were patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and on insulin injection more than 3 months. The finding of the injection site examination recorded as “presence” and “not presence” based on the features of lipohyperthrophy. The features of lipohyperthrophy include a palpable lump, swelling of fatty tissue around the subcutaneous insulin injection site, thickened ‘rubbery’ swelling of tissue that is soft and firm, and less pain sensation. Respondent who have one or more of these features considered as presence of lipohyperthrophy. Results: Out of 130 patients, more than half of respondents (51.5%, n=67) had lipohyperthrophy and 48.5% (n=63) without lipohyperthrophy. The occurrence of lipohyhertrophy is shown to be higher in patients who had a longer duration of insulin injection (p=0.002), Failure of changing needle (p=0.026) and failure of rotation injection site (p=0.017) at each time of injection. Conclusion: The high prevalence of lipohypertrophy shown in this study high- lights the need for prevention strategies, which include regular assessment for the presence of lipohypertrophy and health education on insulin injection. Health education should emphasize on self-assessment of lipohypertrophy, and the importance of right injection techniques.
MeSH terms: Borneo; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Humans; Hyperglycemia; Hypertrophy; Hypoglycemia; Insulin; Lipodystrophy; Malaysia; Surveys and Questionnaires; Self-Assessment; Prevalence; Insulin, Regular, Human; Tertiary Care Centers
Introduction: Peripheral Intravenous Cannula (PIVC) placement can cause undesirable effects, such as phlebitis. Poor PIVC care can irritate tunica intima layers of the superficial vein. The incidence of phlebitis had become a national nursing indicator, with a standard of less than 0.9%. The standard care of the patient with intravenous in- cludes a routine PIVC assessment. However, what the assessment should be based on remained unclear. The objec- tive of this study is to assess nurses’ skill in performing PIVC assessment. Methods: This is a descriptive study using an audit-based approach. It is conducted in a pediatric hospital. Nine pediatric wards were identified via stratified sampling methods. A total of 86 registered nurses consented to participate in this study. A validated research instru- ments (α = 0.83), PIVC Assessment Skill (PIVC-AS) checklist is used to audit nurses in performing PIVC assessment. PIVC-AS consists of nine audit criteria (AC), AC1: communication skill, AC2 until AC7: PIVC assessment skill, AC8: documentation skill and AC9: PIVC management. Results: Nurses communication skills to patient as in AC1 shows compliance rate of seventy six percent. The compliance rate can be explained that this study was done in the pedi- atric setting. Participants may skip this communication due to handling with a pediatric patient. More than eighty eight percent nurses comply with AC2 to AC6 which indicated their excellent skill in performing PIVC assessment every shift. However, in the AC7, only sixty seven percent comply to palpate PIVC area for any evidence of venous cord and warmth. Conclusion: This study concludes that communication between nurses and pediatric patients prior to PIVC assessment often missed out by nurses. The palpation techniques also not been carried out as compared to observation technique in pediatrics setting. Palpation technique is crucial to detect ‘warmth to touch’ because it differentiates between the early and medium stage of phlebitis.
Introduction: Cardiac rehabilitation is one of the secondary prevention programme to reduce morbidity and mortal- ity in cardiac patients. However, adherence towards this programme is still sub optimal. The objective of this study isto determine the perceived barriers on cardiac rehabilitation programme among cardiac patients and its association with the sociodemographiccharacteristics. Methods: A preliminary study using the Cardiac Rehabilitation Barrier Scale (CRBS) was conducted in a tertiary hospital among 40 patients. The CRBS tool was validated and tested for reliability.Convenience sampling method was used among those who have attended the cardiac rehabilitation pro- gramme. Ethical approval was obtained from the institution ethical committee. There were total of 22 items in the CRBS except for the last item (22nd) being an open-ended item to enable the patients to share their opinion on any other barriers towards attendance to cardiac rehabilitation programme. The 21 items assessed on patients’ opinion on the perceived barriers during their attendance to the cardiac rehabilitation programme in a form of Likert scale. Results: The overall mean (SD) score for the 21 items was 60.70 (8.77) showed that the patients were able to un- derstand gave their best options on the opinions towards CRBS. The highest mean on item 11 on ‘time constraints’ at 3.58 (0.75). Thus, the majority of the patients scored the item “time constraints’ as the highest perceived barrier during attendance in the cardiac rehabilitation programme. The association of the sociodemographic status had sig- nificance difference (p
MeSH terms: Health Facilities; Health Services; Humans; Morbidity; Research Design; Reproducibility of Results; Secondary Prevention; Tertiary Care Centers; Cardiac Rehabilitation
Introduction: Severe labour pain and dissatisfaction towards supports received from midwives during labour are common experiencesamong parturient mothers. Thesenegative emotional experiences need to be given attention as they are associated with higher acute stress reactions and postpartum depressive symptoms. Therefore, this study examinedthe labour pain and satisfaction toward labour support and their influential factors. Methods: A total of 136 parturient mothersregistered for a labour in the UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre were included in this studyusing simple random sampling. The mothers had met the eligibility criteria; live and singleton pregnancy, able to communicate in English, Malay or Mandarin. Visual anologue scale and Bryanton Adaptation of the Nursing Support in Labor Questionnaire (BASILIQ) which contained both quantitative and qualitative questions were used to measure the pain and satisfaction level respectively. Descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests and also content analysis wereutilised to analyse the data. Results: Labour pain was low (Mean=2.24, SD=2.20) and satisfaction toward the labour support was high (Mean=76.9, SD=8.75). Both the pain and satisfaction were not significantly related to each other and also to any of the mothers’ demographic (p > 0.05) and obstetrical data (p > 0.05). However, 32.9% (n=25) out of 76 subjectswho responded to the qualitative questions had highlighted the need of havingfriendly and helpful nurses during their labour.In addition, 56% (n=14) out of 25 subjects who provided additional comments had suggested to include theemotional support to reduce their labour pain, fear and anxiety. Conclusion: Friendly and helpful nurses are part of the emotional support for labour. There- fore, it is recommended that a structured emotional laboursupport should be made availableto parturient mothers. Further research examining the effectiveness of the emotional support on the pain and satisfaction, nevertheless, is warranted.
MeSH terms: Adaptation, Physiological; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Attention; Biometry; Demography; Depression; Fear; Female; Humans; Labor, Obstetric; Malaysia; Midwifery; Mothers; Personal Satisfaction; Pregnancy; Surveys and Questionnaires; Labor Pain; Postpartum Period
Cryptocarya species are mainly distributed in Africa, Asia, Australia and South America, widely used in traditional medicines for the treatment of skin infections and diarrhea. The present investigation reports on the extraction by hydrodistillation and the chemical composition of three Cryptocarya species (Cryptocarya impressa, Cryptocarya infectoria, and Cryptocarya rugulosa) essential oils from Malaysia. The chemical composition of these essential oils was fully characterized by gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 51 components were identified in C. impressa, C. infectoria, and C. rugulosa essential oils representing 91.6, 91.4, and 83.0% of the total oil, respectively. The high percentages of α-cadinol (40.7%) and 1,10-di-epi-cubenol (13.4%) were found in C. impressa oil. β-Caryophyllene (25.4%) and bicyclogermacrene (15.2%) were predominate in C. infectoria oil. While in C. rugulosa oil, bicyclogermacrene (15.6%), δ-cadinene (13.8%), and α-copaene (12.3%) were predominate. To the best of our knowledge, there is no report on the essential oil composition of these three species.