scholarly journals Knowledge of final year medicine, pharmacy, audiology and nursing students in South Africa on drug-induced ototoxicity: A pilot study

Author(s):  
Omphile Mogole ◽  
Natalie Schellack ◽  
Cara Hollander ◽  
Lebogang Ramma

Background: There is a high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis (TB), cancer and malaria in South Africa, and the drugs used to treat these conditions can be ototoxic. It is therefore important that healthcare professionals are able to identify and understand these drugs and their effects to ensure effective care of the patient.Objective: This study aimed to assess the knowledge regarding pharmacotherapy-induced ototoxicity amongst final year, medicine, pharmacy, audiology and nursing students across South African universities.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used, and data were collected via a self-administered online questionnaire. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to identify the participants at the universities which train audiologists, pharmacists, medical and nursing students.Results: An overall response rate of 41% (n = 720) was obtained. Sixty-four per cent (n = 461) of respondents were women (median age: 23 years). The majority of the respondents (95%) knew what pharmacotherapy-induced ototoxicity was, but a few (39%) knew the general signs and symptoms of ototoxicity. Furthermore, just less than half of the sample (48%) could identify the specific ototoxic medicines and the type of damage caused by this medication.Conclusion: To manage pharmacotherapy-induced ototoxicity effectively, a multidisciplinary healthcare team must have sufficient knowledge about ototoxicity. Therefore, efforts should be made to introduce extensively concepts of pharmacotherapy-induced ototoxicity into the undergraduate curricula of pharmacy, medical, nursing and audiology programmes.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julius Muchui Thambura ◽  
Jeanette G.E du Plessis ◽  
Cheryl M E McCrindle ◽  
Tanita Cronje

Abstract Introduction Anecdotal evidence suggests that medical professionals in trauma units are requesting additional regional images using conventional x-ray systems, even after trauma patients have undergone full-body Lodox scans. Patients are then exposed to additional radiation, additional waiting times and an increased medical bill. This study aimed at investigating the extent to which Lodox systems were used in trauma units (n=28) in South Africa. Method In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the researcher invited one radiographer from the 28 hospitals in South Africa that use Lodox systems. Radiographers who were most experienced in using the Lodox system completed an online questionnaire. Results Twenty (71.43% n=20) out of twenty-eight radiographers responded. Most hospitals (90%, n=18) were referring patients for additional conventional x-ray images. Radiographers indicated that conventional x-rays were requested for the chest (27.80%, 10/36), the abdomen (16.67%, 6/36), the spine (13.89%, 5/36) and the extremities and skull (19.44%, 7/36). Additionally, radiographers reported using Lodox to perform procedures and examinations usually performed on conventional x-ray systems when conventional x-ray systems were not operational. Conclusion Currently, it is not clear if the use of conventional x-ray imaging following Lodox is necessary, but the results suggest that the practice is commonplace, with healthcare workers in most hospitals (90%, n=18) requesting additional x-ray imaging. The researcher thus recommends that an imaging protocol for Lodox imaging systems should be developed to guide the referral of the patients for further imaging.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Flávia Ximenes Vasconcelos ◽  
Grazielle Roberta Freitas da Silva ◽  
Raylane Da Silva Machado ◽  
Odinéa Maria Amorim Batista ◽  
Benevina Maria Vilar Teixeira Nunes

im: To investigate the psychomotor and administrative abilities of nursing students of a higher education institution of Piauí, by means of frequency and self-reported confidence regarding the accomplishment of adult hospital care procedures. Method: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study, developed with nursing students, from April to May 2015, using an online questionnaire. Result: Procedures for drug administration and related to the integumentary system were the ones that were most carried out. Students were confident in performing few procedures. Discussion: The frequency of completion of the procedures is related to the opportunities offered by the university and the internship fields. The safety of the students is associated with the frequency of the procedures (p<0.00). Extracurricular activities complement academic experience and skills acquisition. Conclusion: The psychomotor and administrative skills presented by the students were insufficient to ensure that they feel safe in carrying out care procedures


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinta Antin Kumalasari ◽  
Sri Suparti ◽  
Kala Raani

Background: Early Clinical Exposure is a learning approach that integrates classroom learning with the clinical practice at the students' academic stage. Based on an interview with 3rd-semester Nursing Students, the results showed that they had low self-efficacy and readiness towards early clinical exposure. Objective: This study aims to evaluate self-efficacy and readiness towards early clinical exposure among nursing students of Universitas Muhammadiyah Purwokerto (UMP). The study design was a cross-sectional study involving 218 undergraduate students at a private Islamic university in their third semester. Methods: Data were collected using an online questionnaire of Google Form developed by the researcher, and the questions were valid and reliable based on a reliability test. The sampling method in this study was the total sampling technique. There were 50 questions of the item in the questionnaire and 6 items for demographic data. Result: The majority of pupils showed strong self-efficacy (98.2%) according to the findings of this study and moderate self-efficacy (1.8%). The majority of students presented high readiness (97.7%) and moderate readiness (2.3%). According to the correlation test results, a correlation (r = 0.545, p0.05) was found between self-efficacy and readiness for early clinical exposure. Conclusion: The higher the student's self-efficacy is, the more the readiness will be to face the practice of early clinical exposure.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-226
Author(s):  
Yeseul Jeong ◽  
Sang Youn Jang ◽  
Min Kyung Song ◽  
Da Jeong Kum ◽  
Sae Eun Park ◽  
...  

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate child abuse awareness and reporting intention among nursing and education students and correlations among the variables involved. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by administering an online questionnaire to 70 nursing college students and 70 education college students. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-squared test, the Mann-Whitney U test, and Pearson's correlation in SPSS 21.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY). Results: The mean score of child abuse awareness was $3.61{pm}0.32$ for nursing students and $3.60{pm}0.36$ for education students. The mean score of reporting intention was $5.65{pm}0.90$ for nursing students and $5.38{pm}1.03$ for education students. Females presented higher scores than males in the awareness of sexual abuse. The awareness of emotional abuse was higher in students who knew of reporting obligations or who had experienced abuse. Child abuse awareness and reporting intention were significantly positively correlated. Also, the number of times having received child abuse education was correlated with reporting intention in both mild and severe cases of abuse. Conclusion: Reporting intention is not only related to having received education, but also to the frequency of that education. Child abuse education is important to increase reporting intention and should be delivered repeatedly.


Author(s):  
Eman Elayeh ◽  
Amal Akour ◽  
Randa Haddadin

Background Lack of definitive cure for COVID-19 and the late introduction of a vaccine were responsible to push the general public to look for a remedy to treat or prevent COVID-19. The objective of this study was to evaluate patterns and factors that affect self-medication practices in Jordan during the pandemic. Methods This was a cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire that was developed, piloted and distributed to the general public via various social media platforms. The questionnaire assessed the type of drugs and treatments used to self -medicate, the reasons behind their self- medication, and the factors affecting their practices. Results A total of 1179 participants (females 46.4%) with a mean age of 32 (SD=12.5) completed the questionnaire. The overall prevalence of the use of at least one product to treat or prevent COVID-19 was 80.4 %. The most commonly used products to self-medicate were vitamin C (57.6%), followed by paracetamol (51.9%), zinc (44.8%) and vitamin D (32.5%). Female gender (odds ratio [OR]) = 1.603, working in the medical field (OR =1.697), and history of COVID-19 infection (OR =2.026) were variables associated with self-medication. The most common sources of participants’ information about drugs to prevent or treat COVID-19 were newspapers (n=519, 44.0%), followed by pharmacists (43.4%), friends (33.8%) and internet searching such as Google (30.7%). Conclusion This study identified the main drugs and supplements used during COVID-19 and the motives behind their use. It also identified the most influential source of information on the public during the pandemic. Self-medication can lead to worsening of the patient’s health and delay seeking medical advice from healthcare professionals. Efforts should be done to help mitigate risks of self-medications by active involvement of pharmacists and other members of healthcare team to refute false claims about drug, especially in the media.


Author(s):  
Annelize Kruger ◽  
Monique Strauss ◽  
M Marieta ◽  
Mariette Nel

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: Assessment of in-hand manipulation is fundamental to guide treatment for children with fine motor delays. Limited literature is available on how South African occupational therapists assess in-hand manipulation. This study aimed to describe which current in-hand manipulation assessment methods are used and what the preferences of occupational therapists in all areas of paediatric practices are regarding a suitable instrument METHODS: Quantitative cross-sectional study design with a non-probability purposive sampling method was used. Participants completed an EvaSys survey system online questionnaire RESULTS: Two-hundred-and-ninety-two (n=292) occupational therapists registered with the HPCSA participated. Limited familiarity (n=50; 17.1 %) with the formal assessment instruments described in literature was reported. The informal assessment methods most commonly used were subjective observation of tasks (n=287; 98.3%) of scholastic tasks (n=261; 89.4%) and play tasks (n=255; 87.3%) for children between the ages of five to six years (n=273; 93.5%). Preferences supported a descriptive instrument accompanied by a user manual that is administered under 15 minutes, in multiple languages, and with attention to the quality of movements and compensatory techniques used by the child CONCLUSION: Results showed that the current and preferred assessment methods used by occupational therapists might provide guidance for the future development of a contextual, relevant in-hand manipulation instrument for paediatric practices in South Africa Keywords: in-hand manipulation; assessment methods; paediatric practice


Vaccines ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Evridiki Patelarou ◽  
Petros Galanis ◽  
Enkeleint A. Mechili ◽  
Agathi Argyriadi ◽  
Alexandros Argyriadis ◽  
...  

Background: Levels of fear have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The absence of a safe and effective vaccine for mass-vaccination deteriorates this situation, which has a significant impact on mental health. This study aimed to assess the feelings of fear among nurses and nursing students in five European countries. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in five European countries (Greece, Albania, Cyprus, Spain, and Kosovo) before the start of mass vaccination in Europe. Data collection was conducted in December 2020–January 2021 using an online questionnaire for nursing students and professional nurses. Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) was used for measuring levels of fear. IBM SPSS version 21.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: The study population included 1135 nurses and 1920 nursing students from Kosovo (n = 1085), Spain (n = 663), Greece (n = 534), Albania (n = 529), and Cyprus (n = 244). According to multivariable analysis, females (OR = 2.53, 95% CI = 1.89–3.15), married (OR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.24–1.48), nurses (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.28–1.45) and those with a chronic disease (OR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.11–1.62) were more fearful of COVID-19. Conclusions: It is important to decrease fear in the population of nurses who are at the frontlines of the pandemic. The provision of appropriate education and training activities for nurses and students to manage their stress levels is of high importance. Future studies should focus on levels of fear after the administration of several safe and effective vaccines worldwide.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Isra K. Kharusha ◽  
Suha S. Sulaiman ◽  
Ahmad M. Samara ◽  
Samah W. Al-Jabi ◽  
Sa’ed H. Zyoud

Background. Snakebite is a serious and important medical emergency encountered in many parts of the world. The estimated number of victims of venomous snakebites in Palestine is about 100 to 150 annually, with death occurring in 2 to 3 of them. This study was designed to assess the level of knowledge on the diagnosis and management of snakebites among nursing students in Palestine, as well as their attitude towards snakebites. Methods. This was a cross-sectional survey that took place at An-Najah National University. Two hundred nursing students were asked to fill a questionnaire that was developed to assess the participants' knowledge and attitude regarding snakebite's diagnosis and management. Different knowledge scores were calculated, and the relationships between students' knowledge and their characteristics were calculated by implementing the Mann–Whitney U test and the Kruskal–Wallis test. The statistical significance limit of p values was set at 0.05. Results. The majority of the participants (57%) were fourth-year students with an average age of 20.7 ± 1. Areas of knowledge and the participants’ mean scores on them were as follows: Vipera palaestinae snake, 5.1/13; signs and symptoms, 9.6/16; laboratory investigations, 6.1/10; anti-venom, 4.2/11; and first aid, 6.6/15. The only statistically significant differences in knowledge were between male and female students on Vipera palaestinae (male students scored higher, p value = 0.004) and between different types of residence (village dwellers scored the highest, p value = 0.041). Conclusions. We found knowledge gaps in many aspects of snakebite’s diagnosis and management among nursing students in Palestine. Based on the results of this study, we suggest integrating more materials on this topic in the curriculum of Palestinian nursing schools, as well as more practical training, which will positively reflect on the care for snakebite victims.


2020 ◽  
pp. 154041532097011
Author(s):  
Kareen Berger ◽  
Rosina Cianelli ◽  
Jorge Valenzuela ◽  
Natalia Villegas ◽  
Carola Blazquez ◽  
...  

Nursing education includes a constant challenge regarding the competencies that nurses must possess to provide high-quality nursing care. One of these competencies is critical thinking (CT), and motivation for critical thinking (MCT) has been identified as an element necessary to develop CT. Expectancy and value are important components of the MCT. This study aimed to analyze sociodemographic and academic factors related to MCT in Chilean nursing students. This study is an analytical–correlational, cross-sectional study conducted with 478 nursing students in Chile. The data were collected using an online questionnaire. The Critical Thinking Motivation Scale was used to measure MCT. Pearson’s square, Chi-square, means comparison test, and binomial logistic regression were used to analyze the data. The expectancy component of the MCT had the lowest scores on the scale. Age was associated with the cost subcomponent ( p < .03), and high school was associated with the interest subcomponent ( p < .01). Academic factors contributing to MCT were problem-based learning, professor motivation, and the inclusion of MCT in nursing disciplinary subjects. Strategies that improve CT and MCT should be implemented and evaluated periodically from the beginning of a nursing career. Faculty should be trained to motivate students to think critically.


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