Providing Nutrition Care to Patients with Chronic Disease: An Irish Teaching Hospital Healthcare Professional Study

An increasing prevalence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and chronic illness is putting an ever increasing burden on healthcare services and delivery worldwide. Diet contributes significantly to the development of NCDs. Nutrition should therefore be viewed as an important aspect of patient care and be addressed by all healthcare professionals (HCPs). Previous work has highlighted a lack of competency around providing nutrition advice in HCPs; however, positive attitudes towards the importance of nutrition care are well documented in this group. The aim of this study is to document and compare Irish HCPs self-perceived competency towards incorporating nutrition care into practice. The NUTCOMP questionnaire was completed by 206 HCPs in Sligo University Hospital. The findings showed positive attitudes towards the incorporation of nutrition care into HCP practice; however, confidence in knowledge and skills was low, thus missing vital opportunities to prevent and/or treat chronic diseases and improve outcomes in acute illness. Previous nutrition education was associated with greater self-perceived knowledge about and skills in providing nutrition care to patients and positively associated with attitudes towards incorporating nutrition care into practice. HCPs expressed a desire and unmet need for additional and ongoing educational intervention in the area of nutritional intervention.

Applying ADDIE Model to Ideate Precision Medicine in a Polytechnic Biomedical Science Programme

As a biomedical science programme at polytechnic aims to provide a sound foundation in the biological sciences, the onus is on the curriculum developer to see that the relevance and currency of the programme content are justifiably challenging and work-ready. In other words, the programme needs to prepare its students adequately well for the intended industry. Since the inception of Human Genome Project, the molecular paradigm has been evolving. A biomedical science student who is oblivious to the emerging trend in molecular techniques is very likely to be hearkened back to the yesteryears of technology and bewildered as precision medicine is becoming increasingly important. Using the ADDIE model as the instructional design model, this paper describes the roadmap for creating a molecular techniques module within a diploma programme that percolates with the concept of precision medicine.

The Educational and Clinical Benefits of a “Consultant-Speciality Trainee” ENT Shared Clinic

Introduction and Aims. The European Working Time Regulations (EWTR) of 48-hour working week limit have raised concerns regarding the quality of medical training for junior doctors. Our study has looked to improve junior doctors training without impairing patients’ care with the introduction of one-to-one “consultant with specialty trainee” doctor teaching in the outpatient clinic setting. Methodology. In this study, an ENT specialty trainee conducted a 3-month block of solo clinics seeing new patients. After that, the same specialty trainee shared the clinic with an ENT consultant for 3 months and subsequently the same trainee reconducted solo clinics. Outcomes of the specialty trainee performance were measured clinically by completed patient episodes (CPE) (i.e., patient discharged from clinic or placed on surgical operation waiting list) and ongoing patient episodes (OPE) (i.e., patient given follow-up appointment to ENT clinic) and educationally by workplace based assessments (WBA) completed in the trainee’s e-portfolio. Results. 271 patients were recruited in this research: 24% being in the preintervention group, 47% during the intervention, and 29% in the postintervention. The intervention of one-to-one outpatient clinic teaching increased the specialty trainees CPE rate (60% to 67.5%, p>0.1) and reduced their OPE rate (40% to 32.5%, p=0.001). Educationally these trainees completed with the consultant statistically significant WBA (17 assessments) during the one-to-one clinics compared to solo clinics (2.3 on average). Discussion and Conclusion. In this study, a positive trend in the clinical outcomes was obtained in terms of CPE, while a statistically significant reduction of the total OPE was achieved giving an indicator to consider this concept for further research in terms of patient’s clinical outcomes. Nevertheless, it showed a new way of supporting the trainee’s education supported by more WBA being filled.

Dental Student Skills in Matching Radiographs for Forensic Identification and in Forensic Knowledge

Purpose and Objectives. Dental and dental hygiene curricula must meet the core competencies established by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation. As a result, there is limited time to expose students to the research and knowledge associated with additional important topics, such as dental forensics. The purpose of this research is to assess dental forensic knowledge and dental forensic radiographic skills of dental students. Methods. Ten radiographs of extracted permanent maxillary molars were exposed. One of the teeth was heat-altered to 600°F (315.6°C) for 15 minutes and then was radiographed. The 11 radiographs were presented to 152 dental students who were asked to match the radiograph of the heat-altered tooth to the original radiograph of that tooth. Students were also asked to respond to a 10-question survey about dental forensic knowledge. Results. Most (92.1%) students matched the heat-altered tooth’s radiograph with the original radiograph. Five survey questions had at least 70% of the respondents with correct responses. There were no statistically significant differences by dental class status or sex. Conclusion. Although dental students were competent in matching radiographs, there remains a need for more knowledge about dental forensics.

Young Scientists Need Emotional Support and a Framework When Drafting Scientific Articles

Introduction. When teaching young scientists to write scientific articles, it is important to consider several aspects of learning including intrinsic motivation, since the scientific work can be demanding in a different way than routine clinical work. The aim of this study was to investigate young scientists’ experience of the process of writing research articles with focus on motivating factors and the feeling of success, in order to improve the process. Methods. This was a qualitative study using focus groups to explore young scientists’ feelings and motivations regarding the process of writing scientific articles. Participants were young scientists including young medical doctors and medical students spending dedicated time on research. Content analysis was used to analyze the focus group interviews. Results. Sixteen informants participated in the study in three groups. Two major themes were identified: emotional support and setting and framework. Emotional support covered three subthemes: support from peers and supervisors, appearances, and motivation. The setting and framework theme covered four subthemes: deadlines, retreats, consciousness, and expectations. Conclusion. We found emotional support, frame-setting, and the avoidance of failures to be important factors for the feeling of success when young scientists are in the process of learning how to write scientific articles.

Nutritional Counseling for Hypertensive Patients: Have Final-Year Nursing Students Learnt Enough to Be Able to Offer Advice to Such Patients?

Background. Although nutrition education for the prevention and management of hypertension is the responsibility of registered dieticians and nutritionist, nurses also play this role particularly because there are few registered dieticians. This study was conducted to assess final-year nursing students’ level of knowledge regarding the nutritional prevention and management of hypertension. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess their knowledge regarding the dietary management of hypertension. A total of 220 students completed a 21-item nutritional prevention and management of hypertension knowledge test. Results. Students’ knowledge about potential modifiable risk factors of hypertension such as excessive salt and alcohol intake was good. Less than half (44.5%) indicated that they will recommend an increased intake of potassium food sources to hypertensive patients. However, 70.5% incorrectly indicated that they will advise hypertensive patients to always read nutritional information on food items in order to avoid excessive intake of potassium in their diet. Conclusion. The results of this study indicate that there are some deficits in nursing students’ nutritional knowledge for managing hypertension. The findings suggest an urgent need to revise the nursing training curriculum in order to include practical information that can be applied by nursing students, after graduation.

An Evaluation of Formative “In-Class” versus “E-Learning” Activities to Benefit Student Learning Outcomes in Biomedical Sciences

In conventional teaching, curriculum design that incorporates formative activities with prompt feedback is proven to have a positive effect on learning outcomes. Nevertheless, there is limited evidence that activities involving e-learning also have this positive effect and this is particularly the case within the discipline of hematopathology. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of e-learning formative activities in hematopathology and to assess if, by using this resource, learning is enhanced. To address the research question, an e-learning module for anemia was developed to determine if it significantly increased knowledge, expressed by improved grades. Seventy-three students from health science programs that were enrolled in first-year hematology participated in the study. Students were encouraged to participate in two formative activities: one held in class and the other developed online as an e-learning module. Results showed a statistically significant increase in mean summative assessment score (P=0.03) and final grade (P=0.02) for students who completed the formative e-learning module. Interactive e-learning modules not only assist with engagement but also significantly improve grade outcomes. From this study, e-learning resources are an option for all educators but, in particular, those who have reduced face-to-face contact hours to teach the basic sciences.

Nutrition Practice and Knowledge of First-Year Medical Students

Objectives. To compare the knowledge of Australian dietary recommendations to the dietary practices of first-year medical students. Design. Over a period of four years, anonymous online surveys were completed by medical students attending a first-year nutrition lecture. Background. There is little information on the nutritional knowledge and dietary practices of medical students. Setting. First-year postgraduate university medical students, Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Participants. Between the years 2012 and 2016, 32%–61% of first-year students completed the survey. Phenomenon of Interest. Student’s knowledge of dietary guidelines and related practices. Analysis. The frequency of response was assessed across the different year cohorts using descriptive statistics. Results. Between 59% and 93% of first-year students correctly identified the recommended daily servings for fruit, and between 61% and 84% knew the vegetable recommendations. In contrast only 40%–46% met the guidelines for fruit and 12%–19% met the guidelines for vegetables. Conclusions and Implications. Discrepancies between students’ nutrition knowledge and behavior can provide learning opportunities. With low rates of fruit and vegetable consumption in medical students, increased awareness of links between nutrition and health, together with encouragement to make behavioral changes, may increase the skills of graduates to support patients in improving dietary intake.

Stimulated Hyposalivary Flow Rates in Healthcare Students in an Interprofessional Awareness Educational Program Curriculum

Purpose. Hyposalivation influences quality of life and medication compliance. However, oral health knowledge (in general) and knowledge about hyposalivation (in particular) are often lacking in nondental healthcare professional’s curricula. Additionally, hyposalivation has not been adequately studied in young adults. The purpose for this study is twofold: to use an interprofessional educational curriculum to increase nondental healthcare students’ knowledge about oral health and salivary testing and determine whether hyposalivation is different between sexes in young adults. Method. First-year medical and pharmacy students (N=178) learned the process of saliva collection and provided samples in an interprofessional program. Results. There were 14.4% of participants with hyposalivation; 72.0% were female. Males had higher flow rates (P=0.005). There failed to be a significant difference between the sexes with frank hyposalivation. There failed to be a significant difference in hyposalivation and medication use/nonuse. Conclusions. Hyposalivation is a biomedical, public health concern. However, in this young population, there was no significant difference between sexes or in medication use/nonuse. Through participation in the program, the students learned about salivary flow rates and the need for collaboration among professionals to prevent negative impacts of hyposalivation and oral health.

Nutrition Education in Australian Midwifery Programmes: A Mixed-Methods Study

Little research has explored how nutrition content in midwifery education prepares midwives to provide prenatal nutrition advice. This study examined the nature and extent of nutrition education provided in Australian midwifery programmes. A mixed-methods approach was used, incorporating an online survey and telephone interviews. The survey analysis included 23 course coordinators representing 24 of 50 accredited midwifery programmes in 2012. Overall, the coordinators considered nutrition in midwifery curricula and the midwife’s role as important. All programmes included nutrition content; however, eleven had only 5 to <10 hours allocated to nutrition, while two had a designated unit. Various topics were covered. Dietitians/other nutrition experts were rarely involved in teaching or reviewing the nutrition content. Interviews with seven coordinators revealed that nutrition education tended to be problem-oriented and at times based on various assumptions. Nutrition content was not informed by professional or theoretical models. The development of nutrition assessment skills or practical training for midwifery students in providing nutrition advice was lacking. As nutrition is essential for maternal and foetal health, nutrition education in midwifery programmes needs to be reviewed and minimum requirements should be included to improve midwives’ effectiveness in this area. This may require collaboration between nutrition experts and midwifery bodies.