Assessing the Availability and Application of E-Learning Resources in Schools of Midwifery in Anambra State

This study assessed the availability and application of e-learning resources in schools of midwifery in Anambra State. This descriptive survey design study was guided by two research questions. 88 midwife tutors in the five schools of Midwifery in Anambra State made-up the population. The sample is the same as the population as the population is of manageable size. Checklist was used to obtain data and the data were analyzed using frequencies and percentages. The validation of the instrument was done by three specialists. Cronbach alpha method was used to test the reliability and the alpha coefficients of 0.73 and 0.75 respectively were gotten for sections A and B. The findings revealed that few e-learning resources were available and utilized in schools of midwifery in Anambra State. The implications of the study were highlighted and it was recommended that government should organize seminars and workshops to train nurse tutors on the usage of e- resources to improve learning in nursing schools. Also suggestions for further studies were made.

Cultural Competence of Turkish Nurses and Nursing Students: An Integrative Literature Review

Introduction: Turkish population is characterized by its great cultural diversity, thus, Turkish nurses and nursing students often interact with patients of different cultural backgrounds from theirs. Cultural competence is needed to provide qualified contemporary nursing care. This study aimed to explore the literature on the cultural competence of Turkish nurses and nursing students. Methodology: The Whittemore and Knafl review methodology was used to extract, summarize, and synthesize data of 15 primary research articles published between January 2011 and January 2021. The search was done in the Turkish Academic Network and Information Center—ULAKBIM (PubMed, TRDizin, DergiPark). Results: Three themes were identified: cultural competence, cultural-related problems, and importance of training on transcultural nursing. Discussion: Appropriate educational courses on transcultural nursing should be implemented in Turkish nursing schools as well as in continuing education programs for Turkish nurses.

Non-academic factors influencing the development of empathy in undergraduate nursing students: a cross-sectional study

Background Empathy is described as a core competence of nursing. There is abundant research evidence supporting that empathy varies according to personal characteristics and targeted training. The aim of this study was to characterize non-academic factors (personal and environmental) influencing the development of empathy in undergraduate nursing studies who are not receiving a targeted training in empathetic abilities in their nursing schools. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed in the three nursing schools located in Cusco city, Peru (two private and one public). The Jefferson Scales of Empathy, Attitudes toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration, and Lifelong Learning, the Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults, and the Scale of Life Satisfaction, were applied as the main measures. Also, information regarding gender, nursing school, and age, were collected. After psychometric properties were assessed, all measures were used in the development of a multivariate regression model to characterize factors of influence in empathy. Results In a sample composed by 700 undergraduate nursing students (72 males and 628 females), a multivariate linear regression model was created. This model explained the 53% of variance of empathy and fitted all conditions necessary for inference estimations. Teamwork abilities, loneliness, age, sex, subjective well-being, and nursing school, appeared as factors influencing the development of empathy in patients’ care. Conclusions Findings have indicated that, in absence of a targeted training, individual characteristics and characteristics associated with social and family environments play an important role of influence in the development of empathy in nursing students. These findings are also in consonance with others previously reported in different cultural settings including high-, middle- and low-income countries.

Leadership behavior of deans as a determinant of faculty job satisfaction and job commitment

Background: Faculty job satisfaction and commitment contribute to the success of academic programs of a college. The main purpose of the study was to determine the relationship of leadership behavior of the deans of nursing colleges to the job satisfaction and job commitment of the faculty members.Methods: The study used a descriptive correlational design. Twenty deans and 100 faculty members from 20 nursing colleges in the National Capital Region, Philippines participated. Survey instruments used were the (1) modified Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire, (2) modified Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire, and (3) Job Commitment Questionnaire. Leadership behavior was measured based on the “initiating structure” and “consideration” dimensions.Results: Deans of nursing schools viewed their leadership behavior as “highly initiating” (M = 44.0, SD = 5.61) and “very highly considerate” (M = 50.1, SD = 4.99). Assessment of faculty members revealed congruent findings for the leadership dimensions of initiating structure (M = 46.6, SD = 3.83) and consideration (M = 49.9, SD = 2.66). Faculty members were generally “satisfied” (M = 4.20, SD = .25) and “committed” (M = 4.00, SD = .23) to their teaching job. Among the recently established colleges, the “initiating structure” dimension was highly positively correlated with job commitment of faculty members, r = .82, p < .05. There were no statistically significant relationships between the school classification, and the job satisfaction and job commitment of nursing faculty members.Conclusions: Measures must be instituted to improve the “initiating structure” behavior of deans of recently established nursing schools to increase job commitment of faculty members. Other factors associated with job satisfaction and job commitment should be explored.

“Agents of Change” in Maternal and Infant Care: Matronas, Parteras, and Public Health in Bolivia, 1950s–1970s

In the 1950s and 1960s young women could study to become obstetric midwives (matronas) at two Bolivian universities. After the 1952 Bolivian Revolution, public health officials saw matronas' work in mining areas and rural public health programs as part of the government's effort to assimilate Indigenous Bolivians into a mestizo national culture, by reforming Indigenous mothers and eliminating demand for Andean midwives (parteras). By the 1970s, a military dictatorship had replaced the revolutionary government, and nursing schools had replaced midwifery programs. The last cohort of matronas now found jobs in public health offering trainings to parteras. Based on oral histories of matronas and parteras, this article examines these women's personal experiences with midwifery and public health. It argues that matronas and parteras shaped public maternal and infant care programs and contributed to the persistence of multiple forms of childbirth assistance in Bolivia.

Accreditation of private midwifery and nursing schools in Mali: a local sustainable solution to increasing the supply of qualified health workers

Background The World Health Organization’s Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health (HRH) emphasizes the importance of dynamic and effective health worker regulation for achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals, with the establishment of education standards and quality assurance of education programs being critical. Governments in West Africa have struggled to address the problems within their higher education systems for health professionals, and it is now generally acknowledged that private institutions can play a crucial role in revitalizing the region’s outdated universities. However, the rapid expansion of private schools raises concerns about the quality of education and adequacy of regulatory mechanisms. The USAID-funded Mali HRH Strengthening Activity, led by IntraHealth International, assisted Mali’s Ministry of Health and Social Development to deliver targeted HRH interventions to improve the quality of education in private universities, better manage available health workers, and initiate a decentralized strategy for health worker recruitment and motivation. Case presentation In 2018, the HRH activity leveraged the West African Health Organization (WAHO)’s accreditation system to support 10 private nursing schools to introduce WAHO’s regionally accepted, competency-based curriculum in reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health. The project undertook a 10-step process to work alongside private nursing and midwifery schools to assess their current status against WAHO regional standards, implement action plans to address identified gaps, and support the institutions toward accreditation. As a result, eight schools in Mali are now accredited compared to only three at project inception. Conclusions This case study underscores the importance of private school accreditation in Mali to improve the quality of health worker training through a standardized local curriculum. By supporting existing regulatory bodies that oversee accreditation, local capacity for initial accreditation of private nursing schools has been increased. Engaging universities in a partnership that shows the benefits of accreditation while maintaining a focus on the need to protect communities is critical to success. If the global community is to meet the WHO’s predicted health worker shortfall, then private education providers will need to be part of the solution. Robust and engaging health worker education accreditation systems are an essential part of that future.

International Multicenter Study on Drug Consumption in Nursing Students

Background: The prevalence of illicit drug use among young people is high, with many being highly vulnerable to substance abuse. The nursing profession is not immune to the impacts of substance misuse. Knowing the current levels of consumption of illicit drugs in nursing students will allow for the introduction of preventive actions. Methods: Multi-center, descriptive, and cross-sectional study involving nursing schools from four different countries (Spain, Belgium, France, and Brazil). A total of seven centers participated. An adapted version of the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) was used as a tool, which selected only the module on illicit drugs. Standard logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: A total of 496 nursing students participated in the study. Illicit drug shows positive representation among nursing students. A significant difference was observed between the gender and the age of first drug use, illicit drug consumption, cannabis use, and cocaine use ever in life, with higher use of illicit drugs by male, although at later ages than girls. The bivariate analysis, gender, problems as result of drugs, and nationality were significantly associated with the consumption of illicit drugs, cannabis, cocaine, and ecstasy ever in life. Conclusions: High rates of illicit drug use were found among nursing students, as well as factors that can influence consumption such as nationality or gender. These results can serve as a basis for the development of educational and policy interventions within nursing schools that are based on evidence, with significant implications for nurse educators, academic administrators, and practice.

Teaching the Holocaust in Nursing Schools: The Perspective of the Victims and Survivors

In recent years, there has been increased recognition of the significance and relevance of Holocaust studies to nurses. However, these studies are rarely integrated in the nursing curriculum, and even when they are, the focus is usually on healthcare personnel who collaborated with the Nazi regime. This article aims to bridge this gap by analyzing a comprehensive requisite curriculum on the Holocaust for graduate nursing students. We emphasize the work of Jewish healthcare professionals during the Holocaust and the dilemmas they faced, as well as the trauma and resilience of Holocaust survivors, their treatment today, and implications for treating other patients. This article examines how studying these issues affected the graduate students. It analyzes the reflective accounts written by the students, using qualitative content analysis and Grounded Theory. The findings suggest that students received tools to act professionally and empathetically while demonstrating greater sensitivity to the patients’ identity, past experiences, trauma, and how the hospital as a “total institution” affects them. Many of the students developed conscious leadership. The program used a personalized pedagogical approach that contributed to experiential learning but was also emotionally challenging for the participants. We recommend including Holocaust studies as a requisite component in nursing programs worldwide.

The stakeholders’ perceptions of the requirements of implementing innovative educational approaches in nursing: a qualitative content analysis study

Background Improving the competencies of nurses requires improving educational methods through the use of novel methods in teaching and learning. We aim to explore the perceptions of stakeholders (including nursing education directors, faculty members and nursing students) of the requirements of implementing innovative educational approaches in nursing. Methods In this qualitative descriptive study, 19 participants, including educational directors, faculty members, and undergraduate and graduate nursing students, were selected through the purposeful sampling method. Achieving the theoretical saturation in extracted categories was considered as a criterion for determining the sample size and the completion of sampling. The data were collected from December 2019 to May 2020 in nursing schools of Tehran, Iran, through in-depth semi-structured individual face-to-face interviews and were then analyzed based on the Graneheim and Lundman method. Results Using qualitative content analysis, eight sub-themes and three themes were extracted. The extracted themes were ‘novel educational policymaking’, ‘Innovative education-oriented platform’, and ‘managing barriers of innovative educational approaches’. Conclusions Developing and implementing innovative educational approaches entail providing appropriate context, structure, and required facilities by the policymaking system and educational authorities. In addition, developing capacity and related competencies of faculty members and students as the major stakeholders in employing these approaches is crucial.