scholarly journals Assessment of Students' Attitude towards Learning Communication Skills: An Exploratory Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-45
Author(s):  
Rupam Tripathi ◽  
Navin Tripathi ◽  
Malati Tripathi ◽  
Rubina Shrestha ◽  
Dheeraj Kesari ◽  
...  

INTRODUCTION: Good communication skills can increase the health-care providers' diagnostic efficiency and decision making ability, as well as lead to improved patient satisfaction. The aim of this study is to determine the attitude associated with learning communication skills among dental and medical students. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A descriptive study was conducted among 231 students, studying in Universal College Of Medical Sciences (UCMS), College of Dental Surgery, Bhairahawa, Nepal using a standardized pro forma which consisted of questions on general information and of communication skills using validated  Communication Skills Attitude Scale. For statistical analysis, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test were applied. RESULTS: Students indicate high levels of positive attitudes and low levels of negative attitudes. Attitudinal scores differ insignificantly in relation to gender. CONCLUSION: Medical and dental students in our study show basically a positive approach. Further investigation is necessary to explore and understand attitudes towards communication skills of medical and dental undergraduates.

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirjana M. Kovac ◽  
N. Sirkovic

Good communication skills are of utmost importance in the education of engineering students to promote not only their education, but also to prepare them for the demanding and competitive job market. The purpose of this study was to compare the attitudes towards communication skills after formal instruction between the students of engineering studies in the first and sixth semesters. Data were collected using the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) which consisted of 14 items. The target population included 31 students of engineering studies who attended the communication skills course in the first semester, and 31 students of engineering studies who attended the same course just before completion of the undergraduate study programme. The results are in accordance with previous studies suggesting that senior and more mature students have higher positive attitudes compared to students at the beginning of their undergraduate studies. Although both groups had noticeable positive attitudes towards learning communication skills, negative attitudes should also be taken into consideration and attempt should be made to decrease or eliminate them.


Author(s):  
Jackie Street ◽  
Belinda Fabrianesi ◽  
Rebecca Bosward ◽  
Stacy Carter ◽  
Annette Braunack-Mayer

IntroductionLarge volumes of health data are generated through the interaction of individuals with hospitals, government agencies and health care providers. There is potential in the linkage and sharing of administrative data with private industry to support improved drug and device provision but data sharing is highly contentious. Objectives and ApproachWe conducted a scoping review of quantitative and qualitative studies examining public attitudes towards the sharing of health data, held by government, with private industry for research and development. We searched four data bases, PubMed, Scopus, Cinahl and Web of Science as well as Google Scholar and Google Advanced. The search was confined to English-only publications since January 2014 but was not geographically limited. We thematically coded included papers. ResultsWe screened 6788 articles. Thirty-six studies were included primarily from UK and North America. No Australian studies were identified. Across studies, willingness to share non-identified data was generally high with the participant’s own health provider (84-91%) and academic researchers (64-93%) but fell if the data was to be shared with private industry (14-53%). There was widespread misunderstanding of the benefits of sharing data for health research. Publics expressed concern about a range of issues including data security, misuse of data and use of data to generate profit. Conditions which would increase public confidence in sharing of data included: strict safeguards on data collection and use including secure storage, opt-in or opt-out consent mechanisms, and good communication through trusted agents. Conclusion / ImplicationsWe identified a research gap: Australian views on sharing government health data with private industry. The international experience suggests that public scepticism about data sharing with private industry will need to be addressed by good communication about public benefit of data sharing, a strong program of public engagement and information sharing conducted through trusted entities.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sangwani Salimu ◽  
Maggie Woo Kinshella ◽  
Marianne Vidler ◽  
Mwai Banda ◽  
Laura Newberry ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Severe respiratory distress is a leading cause of mortality among neonates in Malawi. Despite evidence on the safety, cost effectiveness and efficacy of bubble continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in managing the condition, its use in Malawian health facilities is limited and little is known about caregivers' engagement with perspectives of bubble CPAP. The purpose of this study was to explore caregiver perspectives for bubble CPAP at both central and district hospitals and key factors that enable effective caregiver engagement in Malawi. Methods This was a descriptive qualitative study employing secondary analysis of 46 health care worker in-depth interviews. We interviewed the health workers about their thoughts on caregiver perspectives regarding use of bubble CPAP. We implemented the study at a tertiary facility and three district hospitals in southern Malawi. This was a part of a larger study to understand barriers and facilitators to implementing neonatal innovations in resource-constrained hospitals. Interviews were thematically analysed in NVivo 12 software (QSR International, Melbourne, Australia). Health workers were purposively selected to include nurses, clinicians and district health management involved in the use of bubble CPAP.Results Emerging issues included caregiver fears around bubble CPAP equipment as potentially harmful to their new-borns and how inadequate information provided to caregivers exacerbated knowledge gaps and was associated with refusal of care. However, good communication between health care providers and caregivers was associated with acceptance of care. Caregivers’ decision-making was influenced by relatives and peer advocates were helpful in supporting caregivers and alleviating fears or misconceptions about bubble CPAP.Conclusions Since caregivers turn to relatives and peers for support, there is need to ensure that both relatives and peers are counselled on bubble CPAP for improved understanding and uptake. Health workers need to provide simplified, accurate, up-to-date information on the intervention as per caregivers’ level of understanding. Notably, contextualised comprehensible information will help alleviate caregivers’ fear and anxieties about bubble CPAP.


2020 ◽  
pp. 096973302095210
Author(s):  
Xinhong Zhu ◽  
Hui Hu ◽  
Zhenfang Xiong ◽  
Taoyun Zheng ◽  
Lin Li ◽  
...  

Background: Social media has become an integrated part of nursing profession, requiring nursing students to develop confidentiality and professional fitness to practice. The aim of this study was to investigate nursing students’ usage, professionalism and attitudes toward social media. Methods: A cross-section study was conducted online among undergraduate nursing students (n = 654). Questionnaires of self-directed learning, self-efficacy and usage and views toward social media were administered. Ethical considerations: Ethical approval was obtained from the Hubei University of Chinese Medicine. Results: All participants were social media users. QQ (93.2%) was the most frequently used. 74.5% respondents spent 2–6 h on social media daily. The majority held positive attitudes toward social media. Year group and gender had influence on perceptions and attitudes toward social media. Furthermore, 81.5% students believed that social media positively influenced self-directed learning. Self-directed learning and learning motivation acted as predictors of the attitudes toward social media. Meanwhile, 67.3% students had posted personal photos and videos online, and 82.4% of them did not have privacy setting on social media. In addition,13.8% students attacked others or posted improper photos online. 22.9% participants witnessed improper posts from schoolmates or teachers, such as complaints about schoolmates or teachers (22.2%), foul language (11.1%), violence (3.9%), sexually suggestive photos (2.6%) and patient confidentiality (0.7%). In all, 15.0% respondents accepted “friend request” from patients. A total of 58.2% students were not aware of professional standards of behavior online for health care providers. In addition, 52.3% participants insisted that it is essential to develop social media and professionalism course for nursing students. Conclusion: Nursing students use social media extensively. Some students are at risk of carrying out unprofessional behavior which have detrimental effects on students’ future opportunities. This suggests that best practices and training in nurse education should be implemented to help students to be informed of professionalism.


2020 ◽  
pp. 103985622097193
Author(s):  
Sarah E Gordon ◽  
Leah A Kininmonth ◽  
Giles Newton-Howes ◽  
Gordon L Purdie ◽  
Tracey Gardiner

Objective: To assess and compare attitudes of medical students in response to two service-user-led anti-stigma and discrimination education programmes. Method: Two programmes, consistent with the key elements of effective contact-based anti-stigma and discrimination education programmes for healthcare providers, were delivered to medical students in their penultimate and final year: a more intensive version of the programme in 2015/2016 and a briefer programme in 2016/2017. Attitudes were assessed using the Recovery Attitudes Questionnaire (RAQ) and the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC-20) at the beginning and end of their final year. Results: There were no significant differences between the years in initial scores on either scale. Both cohorts showed statistically significant reductions in scores on both scales after completion of the programme, indicating overall improvements in students’ attitudes with reductions in stigma, and more positive attitudes towards recovery of those in mental distress. The more intensive programme led to significantly greater improvement in reductions in stigma than the less intensive programme. Conclusion: Findings support the need for contact-based anti-stigma and discrimination education programmes for medical students that are both intensive and repeated over time.


1989 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT W. SANSON-FISHER ◽  
ELIZABETH M. CAMPBELL ◽  
SELINA REDMAN ◽  
DEBORAH J. HENNRIKUS

Research shows that a number of provider interactional skills are empirically related to patient adherence, making interaction skills a necessary and important part of clinical competence. These skills fall into three broad categories: techniques to elicit and modify patients' health and treatment beliefs, to aid recall of information, and to aid adherence. Specific skills in each category are discussed. Research further shows that health care providers can be taught effective communication skills, and that one of the most effective teaching techniques is audio or video feedback in which the provider's interaction with a patient is judged by tutor and peers using explicit, empirically based criteria.


Author(s):  
Mohamed Mekhemar ◽  
Jonas Conrad ◽  
Sameh Attia ◽  
Christof Dörfer

Oral health care providers are expected to show good examples of oral health behaviours and attitudes to their community. Previous studies displayed the constructive effect of dental education on oral hygiene manners of undergraduate students. The aim of this survey was to assess and compare aspects of oral health attitudes and behaviours between preclinical and clinical dental students in German universities. The German-language version of the HU-DBI was distributed to preclinical and clinical students from different German universities. Dichotomized (agree/disagree) responses to 20 HU-DBI items were provided in this study, with a maximum possible score of 19. A quantitative estimate of oral health attitudes and behaviours was provided by the total of appropriate answers given to every statement by each group. Data were analysed statistically. The overall mean score of answers favouring good oral hygiene was marginally higher in preclinical (14.62) than clinical students (14.31) but showed no statistical significance. Similarly, the analysis of each item individually displayed no statistically significant differences between preclinical and clinical participants, except in a single item of the survey. This study showed no effective differences in oral hygiene attitudes and behaviour between preclinical and clinical students in German universities. This reveals a weak effect of dental education on improving students’ oral health attitudes in Germany and might demand the introduction of more courses emphasizing the importance of correct oral health behaviour of health care providers.


2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berthollet Bwira Kaboru ◽  
Phillimon Ndubani ◽  
Torkel Falkenberg ◽  
Anastasia Pharris ◽  
Maureen Muchimba ◽  
...  

Collaboration between traditional and biomedically trained health workers is regarded as key in HIV/AIDS control. However, few studies have focused on exploring ways of enhancing this collaboration. Using a pre- and postintervention questionnaire, the authors assessed changes in attitudes to and practices of collaboration among 19 biomedical and 28 traditional health care providers following a 12-month dialogue-building intervention in Ndola, Zambia. The intervention consisted of peer group discussions, interactive group discussions, training sessions, and peer-influenced networking. The results show that although both groups of providers had fairly positive attitudes toward each other before the intervention, further improvements in attitudes were observed after the intervention. Referrals between the two sectors and cross visits increased. However, some attitudes to collaboration became more negative and cautious after the intervention. Dialogue-building interventions involving traditional and biomedical providers are not only feasible but also complex. Intersectoral collaboration needs time and coordination between all relevant actors in the community.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-48
Author(s):  
D. Ayim-Aboagye ◽  
T. Gordh

AbstractAimsWomen show higher frequency of most painful disorders. This is usually explained that endogenous pain modulation pathways, which affect incoming nociceptive signals, act differently in women and men, but psycho-social factors are likelytoinfluence as well. Ghanaian women suffer different disabilities that may lead to severe pain. The hard climatic conditions and the hard physical toil in work exert untold injuries. How do women in Ghana cope with painful disorders, and do they show certain behavioural pattern during diagnosis and treatments?MethodsThe study used in-depth interviews with health care providers to accomplish its aim. The “snowball effect” was added by which those interviewed aided us to find other prospective interviewee. In qualitative methodology, such an approach can be adopted to enable the researcher acquire relevant data with help from respondents.Practitioners were askedtoreflectontheir experiences from meeting women with severe pain as their patients. Seven practitioners, four female and three male, were interviewed.ResultsBy talking spontaneously about pain, women cope with painful disorders. This ensures easy diagnoses and treatments. The majority of women report their severe pain disabilities freely as against a smaller group who behave differently.The other group has explored other practitioners and have been unsuccessful. They are afraid to reveal their situations openly. Others test the skills of the practitioners whether they could perform efficient diagnoses. This strengthens patients’ faith and ability to be cured. In behavioural terms, inability to report severe pain stem from comorbid depressive symptoms (timidity-shyness, over-worried/confusion, distraction), lack of trust-expectant faith, thought of practitioner’s omniscient power, threat of practitioner’s knowledge (patient’s wrongs and evil thoughts), religious affiliation-constraints, etc. Women cope and show more positive attitudes than men; they expect practitioners to be in careful control.ConclusionsGhanaian women deal with their severe pains in meaningful manner by talking spontaneously about them. They show their willingness to be helped during diagnosis. Only few patients are not spontaneous, and are due to the condition of the mind and uncertainty with previous treatment encounters.


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