Medication errors could bring serious consequences to patients. Reporting medication error is a strategy to
mitigate such incidence from happening. Unfortunately, some nurses do no report the errors due to certain
factors. Determining the factors influencing unreported medication errors will ensure imperative actions
that are to be taken to curb this issue. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and perceived
causes of unreported medication errors among nurses in a public hospital in Selangor. A descriptive and
cross-sectional study was carried out in 26 wards from various disciplines and the sample involved 234
nurses. The data were gathered through self-reported questionnaires consisting of three sections. The first
section covered demographic characteristics, the second section aimed to obtain information on the
frequency of medication error incidents and the last section aimed to obtain information on nurses'
perceptions of barriers in reporting medication errors. The findings of this study indicated that there was a
significant relationship between level of education and the nurses' perceptions of barriers in reporting
medication errors. The study recommended that providing enough education, initiating a non-punitive
culture may help increase voluntary reporting of medication errors among nurses to strengthen the
reporting system and to avert medication errors in the future.
Clinical posting is the most important part in nursing education, requiring knowledge, skills, and the right
attitude to facilitate the development to be a professional nurse. However, clinical posting was found to be the
most stressful phase for nursing students throughout their education process in most countries. As nursing
students enter the real hospital environment with the lack of knowledge and nursing skills, their health can be
affected. The aim of this study is to assess the level of stress and physio-psycho-social symptoms among
nursing students in a public university during clinical posting. This cross-sectional study design involved 181
undergraduate nursing students who had completed their clinical posting in a government hospital. The
results showed that the nursing students experienced stress most of time especially during their clinical
posting. The most common cause of stress was from the workload and assignment and the most common
response to stress was behavioral symptoms. This study revealed that the residence where these students lived
had significance with the level of stress during their clinical posting (p=0.01). Detecting early stress events,
creating more effective environment and understanding the effectiveness of coping behaviors may help
nursing educators reduce the negative effects of stress which will altogether help students handle stress more
effectively.
Introduction: Worldwide, cervical cancer is the fifth most common cause of death caused by cancer
following other types of cancer (Parkin, Louie & Clifford, 2008). In Malaysia, cervical cancer is the third
most common cancer among women and the fourth most prevalent cause of death (Parkin et al., 2010;
Ministry of Health, Malaysia, MOH, 2006). Many studies indicated that knowledge of cervical cancer
would improve screening coverage and preventive practices among women. It is important for young
females to have appropriate knowledge and practices regarding cervical cancer and its prevention, since
they are vulnerable to get this kind of preventable disease.
Methodology: Adescriptive cross-sectional quantitative study design was used to find out the knowledge,
attitude and practices about cervical cancer and its prevention among the university female students in
Malaysia. Self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. The questionnaire
focused on the demographic characteristics, knowledge on causes, risks, attitude and practice regarding
prevention of cervical cancer.
Findings: In general, the respondents had moderate and low level of knowledge regarding cervical cancer
and risks factors. Majority (76%) of respondents knew that HPV vaccine could prevent occurrences of
cervical cancer. Most of the respondents did not know about the risks and symptoms of cervical cancer.
However, nearly two-third (72%) had positive attitude on cervical cancer whereas approximately one-third
(28%) showed their negative attitude towards cervical cancer. Regarding attitude statements, nearly all
statements were showed positive attitude except the fact that they were examined by male doctors for Pap
smear. Most of respondents (73% Vs 93% respectively) had never been vaccinated against cervical cancer
before, and never experienced the Pap smear test before.
Conclusion: In conclusion, the knowledge and practices regarding cervical cancer among the female
students at the study area were generally insufficient. There is a need for health education program among
them to increase their knowledge, awareness, and practices on cervical cancer and its prevention so as to
enhance the cervical screening rates among them and prevent occurrences of cervical cancer in their later
lives.
Introduction: Patient advocacy is a central concept for the profession of nursing as it assures patient rights and safety. This article presents the findings from a study which explored the perceptions of patient advocacy from Muslim ICU nurses. Methods and participants: Our study utilized a constructivist grounded theory approach. Thirteen registered intensive care nurses from an adult critical care setting in a tertiary academic teaching hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, participated in the study. The researcher employed semi-structured interviews that were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim, with an additional data collection strategy of reflective journaling. A reflective journal was provided to all study participants following each interview. Results: The study generated codes which connected to vulnerable patients, and subsequently identified a core category of “Caring critically” which was exemplified by six additional inter-related advocacy categories of “Essential caring”; “Vulnerable-acy”; “Familial-acy”; “Cultural-acy”; “Religion-acy”; and “Human-acy”. These categories generated the model for patient advocacy. Conclusion: The pyramid of patient advocacy can be applied in clinical practice to guide Muslim nurses, in addition to being utilized in the educational setting as a standard to teach registered nurses about the role and responsibilities of a patient advocate.
Psychological well-being is relatively complex notions with a variety of components that may contribute to it. Individuals differ in their overall levels of psychological health and well-being. Mother with low birth weight (LBW) babies required hospitalization especially in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) more exposed to the experience of anxious symptoms. Therefore, it would become a stressful event that might cause psychological distress or even emotional crisis in mother's when their infants were LBW especially premature. Health promotion is very important to prevent this problem. Health promotion efforts aimed at improving infant health status must do so by improving women's health. Improving women's health before, during, and after pregnancy is the key to reduce the human and economic costs associated with infant mortality and morbidity. To improve both women's and infants' health, efforts should include an emphasis on preventive health care services, family-oriented work site options, changes in social norms, and individual behavior modification. Therefore, it is important for health care professionals in NICU to be able to assess the factors associated psychological well-being of mother's with LBWinfant.
Neonate Resuscitation Program, NRP training is given to nurses in batches. Such programs are vital because neonate resuscitation procedure or aid given to new born during delivery, help them begin breathing on their own, which can save many lives. Although such training is given to the nurses, no assessment has been done on the effectiveness of such training with regard to knowledge retention and transfer of training among the trainees. This study is retrospective in nature; it evaluates the level of knowledge and the confidence in carrying out the neonate resuscitation procedure among 91 nurses involved such training. Besides that, the study ascertains their preparedness before undergoing the training and the opportunities provided to them to practice the skills learnt from the training at their work place. Factors that influence both their knowledge and skills after the training are also indentified. Study sample consist of 51 nurses from hospitals and 40 nurses from health clinics. Results show that skills acquired from training as measured by their confidence at carrying out the learnt skill deteriorate faster than knowledge. Level of knowledge retained, confidence at carrying out the neonate resuscitation procedure and opportunities for practicing the skill are all significantly higher for the nurses at the hospitals compared to their counterparts in the health clinics at the 95 percent level. The recent trainees (2009) scored higher compared to the old trainees (2007 and 2008) with regard to their preparedness or motivation before the training although memory factor could play a part here. Confidence at carrying out the neonate resuscitation procedure at the work place is a measure of the effectiveness of the NRP training because it constitutes transfer of training. Level of knowledge retained and opportunities for practicing skill at work place after the training, together with trainees' preparedness and motivation before the NRP training, all three contribute 35.7% towards trainees' confidence in carrying out the NRP procedure at their work place. Contribution of these three variables is significant at the 95% level or p< 0.05. Findings are consistent with the Model of factors that affect Learning Outcomes and Transfer of Training by Goldstein and Ford (2002).
Keywords: NEONATE RESUSCITATION
LBW infants are at risk not only due to neonatal complications but also by other risk factors (eg. congenital anomalies associated with LBW). This research is motivated by the high incidence of LBW in Tasikmalaya City Hospital each year. The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between demographic factors in this case the mother's age, maternal education level, socio-economic level with the incidence of LBW. The research hypothesis has a relationship between maternal age, maternal education level, socioeconomic level, pregnancy with LBW incidence. The benefits of research provide a basis for evidencebased practice to nursing practitioners, that there is a relationship between demographic factors (maternal age, education level and socioeconomic level) with the incidence of LBW. Quantitative research method was used with cross sectional approach. The data was processed using univariate and bivariate analysis. The results of the study show no significant relationship between the factors of maternal age, education level, socioeconomic level with the incidence of LBW in Tasikmalaya City Hospital with p value > 0.05 for all variables. From the present study it is suggested that nurses should improve health education so that people can understand better about the risk of LBW.
Introduction: Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia colleges, offer diploma and advanced diploma programmes for nursing, assistant medical officer and other allied health personnel. As academic institutions, the trainers are encouraged to participate and enhance the colleges' research productivity. The aim of this study is to explore the perceived barriers and motivation factors for research in MOH colleges. Method: Aqualitative research design was conducted among MOH colleges trainers. Semi structured questions were used in 11 Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and 13 In-Depth Interview (IDI) among 98 respondents from seven MOH colleges. Thematic analysis was used to identify emerging themes from the interviews. Results: Three institutional factors motivate engagement in research: key performance indicator, research support and research skills. Majority of respondents were aware of the importance of research, but their research productivity is low due to perceived barriers related to human resource, research material, technical and funding support. Conclusion: The findings are useful in understanding research motivation as well as ascertain barriers that can be overcome through better support and recognition. Such understanding will help improve the policy for research across the colleges.
Introduction: Critical thinking is an important element in nursing practice as well as being a vital educational outcome in any nursing curriculum. Critical thinking can influence the outcome of patient care and patient satisfaction. Objective: To determine the level of critical thinking ability among nursing students in two nursing colleges and its differences according to social demographic variables. Method: This was a cross sectional descriptive study design in which Critical Ability Scale for College Students were used to collect data from 158 nursing students in two private nursing colleges in Malaysia. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling. Results: The mean overall score for critical thinking ability was 70.6±6.98 with scores ranging from 56 to 89. The mean score of the subscales was 3.63±0.50 for intellectual, eagerness and health skepticism abilities, 3.63±0.42 for intellectual honesty ability, 3.61± 0.41 for prudence ability and 2.68±0.64 for objectivity ability. There are no significant differences between the independent variables and level of critical thinking ability. Conclusion: A high critical thinking ability score was reported with intellectual, eagerness and health skepticism being the highest subscale. The way forward requires academicians and clinicians to work together to ensure a transfer of knowledge and skills from the classroom to the clinical environment in order to develop and enhance the ability to think critically in making clinical decision and produce thinking nurses for the future.
Background: Hospital medicine is characterized as a multifaceted team-based activity with a necessity for a high level of accuracy, timely, and reliable communication. Effective communication among healthcare providers is the key to successful collaboration within the healthcare system. Effective communication can improve patient safety, job satisfaction, and reduce burn out syndrome among nurses. The purpose of the study was to identify the factors contributing to the competency gap between and doctors in four private hospitals in Malaysia. Method: The study used a descriptive qualitative design to elicit the experience of 15 doctors from three private hospitals. A semi-structured interview was conducted to collect the data. The data were analyzed using Colaizzi's method for thematic data analysis. Results: The findings of the study suggested three main categories as the factors contributing to the communication gap among nurses and doctors as perceived by specialist doctors. The three categories include nurses training attributes, graduate nurse attributes, and work environment attributes. The nurses training attributes include entry requirements for student's recruitment into the nursing program, undergraduate training process, and assessment of student nurses. The graduate nurse's attributes had nine elements. The elements include a post-registration thirst for knowledge, medical English knowledge, self-confidence, stress management skills, critical thinking, and clinical judgment skills, perceived power on the authority of doctors, passion to work, time management skills as well as stress and personal factors of nurses. The working environment attributes included workload of nurses, teamwork among nurses Preceptorship, and appreciation of nurses by the organization. The informants also suggested measures to overcome the competency gaps among nurses. Conclusion: In conclusion, the nurse's communication competency is a vital factor in determining patient safety and quality of care. The quality of nursing care has a significant impact on the image of any health care organization. Therefore, it is crucial to identify the factors contributing to poor communication among nurses and doctors and to initiate interventions to fill the communication gap.
Thyroid disorders could be broadly categorised into benign and malignant diseases. Approaches for the
management of benign and malignant thyroid disorders have been well documented including the treatment
using radioactive iodine (RAI). RAI has long been used to treat hyperthyroidism and well differentiated
thyroid cancer. Nevertheless, there are various factors that may influence the outcome of RAI treatment
including matters related to patient preparations. Thus, healthcare personnel play an important role in
assisting patients to make the necessary preparations. This article aims to give nurses and clinicians of
various specialities an insight into the overview of RAI treatment for thyroid disorders particularly in
Malaysia and further discusses the issues related to preparations of patients.
Nurses play a key role in caring for the mentally ill and in rehabilitating them after an episode of illness. The nurses' attitude towards a patient is generally considered to be one of the basic factors contributing to the administration of total therapeutic nursing care. The purpose of this study was to examine whether attitudes towards mental patients improve after psychiatric attachment as well as the relationship between attitudes to psychiatry and intention to pursue psychiatry as a career. The study was conducted on sixty nursing students of fifth semester at the Kolej Kejururawatan Kubang Kerian, Kelantan who are doing their psychiatric postings in Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II, Kota Bharu. The sampling technique for this study was convenient sampling. The instrument used for this study surveyed questionnaire developed by Brenda Happell (Happell, 2008). This quasi-experimental study measured changes in students' attitudes and satisfaction with clinical experience following a placement in mental health nursing. The questionnaire was administered to the nursing students on the first and last day of their psychiatric clinical placement session. The findings suggested that clinical experience during psychiatric clinical posting can positively influence attitudes, preparedness for practice and the popularity of mental health nursing. Satisfaction with clinical experience was also high. The findings of this study suggest that clinical postings had positive effects on nursing students' attitudes towards psychiatric patients and confidence in this field of practice.
Study site: Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II, Kota Bharu
Excellence in academic and practical skills is the main goal of most nursing educators. It is a tool to measure the level of success of the nurse educators. Concept mapping care plan is related to the expectation that today's nursing students must master a constantly expanding body of knowledge and apply complex skills in rapidly changing environment. Concept mapping care plan was developed by researcher and validated by ten expert panels using three rounds of Delphi technique. It was used to evaluate academic performance of nursing students at clinical practice. Concept mapping care plan is a good assessment tool to nursing educators to prepare nursing students for better critical thinking and expected to function effectively after graduation. The goal of concept mapping care plan as a teaching strategy during the clinical practices, help the students to integrate the knowledge from theory and implementing this knowledge in the clinical setting. Researcher believes that concept mapping care plan can be as a replacement of nursing process that have been practiced before in the clinical setting. In addition, through concept mapping care plan provides an opportunity for students to broaden their knowledge and become more creative.
This article is a brief personal reflection on the ongoing development of professional education and practice in nursing. The reflection and its narratives are anecdotal and are based on the author's recent experience of teaching and working with fellow nursing lecturers in Malaysia in a nursing faculty within a local University. The author has almost 40 years career in nursing, nurse education and curriculum planning in the United Kingdom before her retirement. The study reflects on the key aspects of nursing and nurse education from her wealth of experiences while in the UK, and also highlights some positive and valuable insights gained from her brief experience in Malaysia. She also provides some reflections of the challenges that lie ahead, specifically, the emphasis on feelings and emotions in nursing, that provide the inspiration to continue with passion, dedication, and determination in our ongoing quest in the pursuit of nursing excellence for all the nurses, in practice and in education. This will hopefully and ultimately lead to a higher standard of nursing care for all patients, and continue the long journey towards the unique professional identity that we have been seeking, and that we can all proudly claim to be our own.
Introduction: The effectiveness of teaching and learning process is highly dependent on the methods and
strategies of teaching and learning practices. As a result, nurse educator must choose and use the suitable
method to help the nursing students to achieve the learning objective.
Methodology: There were 218 respondents. This study consisted of two-group quasi experimental study
with pre- and post-test design. The experimental and control groups received education using concept
mapping and lecture method respectively. The data was analyzed using inferential and descriptive statistic.
Results: In the pre-test, students were taught using concept mapping. These students had achievement
mean scores of 11.23, SD=2.59 and post–test was 13.19, SD=1.71 with mean gain scores of 1.96. Students
who were taught using lecture method had an achievement mean scores of 10.71, SD=2.23 in the pre-test
and post-test was 12.60, SD=1.64 with mean gain scores of 1.89. The results showed an increase in grade
achievement, the percentage pass for the experimental group increased from 95.4% in pre-test to 100% in
the post-test. The percentage pass for control group had increased from 93.57% in pre-test increased to
99.08% in the post-test.
Conclusion: Student-centered learning is a teaching method that is active and can change passive to active
learning. Findings from several reviewed studies suggest that using concept mapping can improve
academic performance in nursing education and is a valuable teaching strategy.
Exercise is an important practice in leading a healthy lifestyle. However, recently the percentage of
Malaysians who practice healthy lifestyle has decreased and the rate of overweight or obesity isincreasing.
This study aims to explore the knowledge, attitudes and practices of exercise among nursing college
students. Questionnaires were used as a research instrument and distributed to Kuala Terengganu Nursing
Collage students consisting of 281 students, ranging from year 1 to year 3 in semester II. Data collection
was carried out within two weeks. The results of this study showed that almost 66.9% of trainees chose
aerobic exercise as their favorite exercise. This form of exercise is good for strength and durability of the
cardiovascular. Almost 90.4% of them did exercises together with their friends. From the results, their
coach had a relatively good level of knowledge about exercise. The majority of students have a positive
attitude towards exercise. There is a relationship between knowledge and their value of exercise. Age is
correlated with knowledge, meaning that the older the person the more knowledgeable they are on the
benefits of exercise. Age and semester of study showed moderate correlation of 0.525 with awareness of
exercises to increase stamina and strength of the body's defenses.
A pressure ulcer is a common health problem, particularly among the physically limited or bedridden individuals. The most vulnerable group to suffer this condition is the elderly. The prevalence of Geriatric inpatient with pressure ulcer stage I, II, III or even IV for a month was 35.5% of the total admission. The understanding of recovery process, prevention remains the best management strategy as it improves their quality of life. This study aims to compare PU development outcomes in geriatric patients nursed on either using the Durable barrier cream (Cavillon cream) or non-pharmacological intervention alone. Using the Quasi experimental study-design, the selected participants were subjected to Cavaillon cream as well as the intervention. The assessment used were the outcome of the pressure ulcer was assessed using the measured size of the redness area. There was the statistically significant reduction in pressure ulcer size on day three compared to the size on day one among the intervention group, z value was -5.028, p
The aim of this project was to determine stress levels and to identify the main stressors that contribute to stress among Kolej Poly-Tech Mara (KPTM) nursing students during their clinical placement in order to help them overcome it. Atotal of 324 respondents undergoing training at KPTM participated in this project. The questionnaire consisting of six common stressors with 30 items using a 5-point Likert Scale was used to measure the level of stress among the respondents during their clinical placement. The data collected was examined for normal distribution, and inferential statistics such as correlations were used to seek relationships. The results indicated that the main stressors that contributed to stress among KPTM nursing students were from both environment, along with assignments and workload. There was moderate level of stress among KPTM nursing students during clinical placement and the factor that contributed to stress was due to the the possibility of making an error. Clinical placement is an essential component for nursing student's training. The practice allows nursing students the opportunity to relate the theory into practice during nursing care towards the patients. Findingsfrom this study will provide the nursing educators, clinical instructors with a meaningful understanding of the importance of clinical placement experience.
Adequate consumption of Omega-3 fatty acids are essential during pregnancy because they play an important role in the development offetal brain and retina. The rate of growth remains high during the first year of life. Omega-3 is converted inside the body into longer chain polyunsaturated fatty acids docosahexanoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). DHA and EPA are primarily derived from fish and algae. DHA is essential for the growth and functional development of the brain in infants. DHA is also required for the maintenance of normal brain function in adults. The inclusion of adequate amount of DHA in the diet improved learning ability, whereas deficiencies of DHA are associated with deficits in learning. DHA is readily taken up by the brain in preference to other fatty acids. The turnover of DHA in the brain is very fast, more so than is generally realized. The visual acuity of healthy, full-term, formula-fed infants is increased when their formula includes DHA. However, health professionals and the general public in Malaysia may not be aware about the importance, sources or the quantities required for these essential fat components in foods. This review discusses the benefits of omega-3 consumption with particular emphasis during pregnancy and the first year of life. This review will also attempt to discuss sources of omega-3 fatty acids in Malaysia with the aim to achieve the recommended nutrient intakes foromega-3 fatty acids.
Keywords: Omega 3 fatty acids, Lactation in Pregnancy, Sources of Omega-3 FA
Background: Standard Precaution (SP) is a very important health issue that has not been well-emphasized. The outcome of not following the SP is a serious problem that can lead to the blood-borne infection.
Methods: A set of self-administered anonymous questionnaire were given to all healthcare personnel in 4 selected Emergency Department (ED), hospital in Kelantan to assess the knowledge and practice of standard precaution.
Results: Almost half of the healthcare personnel were having a good knowledge 115 (57.8%) and good practice 156 (78.4%) towards SP. For those who did not comply with SP, complained oflackoftime as the main reason (38.5%) followed by interference with their work (29.2% ). There was no significant difference between presence of Emergency Physician or not in ED with the compliance towards SP.
Conclusion: Though majority of the healthcare personnel in ED possessed a good level of knowledge and practice towards SP, the staff compliance should be revised regularly wherever necessary to improve the precautions.
Keywords: Standard precaution, Emergency Department, Malaysian Nurse