Clinical practice is an essential component of the nursing student's training. The practice allows nursing students the opportunity to relate theory into practice during nursing care to the patients. The aim of this project was to determine perceptions of clinical placement experience with respect to clinical practice, enhancement of learning and hindrance among nursing students. A total 254 participants undergoing training at Nursing College Kubang Kerian participated in this project. They were selected using the Raosoft sample size calculator. Survey questionnaires were distributed to 80 participants from first year, 88 from second year and 86 participants from third year. The questionnaire consisting of 25 items with 5-point Likert Scale responses was used to measure nursing students' perceptions towards nurses during their clinical placement experience. In addition, demographic factors such as age groups, ethnicity, educational levels and years of training were examined. The items were pilot-tested and the Cronbach Alpha values obtained for clinical practice, enhancement of learning and hindrance consisting of 0.80, 0.80 and 0.83 respectively. The final data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Non-parametric Kruskal Wallis was used to make comparisons where sub samples were imbalanced. The level of significance was set at 0.05. The results indicate that nursing students perceived their clinical placement positively. Perceptions towards clinical practice were significantly different between nurses based on their residential areas and years of training. The results of this study revealed that there were challenges for the nursing educators, clinical instructors and other health providers in achieving a supportive clinical environment for the nursing students.
Keywords: Nursing, Clinical Placement, , Clinical Practice, Enhancement or Hindrance in learning
Family members' satisfaction has become an important measurement in determining the quality of care of patients in the critical care setting. The aims of the study were to determine the satisfaction level of family members, to determine the reliability of family satisfaction and its subscales, to identify mean of each question and their subscales. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 30 family members who accompanied patients during intensive care admission. The study was conducted in a critical care setting in
a high dependency unit (HDU) and cardiac intensive care unit (CCU), Hospital University Sains Malaysia (Hospital USM). The data was collected from October 2012 to January 2013. The Critical Care Family Satisfaction Survey (CCFSS) Malay version was used to measure family satisfaction in addition to the collection of demographic data. The statistical analysis used a descriptive approach. Ethical approval was obtained prior to data collection. Majority of the respondents were female: 23 (76.7%). Mean age was 35.67 years (SD=12.83) and the score of overall satisfaction level was 78.80 (SD=13.88). The Cronbach's alpha was 0.96. A majority of the respondents, 19 (63.3%) were satisfied with the care provided. This study showed that a majority of family members were slightly satisfied with the care that was provided in a critical
care setting at HUSM. It also showed that families play an important role in giving support and hope to patients.
Study site: HDU and CCU, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), Kelantan, Malaysia
Aim: This study aims to determine the perception of adult patients towards the importance of prevention of coronary artery diseases (CAD) in order to raise awareness on the risk of CAD.
Method: 80 adults between 18-40 years old were enrolled in the out-patient department at a private hospital. The awareness and perception of the importance of preventing CAD were assessed using a questionnaire.
Result: The level of perception on the importance of prevention of CAD was quite good. 75% of the subjects (n = 60) recorded good level of perception meaning they are aware of the importance of prevention of CAD. 22.5% of the subjects (n = 18) recorded a satisfactory level of perception while only 2.5% of the subjects (n = 2) recorded a poor level of perception towards the importance of prevention of CAD. Majority of the subjects had good perception on importance of a balanced diet, exercise and active lifestyle.
Conclusion: In conclusion it can be said that although people are aware of the risk posed by CAD, recommendations such as proper health teachings and guide lines are still required to ensure that the community is able to understand the risk and take preventive measure in order to reduce the risk of obtaining the risk of heart disease.
Study site: Outpatient clinic, private hospital, Malaysia
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.
Background: Mentoring of new staff nurses is frequently performed. Internationally researches have reported that this exercise helped the new staff to retain information better, adopt a professional conduct, and be more satisfied with their jobs. Mentoring programmes are usually conducted to encourage cooperation as well as socialisation among the new registered nurses (RNs) in specific units or organisations. Aim: This research aims to evaluate the outcome of mentorship programs based on six specific criteria and nurses' willingness to stay in the profession in hospital settings. Method: A comparative cross-sectional study designed via convenience sampling was conducted in nine hospitals using the self-administered mentorship for nurses (MNMSN) questionnaire. Findings:Atotal of 593 respondents were recruited, mostly female (87.6%), under 25 years old (84.7%), from Malay (71%) and highest nursing education of diploma level (99.2%). The predisposing factors that influence performance for pre- and post-program are 'patients assessment' (mean=4.763, S.D=0.52 and mean=4.733, S.D=0.536); 'clinical decision' (mean=4.722, S.D=0.527 and mean=4.73, S.D=0.54); 'cultural competencies' (mean=4.42, S.D=0.443 as well as mean=4.354, S.D=0.442); and 'professionalism' (mean=4.764, S.D=0.533 and mean=4.698, S.D=0.563) respectively. Each predisposing factor showed a significant correlation (strong and moderately positive). Overall result for 'willingness to stay' is significant [F, (5,585)=556.308, p
The profession of Nursing has taken a huge leap forward both during the time of Florence Nightingale to
today's modern age. This article sheds light on the journey of nursing, from its humble roots to Nightingale's
contributions and the various breakthroughs of the present along with a focus on the pros and cons as well as
the strengths and weaknesses of Nursing in both Nightingale's and today's time. Various aspects in both time
periods are considered in this article along with a note that emphasizes on the contemplation rather than
outperformance in the field of Nursing in both time periods.
Effective and skilful communication is crucial and an important element in the quality of nursing care. This enables nurses to assess patients' needs and provide them with the appropriate physical care, emotional support, knowledge transfer and exchange of information. However, nurses find it difficult to communicate effectively and therapeutically with their patients. Aim: To identify the nurses' and adult inpatients' perceptions of barriers to effective nurse-patient communication. Methodology: A descriptive study was used to collect data from nurses (n=40) and adult inpatient (n=63) in multidisciplinary wards in a private hospital in Malaysia. Two sets of self-administered questionnaire for the two different groups of participants, the patients and nurses were used. Data were analysed using the SPSS version 20.0. Results: Nurses and adult in patient perceived heavy workload, dialect and negative attitudes towards nurses as main barriers that hinders effective communication among nurses and patients. Conclusion: Communication places an important part in patients' satisfaction of care and the ability of the nurse to provided patient centred care. Nurses should take in to account those communication barriers that affect the patients and be confident enough to take the first step to initiate communication and be able to handle patients' dynamic emotions.
Pain is a sensation that is difficult to remember. Pain exposure is a stimulus that can damage the development of the baby's brain and contribute to learning disorders and behavior in childhood. Therefore nursing intervention is needed that can reduce the pain response in infants, especially during hospital treatment. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of non-nutritive sucking (NNS) and ASI (Air Susu Ibu or Breast Milk) on oral responses to acute pain in the neonate when invasive actions were performed. The benefits of research as evidence-based practiced about administering NNS and ASI orally to pain responses in neonates when experiencing pain. The research design uses experimental nonequivalent control group before and after design. The population of all neonates admitted to Dr. Soekardjo Tasikmalaya, with a total sample of 30 respondents consisting of 15 ASI respondents and 15 respondents for the NNS group. Pain assessments instruments CRIES (Crying, Requiring an increase in oxygen, Increased vital sign, Expression, Sleeplessness) was applied. Data analysis used non parametric tests Mann Whitney and Wilcoxon. The results of the study showed no significant differences in pain response before and after the intervention (p-value 0.236). It was suggested that nurses can improve health education for parents to be able to provide breastfeeding during treatment, especially when the baby receives invasive action
Diabetes is a chronic complicated disease. For that reason, self-care management and education are necessary to control blood glucose levels to decrease mortality and morbidity rate, the risk of complications and adverse medication related events. Lack of knowledge about a diabetic medication and non-adherence contribute to poor glycemic control among diabetes patients. Therefore, this study aims to assess relationship between medication knowledge and medication adherence among T2DM. A cross sectional study was carried out in outpatient's diabetic clinic in University Malaya Medical Centre via recruiting 250 participants. A set of questionnaires from earlier research were used to collect the data. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis is used to analyze the data. The inclusive results indicated that, the mean age of the participants was 57.90 ±13.22 within 56years. More than half of patients (52.5%) had poor medication knowledge, and 47.5% had good knowledge. In terms of medication adherence, most of the participants (87.0%) had medium medication adherence; whereas, only 1.3% showed high medication adherence. However, there was no correlation between medication knowledge and medication adherence (p=0.743). The chi-square results indicated that medication knowledge was associated significantly with gender, educational level, employment status and monthly income (p value < 0.05). In conclusion it can be said that this study provides insight for healthcare professional about medication knowledge and adherence which are important for managing diabetes. Awareness of these factors will allow them to be more effective about medication counseling so that patients can become self-responsible and realize the benefits of prescribed therapies.
Study site: Diabetic Clinic, University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The mass of the top quark is measured in 36.3fb-1 of LHC proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at s=13TeV. The measurement uses a sample of top quark pair candidate events containing one isolated electron or muon and at least four jets in the final state. For each event, the mass is reconstructed from a kinematic fit of the decay products to a top quark pair hypothesis. A profile likelihood method is applied using up to four observables per event to extract the top quark mass. The top quark mass is measured to be 171.77±0.37GeV. This approach significantly improves the precision over previous measurements.
Background: The prevalence of asthma among children is common. In Malaysia, the clinical observations have demonstrated that many children with asthma were not properly assessed and did not get proper treatment. Hence, poor asthma control could cause disruption to the child's ability to get enough sleep, to pay attention, to participate in school activities and thus affecting their quality of life.nagement
Aim: The objective was to determine the effect of PAEP to change the quality of life of children, parents' mapractice and parents' technique of using an inhaler for their asthmatic children.
Methods: The study design was a one group pre-test-post-test intervention study. The respondents consisted of 78 parents with asthmatic children, aged between 8 to 12 years old. Parents were required to answer the Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory Questionnaire, Management Behaviour Survey for Familial Caregivers and skills of inhaler technique using the checklist at the Paediatric Clinic Hospital USM. Following that were given a date to attend PAEP and were assessed two months later for postintervention. The analysis for PedsQL, Management Behaviour Survey for Familial Caregivers and skill of inhaler technique was done by using paired t-test. A total of 70 parents completed the study.
Results: The study showed that the mean age for children with asthma was 9.31 years. PedsQL pre-intervention scores were 75.8%, and post-intervention 82.8%. The Mean of Management Behaviour Surveyfor Familial Caregivers scores increased from 53.16 to 62.33 pre-intervention and post-intervention, respectively. While the mean skill scores for inhaler user had increased from 3.43 to 7.13 for the MDI with a spacer. The findings showed statistical significance with P-values (<0.001) for PedsQL, Management Behaviour Survey for Familial Caregivers and skill scores for inhaler use.
Conclusion: The PAEP had improved the children's quality of life, parents management practice andinhaler skills among parents with asthmatic children.
Keywords : Prevalence, asthma, quality of life
Study site: Paediatric clinic, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), Kelantan, Malaysia
The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increasing worldwide and even in Malaysia. Hence, the knowledge of adiponectin with regards to gestational diabetes mellitus is a key contributor to disparity in maternal and neonatal morbidities. This study aimed to assess nurses' knowledge of adiponectin and its association with gestational diabetes and obesity in pregnancy. A cross-sectional survey was employed. Respondents were selected by purposive sampling using a pre-tested, structured questionnaire. Ninety one nurses (100%) were aware that obesity increased adverse health outcome among pregnant women, but some confusion exits among nurses about adiponectin with regards to pregnancy. Most of the nurses lack condence in providing care to pregnant women with many (82.4%) addressed the need for education on this topic. In the one-way ANOVA analysis, nurses' knowledge score was significantly associated with education level (p<0.001) and working experience in maternity units (p<0.001). This study demonstrates gaps in the knowledge of adiponectin and its association with obesity and pregnancy. Continuous nursing education for nurses on adiponectin and obesity-related issues in early pregnancy should be strengthened to enhance knowledge and confidence in providing quality antenatal services.
Keywords : Nurses, adiponectin, obesity, pregnancy, gestational diabetes
Low back pain is a common occupational health issue especially among nurses that leads to suffering, disability and days of work lost that affect the continuity and quality of patients care. This study aims to determine prevalence of low back pain among registered nurse at Surgical Unit in RPZ II Hospital and identify the associated factors. It is a cross-sectional study that used a self-administered questionnaire to collect the data among a convenience sample of 60 nurses. Data was analyzed using Pearson Chi-Square. Majority of them were aged 31 to 40 years (53.3%), Malays (91.5%), married (84.6%), had working experience from 11 to 15 years (50.8%), had formal manual handling training (64.9%) and are overweight(58.3%). The prevalence of low back pain was 63.8%. The study revealed statistical significance for race (p=0.002), number of patients they have to handle (p=0.005), satisfaction with working environment (p=0.007) and emotional and social problems (p=0.007, p=0.038, respectively).
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.
Introduction: Students learn in many ways. Some students are visual learners, while others are auditory or kinesthetic learners. The purpose of the study is to identify the learning style of the students and factors that influence their learning styles. Methods: This is a descriptive study with cross-sectional design. Convenient sampling was used. In this study, a total of 51 nursing students were involved. A set of questionnaires using VARK (Visual; Auditory; Read/Write; Kinesthetic) inventory was used. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test were use. Results: The learning styles of the respondents were mostly kinesthetic learning style and auditory learning styles which is 14(27.5%) for both, ten respondent had combinations of various styles, seven respondents had read write learning style and six respondent had visual learning style which is 13.7% and 11.8% respectively. Chi-square test shows that there was significant difference between learning style and respondents' demographic factors of previous school and number of siblings, where p-value 0.05). Conclusion: In order to achieve the goal of student learning it is important to use a combination of teaching methods and to make the classroom environment as stimulating and interactive as possible
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.
Patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases are known as
high-risk groups for developing chronic kidney disease (CKD). Adequate related knowledge among them
helps to increase their awareness towards CKD and adapt healthy attitude and practices for CKD
prevention, which will result in better health outcomes. This study aimed to identify the patients'
knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) towards the risks for CKD. This cross-sectional study used a selfadministered
survey questionnaire on 103 adult male and female patients at four general surgical and
medical wards in a teaching hospital using convenient sampling method. The data were computed using
STATA version 12. Data on KAP were obtained through the Chronic Kidney Disease Screening Index
questionnaire. The majority of respondents had poor knowledge (69.9%, n=72), but most of them had good
attitude (68.9%, n=71) and good practices (88.3%, n=91) towards the risk of CKD. Significant associations
were indicated between education level, occupation and monthly family income with knowledge (p-value <
0.05). Significant associations were also indicated between age, sex, marital status and occupation with
their attitude (p-value < 0.05). Meanwhile, marital status was found to be significantly associated with the
practices towards the risk for CKD (p-value=0.008).
Poor knowledge on the risk of getting CKD among hospitalized adults in this study implied the need for
improvement in the public understanding towards the risk for CKD.
Diabetes Mellitus has become one of the major and rising diseases affecting population all around the world. The most common complication that rises from the Diabetes Mellitus is diabetic foot ulcer. The increasing rate in diabetic foot ulcer among elderly has become a challenge that continues to rise and worsen. This study is conducted to determine the knowledge and practice of foot care and also the relationship between socio demographic data with knowledge of foot care among diabetic elderly in UKM Medical Centre (UKMMC). This is a quantitative cross-sectional descriptive study. A total of 81 respondents are being participated in this study. More than half of the study participants are female and majority of them are 60-74 years old. The result showed a significant relationship between gender and marital status with the knowledge of foot care among elderly diabetic patient in UKMMC. The present study showed that there was no significantly relationship between age, occupation, monthly income, duration of diabetes, body image and level of education with the knowledge and the level of foot care. In conclusion, the result of this study will help the health organization, hospital, nurses and care giver to take more responsibilities of foot care for diabetic elderly individuals.
Study site: Elderly patients from orthopaedicf emale or male ward, surgical ward, medical ward, orthopaedic clinic and medical clinic, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Background: Consistent with other countries, Malaysia suffers from a shortage of nursing faculty. In several studies it has been seen that job satisfaction has been shown to contribute to retention of nurse educators. The majority of these studies are from developed countries and were conducted over ten years ago. As a result these findings may not be relevant to contemporary Malaysia. So, the purpose of this study was to investigate the levels of job satisfaction among nurse lecturers in Malaysia.
Methods: A total of 20 nursing colleges throughout Malaysia were selected for random sampling, of which 30% agreed to participate. The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire with additional demographic and organizational characteristics questions was used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics was used to examine differences in job satisfaction between demographic and organizational variables. Spearman’s rho was used to test the relationship between each of the demographic / organizational characteristics and overall job satisfaction.
Results: A total of 73 nurse lecturers (73% response rate) returned the completed questionnaire. The findings indicated only a moderate level of job satisfaction. There were no significant correlations between demographic or organizational variables and overall job satisfaction levels with the exception of the number of students (p = 0.017).
Conclusions: An understanding of the factors affecting job satisfaction among nursing faculty could enhance retention and recruitment in this profession. Further research using a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches is recommended to provide an in-depth understanding of nursing lecturers’ perceptions of job satisfaction.
Keywords: Nurse Job Satisfaction, Nurse Lecturers, Nurse Job
Background: Having multiple kinds of health problems among metabolic syndrome patients may cause
them stress. Life events also may worsen their stress. Negative stress affects not only their physical but also
emotional health. Various coping styles are used in order to deal with their stress. However, not all coping
styles can overcome their stress.
Objectives: This study aims to explore the coping styles that have been employed by the stressed metabolic
syndrome patients in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia.
Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the stressed metabolic syndrome patients in
Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. A purposive sampling was selected among stressed respondents, as
fifteen of them participated in this study after saturation data was reached. The qualitative data was analysed
using content analysis and was categorized into dysfunctional, problem-focused and emotion-focused
coping.
Results: The themes that emerged were; self-distraction, venting, behavioural disengagement, denial and
self-blame. These were categorized as dysfunctional coping; acceptance, religion and emotional support as
emotion-focused coping and active coping and instrumental support which were categorized as problemfocused
coping. Other new coping styles identified were physical intervention, avoidance and emotion
suppression.
Conclusion: Coping styles has direct influence on the feeling of stress. Stressed patients used many
dysfunctional coping styles rather than other categories of coping which lead them to remain in stress. These
data highlighted the need to educate patients about good coping styles to give them additional skills in
managing their stress thus improving their health.