Authors: Chia Yen Low, QingJun Cheang, Pek Hong Lim.

ABSTRACT

Background: Clinical teaching is an important and essential teaching tool in the clinical area. Clinical teaching and learning is essential for the development and progression of experiential nursing knowledge.

Objectives: This research study aims to identify the perceptions and evaluations regarding clinical teaching among Year 2 and Year 3 nursing students, and also to find out if there are any differences in the perceptions and evaluations of the nursing students in regards to clinical teaching.

Methods: The formula for calculating the sample size was adopted from Morris (2005). The sample size obtained from the calculation with the confidence interval of 95%, was 132 participants. The participants were taken from a universal population of 142 diploma nursing students: 50 Year 2 nursing students and 92 Year 3 nursing students from the International Medical College in Selangor. The research instrument used was the Bedside Teaching Evaluation questionnaire that was adapted with approval by the writer from the University of Witwatersr and Department of Surgery (2008). A pilot study was conducted on 20 participants of Year 1 to Year 3 nursing students from the Assunta College of Nursing, with a Cronbach’s alpha reliability index of 0.89.

Results: The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics to find out the participant’s perceptions and evaluations regards clinical teaching; and also to compare the perceptions and evaluations between the two groups of nursing students from Years 2 and 3. The study findings showed that 46% (n=142) of the respondents had a good feedback on all the five (5) items under the perceptions of clinical teaching whereas 42% (n=142) of the respondents had a moderate view on all the five (5) items in the perceptions of clinical teaching sessions. With regards to the evaluation of clinical teaching sessions, 50% of the respondents had a moderate feedback on all the three (3) items in this section.

Conclusion: Most of the participants perceived and evaluated the clinical teaching as an important teaching-learning strategy in enhancing clinical learning.

Keywords: Perceptions, Evaluation, Nursing student, Clinical teaching, Nurses.

Citation: IeJSME 2016 10(2): 21-29

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56026/imu.10.2.21

Authors: Raja Noriza Raja Ariffin, Muzalwana Abdul Talib @ Abdul Mutalib, Nurulhuda Mohd Satar, Hanira Hanafi, Azmah Othman, Makmor Tumin, Rustam Khairi Zahari.

ABSTRACT

Background: There is a lack of information on the practice of family planning among Muslim women in New York City in the United States of America (USA) [hereinafter known as “Muslim women residing in the United States” (MWRIU)], Tehran in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The limited figures on this issue are either outdated or mere estimates. The importance of sexual and reproductive health of Muslim women is expected to have massive effects on the social and economic progress of developing countries like the IRI and Malaysia. It is also expected to have imperative impacts on the attempts to empower the MWRIU community and enhance their health status to meet the national standards.

Objective: The study objective is to explore and compare the practice of family planning, namely on contraceptive use and abortion among Muslim women in 3 major cities of different countries.

Methodology: A survey of 379, 377 and 380 respondents from New York City, Tehran and Kuala Lumpur respectively was conducted in 2013 using self-administered questionnaires.

Results: There were significant differences in contraceptive and abortion practices across these countries (P<0.01). While a significant 86.6% of Iranian and 66.2% of the MWRIU used contraception, only 22.9% of the Malaysian women did so. For abortion, 13.6% of the MWRIU and 6.3% of the Malaysian respondents had abortion at least once; while only 22% of Iranians revealed their abortion history, totaling 32.1% of them who had abortion. Financial problems and having an unsupportive husband were among the major factors hindering their practice of healthy family planning.

Conclusion: Educational campaigns should be promoted to increase the awareness on the permissibility of family planning in Islam, as well as on sexual and reproductive rights.

Keywords: Barriers, comparison, contraception, family planning, Islam.

Citation: IeJSME 2016 10(2): 30-37

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56026/imu.10.2.30

Authors: Wei Fern Siew, Cindy Sze Nee Loh.

ABSTRACT

Background: Continuing professional development (CPD) is a primary strategy for nurses to keep abreast with the rapid changes in the health care practices of current times. Evidence has shown that nurses lack the initiative to take up the additional CPD offered by their organisation and have to be persuaded to do so once they have achieved the minimum 25 points of CPD mandated by Malaysia Professional Regulatory Board of Nursing (MNB).

Objective: To determine the extent to which nurses from a private hospital in Melaka will participate in CPD and the challenges affecting them from participating in CPD upon achieving the mandatory CPD points specified by MNB.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive survey. A sample of 188 registered nurses (RNs) from a private hospital in Melaka was recruited via purposive sampling technique to complete a self-reporting questionnaire. The instrument which was adapted and used with permission was pilot-tested for reliability and validated by content experts to ensure its suitability for this local study.

Results: The survey showed that 82.4% of the registered nurses (RNs) had attained additional CPD points apart from the minimum 25 CPD points stipulated by MNB. The findings on RNs reading journals or engaged in distance learning programmes were not encouraging as the percentages were only 31.4% and the latter, 9%. In-service talks, grand round discussions and online sources of continual nursing education that do not require the RNs to be away from their work duties were the most frequent type of CPD activities participated by the RNs as compared to conferences, workshops, distance learning programmes or post basic courses. The top 3 challenges that affect RNs’ participation in CPD were time constraint (90.4%), work commitments (85.6%) and difficulty in getting nominated (53.7%) to attend the CPD activities of their choice.

Conclusions: The results of this study highlighted the respondents’ views to the management on the importance to align the approach of sponsoring CPD courses according to the nurses’ needs in order to meet their context of practice. The management also ought to take into consideration the identified challenges encountered by the nurses to participate in CPD upon achieving their mandatory CPD points specified by MNB.

Keywords: Continuing professional education; nursing practice; professional development; registered nurses.

Citation: IeJSME 2016 10(3): 4-13

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56026/imu.10.3.4

Authors: Swee Geok Lim, Siew Woan Yam.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Patient falls has been identified as one of the major issues in today’s health care despite efforts taken in preventing such incidents from happening (Cox et al., 2014). Patient falls can be prevented by using fall risk assessment tools such as Morse Fall Scale. Morse Fall Scale was implemented in the year 2014 in a private hospital in Malaysia but the patient fall rate did not decrease.

Objective: The research objective is to determine the nurses’ level of knowledge and competency in the use of the Morse Fall Scale as an assessment tool in the prevention of patient falls.

Method: A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional research design was conducted with 100 registered nurses from a private hospital in Selangor, Malaysia. Universal sampling technique was used to recruit the nurses.

Results: The registered nurses had a moderate level of knowledge (M = 7.72; SD = 1.72) and competency (scoring Morse Fall Scale, M = 4.75; SD = 1.26; planning intervention, M = 13.19; SD = 1.89) in using the Morse Fall Scale.

Conclusion: It is recommended that a review of the training programme on the use of the Morse Fall Scale be implemented in a more structured manner.

Keywords: Assessment tool, competency, patient falls, knowledge, Morse Fall scale.

Citation: IeJSME 2016 10(3): 14-23

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56026/imu.10.3.14

Authors: Tamara Gien Pooke, Rozi Mahmud, Poh Sin Yap, Suraini binti Mohamad Saini, Sharifah Roohi Syed Waseem Ahmad, Harwant Singh.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The goal of this study was to assess the effectiveness of seated combined extension-compression and transverse load (ECTL) traction as a new method for increasing a reduced lordosis of less than 30 degrees in a Malaysian population between the ages of 18 and 60 years. Possible changes in disc height were measured in accordance with the underlying theoretical framework, that suggests the anterior cervical structures would elongate due to creep over the fulcrum of the traction device.

Method: This was a single centre, randomised, blinded controlled clinical trial with parallel groups, used to test the superiority of the seated combined ECTL traction together with physiotherapy exercises when compared with the same physiotherapy exercises used as a control. Fifty randomly allocated subjects who completed the forty treatments over the fourteen weeks were analysed using non-parametric tests for changes in outcomes.

Results: There were no significant changes in outcomes for disc height changes seen in this study. The findings of a greater overall increase in posterior disc height changes compared with anterior disc height changes were in contrast with the proposed underlying theoretical framework for this type of ECTL traction. The greater height changes occurring in the control group were also unexpected.

Conclusion: The findings in this study of the contrasting changes in disc height of greater posterior than anterior height changes, question the underlying theoretical framework as postulated for this type of traction.

Keywords: extension compression and transverse load traction, cervical lordosis, disc height.

Citation: IeJSME 2016 10(3): 24-33

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56026/imu.10.3.24