Additional Qualifications Research Articles

Why do we fail to fail Undergraduate Medical Students? A Perception of Ophthalmology Faculty

Objective of study: To evaluate the ophthalmology faculty perspective on why they fail to fail undergraduate medical students. Place and duration: Medical colleges and universities of both public and private sectors, duration was three (3) months Study design: It was a cross sectional survey. Non-probability conventional non interventional sample was used. The data was analyzed by SPSS-25. Methods: Total 134 university examiners for undergraduate medical students from ophthalmology faculty were identified from the websites of both private and public sector medical universities and colleges of the Punjab, Pakistan. The ophthalmology faculty members with more than five years of experience as a faculty were included in the study. An online survey questionnaire was sent out through Google forms. The faculty members were given reminder twice. The responses are analyzed with SPSS-25. Results: Out of 134 ophthalmology examiners, 98 (73.13%) examiners responded to the questionnaire. Among the respondents, only 80 faculty members, 58 (72.5%) males and 22 (27.5%) females, with teaching experience of more than five years, are included in the data analysis. Fifty-four (55.10%) participants declared teaching experience of more than ten years while 26 (26.53%) had experience between five to ten years. Twenty-seven (33.75%) respondents had additional qualification in the field of medical education like certification, diploma, or master’s degree (CHPE or MHPE). Fifty-five respondents (68.75%) opted that a few unmerited students passed fourth professional medical university exam. Further, 47 (58.75%) respondents also agreed that they were failed to fail a few ineligible and inefficient undergraduate 4th year medical student while marking a viva voce interactive session, a mandatory section in practical examination, as an internal or external examiner, whereas 33 (41.25%) respondents disagreed with this statement. The top five reasons behind failure to fail, as identified by the respondents were poor assessment methods (50%), lenient examiners (37.5%), commendation by colleagues or administration (22.5%), irrelevant syllabus (12.5%) and pressure from college administration (10%). Mixed opinion regarding the standards of medical education in Pakistan was emerged, according to 45% participants “it is improving”, while 55% had opinion “it is deteriorating”. The top four suggestions opted by the participants regarding improvement in medical students’ assessment to avoid fail to fail phenomena, were “teachers should be more experienced” (60%), “strictly following the criteria of 75% mandatory attendance set by university while sending students admission for university exam” (50%), “revision of admission criteria while selecting first year medical students” (25%) and “adoption of honest policy by administration while selecting students for admission in medical college” (10%). About 60 (75%) examiners felt the need to revise ophthalmology syllabus for under graduates. Conclusion: Being a medical teacher and an examiner is considered as an honour as well as a great responsibility because their students are going to be the future serving doctors, dealing with human life. An unsafe physician or surgeons is neither desirable for doctors’ community nor for the society. Examiners should be more trained, more experienced, and able to assess the failing student if he or she is inadequate, deficient, or not meeting the required standard without any bias. The formative assessment should be dependable, reliable, and rigid as compared to summative assessment and failing a student should be considered as providing them a second chance for their improvement rather than producing an inadequate or incompetent doctor. The standardized admission criteria and merit policies need to be followed. The ophthalmology syllabus should be revised as it needs to be more community oriented and precise. Key Word: Medical student, medical teacher, ophthalmology, examiner, fail.

Educational services and socio-economic status of internally displaced persons in Maiduguri, Nigeria: Implications for sociology of education

INTRODUCTION: The fundamental obligations of Colleges of Education is to breed fleet of teachers that are employed in primary and Junior Secondary Education levels to impart knowledge, moral and societal values for better change and stability, hence the need for institutions to have regular feedbacks from the adjoining societies so as to breed developmental policies and planning to ascertain development. PURPOSE: The study’s purpose was to survey the students’ experiences shortly after completing their NCE and to examine the impact of their academic training, social engagement and inter-personal relationship while they were at the College on their present professional conduct. METHOD: A multi-faceted methodological approach was engaged in this study. This made room for a wide range of data collection. Robust discourse questionnaires and interviews were employed. RESULTS: The results showed 35% of the graduates have gone for further studies, 58.2% still with NCE and 6.1% are currently pursuing additional qualification. Most of the alumni are fully engaged in teaching either at Primary or Secondary school levels for permanent and pensionable appointments and only a few are engaged by Parent Teacher Association (PTA). It also revealed that collection of statement of results after graduation was very difficult and that graduates’ relationship with staff and others was very pleasant. The training received from the college was also found to be impressive by most graduates. CONCLUSION: The study recommended that there should be room for quality in the teaching/learning environment and that lecturers should make maximum impact on the would-be teachers as they go through learning in the College.

Evaluation of the abilities of the staff to perform medical rescue procedures at the advanced level in the State Fire Service in Poland in connection with an update of the Principles of Medical Rescue Organisation in the National Emergency and Fire System

Introduction: Analysis of the medical education of State Fire Service (SFS) officers in terms of the possibility to perform medical emergency procedures at the advanced level in connection with an update of the Rules of Medical Rescue Organisation in National Emergency and Fire System (NEFS). Material and methods: An analysis was conducted of the nationwide staff-related data on the medical education of SFS officers, both in the day-based and shift-based system. The analysis also covered additional qualifications for the pursuit of the profession of a physician, nurse and medical emergency worker among the firefighters/medical emergency workers in Poland, satisfaction of the obligation of professional training and additional employment in healthcare facilities. Results: 2220 officers with medical education work in the organisational units of SFS. Nearly 40% of the officers with medical education in SFS additionally work in healthcare units and more than a half pursues the statutory professional training. To ensure one medical emergency worker per professional shift on the ready, every SFS EFU should have ca. 5.6 full-time positions for medical emergency workers — this is a coefficient including absences of leave, sickness absences and other variables. Therefore, the above calculations indicate that to ensure one medical emergency worker per professional shift in one SFS EFU (E ≈ 5.6), ca. 2817 officers with medical education should be employed. With the current staff level (SRM = 2220), ca. 597 officers should be employed to fill the demand (Mrt) if the advanced level is to be achieved Conclusions: The medical rescue in SFS as one of the disciplines of medicine requires continual development in terms of solutions for the system, equipment and first of all the staff. A higher number of medical emergency workers in SFS may have a positive effect on the quality of the medical procedures carried out during isolated emergency medical incidents. The organisational units of SFS in most voivodeships in Poland face a shortage of medical emergency workers on duty, which has a negative effect on the possibility to perform Medical Rescue Procedures at the advanced level.

Qualitative exploration of the experiences of community pharmacists delivering the Diabetes MedsCheck service.

What is known and objectiveThe Diabetes MedsCheck (DMC) pharmacist service improves patient medication use and provides education on diabetes self‐management. The original 2012 program evaluation identified barriers and facilitators in implementation. There are no recent studies exploring pharmacists' experiences with the DMC service. This pilot study may contribute to achieving an optimal diabetes management service in Australia. To explore the experiences of community pharmacists in providing the DMC service.MethodsA purposive sampling approach was used to recruit practising Australian community pharmacists from July to December 2019. Inclusion criteria included provision of DMC service for more than 1 year and having delivered the service within 3 months of recruitment. Semi‐structured interviews elicited pharmacists' experience with the DMC service.Results and discussionTwelve interviews of community pharmacist owners, managers and employees (including three who had additional medication review and diabetes qualifications), resulted in four primary themes: benefit of and need for training in diabetes management, challenges of service delivery and implementation, the challenge of patients' diabetes management and the positive effect of DMC on pharmacists' professional satisfaction from the positive impact on patient interactions and diabetes management. Pharmacists highlighted the need for continuous training on diabetes management and patient communication, and a dedicated time and space for service provision for optimal implementation and delivery of DMC. DMC helped to fulfil pharmacists' desires to provide health care. Pharmacists perceived through patient engagement and patient feedback that DMC benefits patient health care.What is new and conclusionPositively, the implementation of the DMC service has promoted engagement with other health professionals while also contributing to pharmacists' professional satisfaction. Patient satisfaction and awareness of the health knowledge that pharmacists provide promotes pharmacist capabilities to the public. To ensure that accessible diabetes care in community pharmacy is optimized for greatest patient care, pharmacists delivering DMC should be supported by provision of contemporary diabetes management training and communication skills. Additional investment in community pharmacy operational set‐up, such as dedicated pharmacist time, dedicated consulting space, upskilling of staff and investment in technology is also required to support optimal delivery of DMC.

Socio-Economic Consequences of Vietnamese Return Migration from Japan

This paper starts with building a theoretical framework related to the determinants of migration and the phenomenon of return migration. The dynamic process of development and global economic integration are considered the main driver of migration. Return migration is understood as eminent expertise abroad wherever the migrant accomplished the goals of gaining higher financial gain, upper level of education, new skills, foreign work experience, acquaintance with new values and attitudes. Then the article proceeds to reviewing migration links between Japan and Vietnam. Japan is the country that receives the most Vietnamese workers after Taiwan. Also, the number of Vietnamese studying in Japan has sharply risen recently, making Viet Nam the second largest exporter of students to Japan behind China. The results of a survey conducted by the authors revealed that return migrants from Japan have obtained additional degrees and qualifications abroad. In addition, there is a significant improvement in wages and income depending on their employment sector. The highest income group is people working for Japanese companies, followed by a group of those working for private companies and non-governmental organizations, the lowest increase in incomes is observed in the state sector. Furthermore, the returnees believe that their economic conditions have improved, as they have got a better salary and job position than before going abroad, so their lives become wealthier than before.

Qualifikationsbedarf für Pflegefachpersonen (mit erweiterten Kompetenzen) bei einer Aufgabenneuverteilung ärztlicher Tätigkeiten

BackgroundFor many years, the redistribution of tasks and thus a transfer of medical activities to nursing professionals with extended competencies has been discussed in Germany and is currently being regulated by the federal government. ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to record the opinions of GPs and nurses on the qualification requirements for possible delegable and substitutable medical activities to nurses using the example of outpatient dementia care. MethodIn the context of a quantitative survey, the qualification requirements for the delegation of 30 different activities to nurses were collected from primary care physicians and nurses. A total of 1,634 questionnaires was distributed. The response rate was 28.0 % (primary care physicians: n=225, and nursing specialists: n=232). The analyses were carried out descriptively using SPSS software (version 25, IBM Corp., 2017). Results45.1% of the respondents said they needed additional qualification prior to such a task transfer. This need primarily relates to further training (37.3%). Those seeking a university education (36.2%), will either pursue a Bachelor's (15.6%) or a Master's degree (20.6%) to obtain the necessary qualification. ConclusionThe results of this study can help define the activity profiles of academically qualified nursing professionals and inform the development of curricula for their university education. Furthermore, they will support the further development of the legal framework.

Tools for early screening of autism spectrum disorders in primary health care \u2013 a scoping review

BackgroundAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests itself in early childhood. Early diagnosis of these disorders allows for the initiation of early therapy, which is crucial for the child's further functioning in society.ObjectivesThis review aims to gather and present the existing ASD screening tools that can be used in primary care and adapted to different countries conditions linguistically and culturally.Eligibility criteriaWe searched for English-language publications on ASD screening tools for children aged 0–3 years suitable for use in primary care (i.e. free, requiring no additional training or qualifications).Sources of evidenceFour databases were explored to find English studies on ASD screening tools intended for the rapid assessment of children aged 0–3.Charting methodsThe information sought (specific features of the questionnaires relevant to primary health care workers, psychometric and diagnostic values of a given cultural adaptation of screening tools, and the linguistic and cultural changes made) were extracted and collected to create profiles of these tools.ResultsWe found 81 studies which met inclusion criteria and underwent full data extraction. Three additional data sources were included. These allowed to create 75 profiles of adaptations for 26 different screening tools and collect data on their psychometric values and characteristic features.ConclusionsThe results of our study indicate the availability of several diagnostic tools for early ASD screening in primary care setting concordant culturally and linguistically with a given population. They could be an effective method of accelerating the diagnostic process and starting personalized therapy faster. However, most tools have significant limitations – some are only available for research purposes, while others do not have scientific evidence to prove their effectiveness.

How Outpatient Psychotherapists Deal with Patients' Traumatic Experiences in Consideration of an Additional Qualification in Trauma Therapy

Investigation of the differences in dealing with traumatic experiences of patients between psychotherapists with and without further training in trauma therapy or partial qualification. Online survey of outpatient psychotherapists (N = 148) on possible obstacles in addressing traumatic experiences of patients and self-reported professional practice. Further training in trauma therapy is associated with a higher level of competence in professional practice and fewer obstacles in addressing traumatic experiences. A lower level of competence among psychotherapists without further training in trauma therapy speaks for the need for compulsory trainings. The expansion of low-threshold treatment offers for those affected by traumatic experiences and the dismantling of access barriers is urgently needed.

Medico-social Aspects of Dental Care for Geriatric Patients

Geriatric patients are a specific group because of their susceptibility to physiological, psychological, social, and health-related problems. Uncovering the modern character of a geriatric patient, the specifics of aging in a bio-psycho-social aspect, additional medical qualifications, and acquisition of competence bettering healthcare for these patients is necessary when taking into consideration the persisting tendency for demographic aging. The objective of this study is to outline the general medico-social aspects of dental care for geriatric patients. A comprehensive literature search was conducted, mainly using PubMed and Embase, which was limited to publications written in English over the past 10 years (2010–2020). Oral health is an essential topic in geriatric preventive medicine, with direct as well as indirect effects on the overall health and quality of life of the individual. Surveillance and improvement of the oral health of the elderly should be a key objective of the multidisciplinary team responsible for their care, including dentists, dental hygienists, geriatricians, and caregivers.

A Study to Identify Intrinsic Factors Influencing Job Motivation of Employees in the Hotel Industry in Malaysia: A Case Study on THKL, a Five-Star Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Employees are a fundamental component of service delivery in hotels. With the outbreak of the pandemic, it has led to significant staff turnovers in the hotel industry in Malaysia. The question is, how to manage and retain the existing talent in the industry, considering that regular travel will be back to normal post the pandemic. The purpose of this study is to identify the extent to which intrinsic factors influence job motivation of employees in the hotel industry in Malaysia, narrowing down to a case study on THKL, a five-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur where staff turnovers have also been a significant concern lately. To fulfil the purpose of the study, a conceptual framework was developed based on past models and theories of human motivation to derive four intrinsic factors that formed the basis of the four hypotheses that were tested via the conduct of a quantitative mode of research. A total of 99 employees of THKL successfully completed the quantitative questionnaires. To analyse the data collected, SmartPLS version 3.3.3 was employed. The findings revealed that having a sense of purpose at work is positively related to job motivation, for both the white-collar and blue-collar respondents. The need for competence was also positively related to job motivation amongst the blue-collar respondents. However, both autonomy and relatedness need were found to have a negative relationship with job motivation, both for the white-collar and blue-collar respondents. In conclusion, the hotel management can explore the possibility of enhancing their employees’ sense of purpose at work. The hotel can also provide additional educational qualifications to the blue-collar employees who are seeking to improve their competency. Additionally, the hotel leadership can work towards evolving the purpose of the organization for it to become a purpose driven organization.

Gap phenomena and controllability in free end-time problems with active state constraints

This paper is concerned with gap phenomena and controllability conditions for free end-time optimal control problems with endpoint and state constraints, in which the data are permitted to be measurable with respect to the time variable. In particular, we prove sufficient conditions to avoid a gap between the infimum of the original minimum problem and an extended problem, obtained by first enlarging the set of original controls and then convexifying the extended velocities set. These conditions, which also guarantee controllability of the original system to an extended solution, are given in terms of normality of multipliers for the Maximum Principle, involving an extended minimizer with possibly active state constraint at the endpoints. In the free time case, links between absence of a gap and normality have only recently been studied, for the relaxed problem without state constraints. This paper establishes such links for a more general extension admitting active state constraints. Furthermore, under additional constraint qualification conditions we improve the normality test for no gap, by considering nondegenerate multipliers only.

Assessment of Medical Students’ Perception Regarding Educational Environment at Different Phases of Medical Education in a Tertiary Centre Medical College using Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) Questionnaire

The educational environment in a medical school is a crucial component in a student's learning and is also important in the development of personality, behavior, and work ethics. The objective of the study was to assess the perception of the educational environment among medical students. An observational cross-sectional study conducted on second, fourth, sixth, eighth semesters and interns. Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) inventory was used as study tool which contains 50 items and is subdivided into five domain subscales: students’ perceptions of learning (SPoL); students’ perceptions of teachers (SPoT); students’ academic self-perception (SASP); students’ perceptions of the atmosphere (SPoA); and students' social self-perception (SSSP). Data were presented as Mean+/-SD and analyzed using descriptive statistics. A total of 449 undergraduates of age group 18 to 25 years participated, the majority were males (72.6%) and studied from private (82%) and English medium schools (75%) without any additional qualifications (99.6%). The mean total DREEM score±SD was 130.85±19.24 and there was a significant difference between males and females (p=0.029). The mean total subscale scores (SD) were: SPoL=33.37(5.89), SPoT=27.95(3.98), SASP=21.41(4.47), SPoA=30.15(5.78) and SSSP=17.97(3.20). The mean total DREEM score ± SD of the fourth semester (134.45±19.02) was highest and the eighth semester (125.71±21.55) was the lowest and there was a significant difference between scores of various semesters(p=0.016). On analyzing the total DREEM score, 61 students had scores in 'excellent', 363 in 'more positive than negative', and 25 in the 'plenty of problems’ category. The educational environment perceived by the medical undergraduates more positive than negative. The study findings would help modify the learning environment and curriculum.

Intravenous ketamine as an analgesia in prehospital adult trauma patients

Background: Prehospital traumatic pain is common, but the quality of pain management in these patients is poor. Current practice recommends morphine as the first-line analgesia in major trauma but this carries high risks and is often contraindicated. Alternative paramedic-administered analgesia does not provide adequate pain relief or may be contraindicated. As a result, many patients remain in pain. Analgesic ketamine is used safely and effectively in international civilian and military settings and by paramedics with additional training, education and qualifications. Aim: The study had two aims. Namely, these were to find out whether intravenous ketamine: provides effective relief of prehospital traumatic pain in adults; and is safe for prehospital administration by non-specialist paramedics. Method: Three databases, CINAHL, MEDLINE and AMED, were searched to identify articles published between 2009 and 2021. Exclusion criteria were applied and results subjected to critical appraisal and evaluation. Findings: Four studies were included in the review. Two themes were identified for thematic analysis: therapeutic effectiveness; and the safety of IV ketamine administration by paramedics. The evidence drew predominantly homogenous conclusions, but was substandard regarding external validity, which limited the quality of these conclusions. Conclusion: Ketamine provides effective pain relief in line with morphine and is safe for paramedics to administer. However, clear gaps in the evidence mean the research questions are not fully answered, so changes to current paramedic practice cannot be recommended.

Needs and requirements for an additional AI qualification during dual vocational training: Results from studies of apprentices and teachers

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in application-based contexts has created the need for skilled workers with AI knowledge and competencies. In order to meet this demand, it is necessary to integrate AI into vocational education and training (VET) in Germany, for example in the form of an additional AI qualification. Such an additional qualification in the field of AI in the VET system is innovative and comparatively new. Therefore, this article explores the views of both teachers and apprentices regarding the requirements for an additional AI qualification, - perspectives which have not been sufficiently researched, yet. Results from a mixed-methods needs analysis based on interviews with 12 vocational school teachers and a survey of 746 apprentices reveals the following key results. Both groups – teachers and apprentices – agree that the learning content of the qualification must primarily cover the basic theoretical concepts of AI. Teachers consider blended learning formats combining online learning with face-to-face instruction to be the most appropriate form for such a qualification. Ultimately, they consider an action-oriented and student-centered didactic design to be useful, whereas apprentices seem to prefer a teacher-centered additional AI qualification. Both the study's contributions and its limitations provide useful insights regarding the implementation of AI contents in VET. It is still a matter for further research to determine the necessary prerequisites for an AI qualification as well as its relevance and practical aspects; in this respect, the employers’ perspective could prove to be insightful.

Interdisciplinary Team – is there a Form of Cooperation in Medical Rehabilitation?

The work is an attempt to highlight the problem related to too weak or even insufficient communication in a team integrating healthcare professionals and drawing attention to this very important aspect of caring for the patient without competing for the grandmaster’s laurel. The definition of the term Interdisciplinary Team in the medical context is very simple. It is a group of people, specialists in various fields of medicine, dealing with solving a specific problem using the resources at the disposal of each member of such a Team. Polish realities in many cases are far from this concept, which, unfortunately, may result in worse therapy outcomes. Although each of the members of this team may think that his contribution is the most important, it is only the sum of all activities that translates into success, the effect of which is regaining the health lost by the patient, and this success is achieved by not one person but a multi-person team. Currently, it is not possible to provide a patient with only one specialist with the full range of medical services guaranteeing success. Treatment is a complex process involving diagnosticians (imaging diagnostics, laboratory diagnostics), a doctor, physiotherapist, psychologist, dietitian, nurse and many other specialists without whom it is difficult to imagine any treatment activities. The group should be led by a leader, but information on the patient’s health should be available to each member of the therapeutic team, and decisions should be made on the basis of joint arrangements, so that none of the team members “pulls in their way” but contributes to mutual success, what a healthy patient is. The work raises problems such as the lack of reliability of information, points to the unfavourable phenomenon of “generalization” of disease entities and the frequent dissonance in the selection of appropriate therapeutic measures. The article indicates only a few situations that cause inconsistencies in the patient’s rehabilitation process. The rights and scope of the work of a physiotherapist on the basis of current legal documents were emphasized, the possibilities of extending the qualifications of physiotherapists were highlighted and the opportunities that would be granted to physiotherapists after obtaining additional qualifications were emphasized as well.

Development of cooperation in vocational education

The article is devoted to the scientific and applied research of the practice of improving vocational education in higher education institutions in cooperation of participants in relations in the field of education. The methods of interdisciplinary analysis of literature and normative legal documents, the method of analysis of pedagogical experience, general scientific methods of systematization, generalization, comparison, classification were applied. New programs of higher professional education have been developed and are being implemented to prepare bachelors and masters in the field of Linguistics at the Department of Foreign Languages of Professional Communication of Vladimir State University in cooperation with partner organizations based on the provisions of domestic pedagogy of cooperation enshrined in modern legislation. The current professional competencies of bachelors of the direction 45.03.02 - Linguistics, developed in accordance with the labor functions of the professional standard 04.015 "Specialist in translation", are presented. Indicators of their achievement are structured according to the skill levels indicated by the professional community. Particular importance is attached to the relevance of designing individual educational routes of students. A route model is proposed, which is based on various forms of development of cooperation in the field of vocational education in higher education. The results of the study show the need to develop cooperation that takes into account the interests and needs of all subjects of educational activity. In the practice of the department, it is implemented through joint training of bachelors with employers, obtaining additional qualifications by them, continuing their studies in a master's degree with the prospect of pedagogical activity.

Интеграция деятельности библиотеки, вуза и профессиональных общественных организаций по подготовке библиотечных специалистов

It is proposed to integrate the activities of libraries, universities and public organizations, including the training of library specialists, as a mechanism for library advocacy on the example of the Tambov region. Qualification characteristics, requirements for library specialists training through the “binding” of hard skills and soft skills, ways of educational process redesign and academic disciplines are determined. Examples of integration of university, library and public organization are given. The ways of library personnel training system improvement, including obtaining an additional qualification “Information / Digital Curator” and developing social partnership, are proposed. The proposed mechanism contributes to library advocacy to protect the interests of libraries and increase library profession prestige.

Programme «The translator in the field of professional communication» as one of the types of further vocational training

Further vocational education is one of the priorities of Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. Nowadays professional retraining is of special interest for those who wish to get further vocational education. The article examines the relevance of the Translator in the Field of Professional Communication programme in the context of further vocational education at the present stage in a classical university setting. The authors describe the experience of implementing the above-mentioned programme at Nizhnevartovsk State University. The programme provides an opportunity for getting additional qualifications that allow for a combination of professional knowledge and translation competences in the area of professional interest. The authors emphasize the importance of the programme aimed at the university self-presentation at the regional level. The programme is designed for students with higher professional education and university students of non-linguistic specialties. The article sets out the legal basis on which the programme was developed, presents the main provisions of the program, the content and form of, the technology and teaching methods used, as well as the planned results of the programme. The article stresses that in accordance with the objectives of the programme and FSES 3++, students should develop universal, general professional and vocational competencies, which allow graduates to implement a new type of professional activity in the field of translation. The factors conditioned viability and demand for this professional retraining programme are pointed out. In conclusion the authors underline the students realization of a foreign language command pragmatic value while pursuing the programme.

Einflussgrößen auf die Arbeitszufriedenheit von Medizinischen Fachangestellten

IntroductionAgainst a background of falling staff levels, rising care needs and the expectation that health care assistants (HCAs) are to be more actively involved in the provision of health care in the future, job satisfaction plays an important role in motivating HCAs to pursue the profession over the long term. QuestionHow satisfied are HCAs with various aspects of their work and what socio-demographic factors have an influence on job satisfaction? MethodsThe data analysed was obtained from six different research projects (2011–2017). In all the projects, the job satisfaction of HCAs was surveyed using a standardised seven-step Warr-Cook-Wall questionnaire. The analysis of the 10 items was carried out both descriptively and using ordinal regression analysis to identify predictors. ResultsTotal of 2,371 HCAs were satisfied with their job situation (mean 5.2± 1.6), whereby satisfaction was lowest with regard to salary (mean 3.73± 1.9) and employee recognition (mean 4.76± 1.8). HCAs that had completed additional training to become specially qualified Health Care Assistants in the Family Practice (VERAH) or Non-physician Practice Assistants (NPA) (n=452) were more satisfied in their jobs in almost all respects, compared to health care assistants that had no additional qualification (n=1,676) (mean 5.67± 1.4 vs. 5.16± 1.5, p ˂ 0.00). Overall satisfaction was positively influenced by higher age, qualification as a VERAH/NPA, higher workload, and urban location of the practice. ConclusionMeasures to raise the attractiveness of the profession of HCA might include an increase in possibilities to undergo additional training, appropriate remuneration and adequate employee recognition. In this way, the largest occupational group in outpatient care could be provided with a satisfactory professional future.

Community Pharmacists' Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Pediatric Pain Management in Nigeria.

PurposeCommunity pharmacists (CPs) frequently attend to pediatric patients with pain but limited data exist regarding their knowledge of and attitude to effective management of pediatric pain in Nigeria. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of and attitude to pediatric pain management among CPs in Nigeria.Patients and MethodsA validated and pilot-tested questionnaire, the Community Pharmacists Survey on Pediatric Pain, was administered to 517 eligible participants at the 38th Annual National Conference of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria. Independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance were used for inferential statistical analyses.ResultsCPs with additional higher academic qualifications and clinically related additional academic degrees had significantly higher mean knowledge scores relative to first degree only holder counterpart (t= 4.33, p< 0.05, Eta2=0.05) and those without clinically related second degrees (t= 6.34, p< 0.05, Eta2=0.27). Pain knowledge among the study cohort also varied significantly by age group, years of practicing community pharmacy, ownership structure of premises, geographical location of practice and previous exposure to pain management training (F(4370)=2.858, p=0.025, Eta2=0.03; F(3371)=3.985, p=0.008, Eta2=0.03; F(2372)=3.643, p=0.027, Eta2=0.02; F(5369)=4.497, p=0.01, Eta2=0.06; F(2372)=3.587, p=0.029, Eta2=0.02), respectively.ConclusionCommunity pharmacists’ knowledge of and attitude to pediatric pain management in Nigeria appeared sub-optimal, and requires regular targeted educational intervention to fill the identified gaps, improve service delivery and patient outcomes.