Striving for Performance Excellence: Ten Years’ Experience & Impact of Accreditation on Quality, Safety, and Overall Performance in King Saud University Medical City (KSUMC) – A Mixed-Methods Study

BackgroundThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has undergone a healthcare system transformation to improve healthcare delivery and quality and central to this is the accreditation for healthcare facilities. Hospitals in KSA have relied on international accreditation bodies and are now shifting to national accreditation boards. The objective of this paper is to assess long-term effects of national and international accreditation through measuring staff perception after ten years of participation in multiple accreditation surveys.MethodsThis mixed-methods study was conducted at the King Saud University Medical City. The quantitative tool was adapted from previous studies and was made available in both English and Arabic. Respondents were asked to evaluate their involvement in accreditation and hospital readiness for another accreditation survey using 11 subscales. ANOVA was used to evaluate differences in mean scores based on level of participation in accreditation surveys. A qualitative interview tool was also used to elicit input from key stakeholders, senior leaders, and managers from the university hospitals. ResultsA total of 630 respondents completed the survey. The subscale on Patient Safety scored highest with an average and those measuring Accreditation Impact, Quality Impact and Quality Management closely followed. ANOVA results showed a significantly increasing mean score with increasing involvement of respondents in accreditation with highest scores observed for the first accreditation survey. Linear regression results showed increases in selected outcomes when with increasing subscale scores for patient satisfaction, management and leadership and others. Findings from the qualitative component showed that accreditation supported improved and sustained quality of care. Despite some differences and challenges in implementing both international and national accreditation standards, there were areas of complementarity which supported quality improvement. Respondents also noted improvements in patient outcomes as a result of participation in accreditation.ConclusionThis study is the first to examine the long-term impact of accreditation over an extended period in KSA. The long-term assessment of accreditation conducted in this study revealed that staff perception about performance was highest during the first cycle and consistently decreased with consequent surveys. The slight and incremental decrease in scale scores reveal that the benefits of accreditation were retained.

Digital Platforms in the Emergency Remote Education: the Students’ Preferences

One positive side of the Covid-19 pandemic is the unprecedented opportunity it has offered to the Higher Education Institutions to experience digital learning like never before. During the pandemic, Distant Learning platforms, including Learning Management Systems and Video Conferencing Platforms, have been ubiquitous, and no single institution survived without them during the pandemic. Hence, one of the critical lessons that should be learned is the students’ experiences with these platforms. This study aims to investigate the digital platform preferences of English major students in the College of Language and Translation at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia during the Emergency Remote Education due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Its significance lies in the fact that it underscores and addresses students’ needs and preferences with regard to the digital platforms to be used for language learning, a pragmatic examination of which has been carried out in the following pages. It focuses on reasons for the preferences of the two leading digital platforms used in King Saud University: Blackboard and Zoom. A Survey with open-ended and closed-ended questions was designed to answer the questions of the study: which digital platforms do students prefer to use during Emergency Remote Education, and what were the reasons behind students’ preferences? A total of 300 students from both male and female campuses at different levels of study participated in the study. The results showed that students preferred the Zoom to Blackboard. Reasons of preferences were mainly the ease of use, followed by supporting smartphones, then having an app for smartphones. The thematic analysis of the open-ended question showed that technical problems and connection latency were the main reasons behind students’ preferences of the Zoom. The findings also indicated gender differences in reasons of preferences.

Knowledge and attitude of dental students in treating patients on antiplatelet and/ or anticoagulant medications

Background: Antiplatelet and anticoagulant medications are widely prescribed for the prevention of thromboembolic events. Dental management of patients taking such medications can be troublesome because of the possibility of excessive bleeding during surgical procedures. On the other hand, stopping these medications will increase the risk of thromboembolic complications. This study aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge and attitude of dental students and internship trainees at King Saud university in treating patients on antiplatelet and/or anticoagulant medications.Methods: A 17-question survey was distributed among dental students in third, fourth, and fifth (seniors) academic year levels, as well as internship trainees. The survey included questions aiming to evaluate participants’ knowledge in treating patients on antiplatelet and/or anticoagulant medications. A total of 281 surveys were returned complete.Results: In our study, most participants were aware of aspirin (86.1%) and warfarin (92.2%) but only a few were aware of newer medications like rivaroxaban (10.7%) or apixaban (8.2%). The majority of participants would consult with the patient’s physician (76.9%) before stopping any medications and/or would rely on local hemostatic techniques to control bleeding (70.8%).Conclusions: In this study, we concluded that only a small percentage of participants were aware of and following the latest guidelines. The findings of the present study suggest a need for educational programs and workshops regarding this topic.

Designing a digital video based on storytelling in an e-learning environment and its effect on developing mental motivation and academic achievement among students at College of Education, King Saud University.

This research aimed to developing mental motivation and academic achievement among students at College of Education, King Saud University, through design a digital video based on storytelling in an e-learning environment. To achieve this goal, a sample of (62) students from College of Education at King Saud University was selected. The researcher divided them into experimental group of (30) students, who studied by using digital videos which designed based on storytelling in an e-learning environment, and control group of (32) students, who studied by traditional method, both groups were enrolling in the course of “Integrating Technology in Education”. The mental motivation measurement and academic achievement test were used as well as T-test for analyzing the research data. This research found the effectiveness of using digital video in an e-learning environment based on storytelling in developing mental motivation and academic achievement among students at College of Education, King Saud University.

Perception of E-Resources on the Learning Process among Students in the College of Health Sciences in King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, during the (COVID-19) Outbreak

Aim: to assess the impact of e-learning through different e-resources among health sciences students. Methodology: A cross-sectional design was conducted among health science students (n = 211; 134 female and 77 male) at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. The data was collected using a previously used structured questionnaire to assess the impact of e-resources on learning. Results: The four most frequently used e-resources were: Zoom (38%), YouTube (31%), Google applications (29%), and Blackboard (27%). More than one-third of the students (35%) reportedly used e-resources for three or more hours daily. The majority of the students (55.9%) recognized a gender-related and age-related difference among faculty members in terms of e-resources usage. The majority of the students (58.2%) believe that online resources recommended by faculty members were credible. The majority of students believed that their academic performance was primarily influenced by these features of the e-resources: organization/logic of the content (64.5%), the credibility of the video (64.5%), and up to date “look and feel” of the video (60.6%). The study identified the most frequently used e-resources, gender, and age-related differences in faculty members’ use of e-resources, students’ overwhelming reliance on faculty feedback regarding the credibility of e-resources, and three most important characteristics (organization, credibility, and updated status) of e-resources. Conclusion: e-learning resources had a significant impact on participating students’ education as they were used very frequently during their health sciences’ courses.

Digital Platforms in the Emergency Remote Education: the Students’ Preferences

One positive side of the Covid-19 pandemic is the unprecedented opportunity it has offered to the Higher Education Institutions to experience digital learning like never before. During the pandemic, Distant Learning platforms, including Learning Management Systems and Video Conferencing Platforms, have been ubiquitous, and no single institution survived without them during the pandemic. Hence, one of the critical lessons that should be learned is the students’ experiences with these platforms. This study aims to investigate the digital platform preferences of English major students in the College of Language and Translation at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia during the Emergency Remote Education due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Its significance lies in the fact that it underscores and addresses students’ needs and preferences with regard to the digital platforms to be used for language learning, a pragmatic examination of which has been carried out in the following pages. It focuses on reasons for the preferences of the two leading digital platforms used in King Saud University: Blackboard and Zoom. A Survey with open-ended and closed-ended questions was designed to answer the questions of the study: which digital platforms do students prefer to use during Emergency Remote Education, and what were the reasons behind students’ preferences? A total of 300 students from both male and female campuses at different levels of study participated in the study. The results showed that students preferred the Zoom to Blackboard. Reasons of preferences were mainly the ease of use, followed by supporting smartphones, then having an app for smartphones. The thematic analysis of the open-ended question showed that technical problems and connection latency were the main reasons behind students’ preferences of the Zoom. The findings also indicated gender differences in reasons of preferences.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Coronavirus Research in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries

COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by World Health Organization in March 2020. Since then, it has attracted the enormous attention of researchers from around the world. The world has gone through previous instances of corona-viruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome. Nevertheless, none was of these were of this serious nature as COVID-19. In this research, we carry out a bibliometric analysis of coronavirus research using the Scopus database. However, we restricted ourselves to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The analysis was performed using Biblioshiny software. We analyzed 4288 articles written by 24226 researchers from 1994 till 2021, published in 1429 sources. The number of authors per publication is 5.65. A bulk of the research (more than 68%) appeared in the form of articles. More than 43% of the publications appeared in 2020 and more than 44% in 2021. Saudi Arabia appears the most-cited country, followed by Qatar. Journal of Infection and Public Health published the most number of papers, whereas New England Journal of Medicine is the most-cited one. Memish, Z.A. wrote the maximum number of papers. The top source, according to the H-index, is the Journal of Virology. Furthermore, the two most prolific universities are King Saud University and King Abdulaziz University, both from Saudi Arabia. The research uncovered deep learning as a niche theme used in recent publications. The research landscape continues to alter as the pandemic keeps on evolving.

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Factors Influencing the Selection Student of Generic Medicine

Background: Generic replacements for branded medicines have become a typical practice among registered pharmacists all over the world. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine the influence of the knowledge and attitudes of PharmD students and other factors on the selection of unbranded medicines.Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted through Google Forms to collect data using self-reported questionnaires. The data was collected over a period of 3 months, from January to March 2021, among junior level pharmacy students who are currently undertaking a PharmD course at the King Saud University, College of Pharmacy, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Results: The mean age of the students was 21.05± (SD = 1.03), majority of students 70.2% (n = 134) were able to define the term generic medicine, and about 65% (n = 123) were able to correctly define bioequivalence. More than half of the students, 56.5% (n = 108) lacked knowledge about the pharmacokinetic parameters of generic products. Meanwhile, the majority, 85% (n = 122), supported generics over branded medicines, and about 66% (n = 99) agreed that wider use of generic medicines would lead to less money required for the research and development of new pharmaceuticals.Conclusion: Findings revealed that most pharmacy students possess sufficient knowledge of generic medicines, although knowledge in some aspects remains lacking.

Investigating Teachers' Views on writing Errors Made by Saudi University Students

This study aimed to investigate the most frequent errors made by Saudi university students in writing. The study adopted the descriptive-analytic research method. The data of the study was collected from a questionnaire distributed to a sample of 100 English language teachers at Jazan University, King Saud University, and King Khalid University. The above-mentioned tool satisfied the criteria of validity and reliability. The findings revealed the low abilities of the students in understanding and using syntactical rules properly which was reflected in the enormous number of grammatical errors made by the respondents in the test. Wrong tense errors, prepositions, articles errors were found to be the most frequent ones. The findings also revealed that negative transfer from the mother tongue language is one of the major causes of most of the syntactical errors made by the students in the written text. In light of the study findings, several recommendations were suggested by the researcher that could lead to reducing errors made by students in writing and improve students’ writing abilities.