Attending Training Courses Research Articles

Importance of Staff Training in a Libyan Oil Organisation, with Special Reference to the Libyan National Oil Corporation

The study examines the effectiveness of in-service staff training with special emphasis on staff of the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC). The study adopts quantitative approach for the collection of data, using a questionnaire. A methodical review of the literature relevant to staff training has been carried out, analysed and discussed. The aim of the present study was to: “evaluate the effectiveness of training of staff at National Oil Corporation (NOC), Libya.” The objectives were to: examine current training programmes and to assess their values to trainee staff and to know whether staff need to update their technical skills, or learn new methods of undertaking their tasks, identify reasons motivating staff to attend training courses, identify whether training courses are relevant to the needs and requirements of trainee staff, identify whether training is based on the goals, objectives, or plans of the organisation, or whether they are general in nature, and to check whether performance has improved, and identify whether training has helped libyanise semi-skilled and skilled staff within the Corporation by the provision of effective training programmes.

The assessment of environmental health status in the route of Arbaeen pilgrims at Shalamcheh border in southwestern Iran

The negligence of health regulations in the preparation of the foods, services, and sanitary and welfare facilities provided in religious borders could increase the risk of waterborne infectious intestinal diseases. Therefore, the continuous monitoring and control of health indicators is essential in mourning borders. This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on the Mawkebs of Shalamcheh border (n=267). In total, 186 samples were evaluated in terms of the microbial quality of water, and 66 samples were evaluated in terms of the microbial quality of food. The studied parameters in drinking water included the residual free chlorine, pH, turbidity, total coliform, and fecal coliform, and the studied parameters in foodstuffs included the total count and fecal coliform (Escherichia coli). According to the findings, these indicators were appropriate in terms of accommodation hygiene and preparation and distribution of crew hygiene by 99.9%. On the other hand, there were zero cases where the food sampling results were undesirable for the measurement of the total count and fecal coliform. The number of the contaminated water samples was 46 (24.7%) out of 186 water samples. Therefore, the proper implementation and continuous control of health instructions seem critical for these borders, and it is suggested that special regulations and indicators be enacted for the crew in charge, so that they would attend training courses, obtain medical examination cards, and practice personal hygiene.

Attending Training Courses on Barrett\u2019s Esophagus Improves Adherence to Guidelines: A Survey from the Italian Society of Digestive Endoscopy

BackgroundLittle is known on practice patterns of endoscopists for the management of Barrett’s esophagus (BE) over the last decade.AimsOur aim was to assess practice patterns of endoscopists for the diagnosis, surveillance and treatment of BE.MethodsAll members of the Italian Society of Digestive Endoscopy (SIED) were invited to participate to a questionnaire-based survey. The questionnaire included questions on demographic and professional characteristics, and on diagnosis and management strategies for BE.ResultsOf the 883 SIED members, 259 (31.1%) completed the questionnaire. Of these, 73% were males, 42.9% had > 50 years of age and 68.7% practiced in community hospitals. The majority (82.9%) of participants stated to use the Prague classification; however 34.5% did not use the top of gastric folds to identify the gastro-esophageal junction (GEJ); only 51.4% used advanced endoscopy imaging routinely. Almost all respondents practiced endoscopic surveillance for non-dysplastic BE, but 43.7% performed eradication in selected cases and 30% practiced surveillance every 1–2 years. The majority of endoscopists managed low-grade dysplasia with surveillance (79.1%) and high-grade dysplasia with ablation (77.1%). Attending a training course on BE in the previous 5 years was significantly associated with the use of the Prague classification (OR 4.8, 95% CI 1.9–12.1), the top of gastric folds as landmark for the GEJ (OR 2.45, 95% CI 1.27–4.74) and advanced imaging endoscopic techniques (OR 3.33, 95% CI 1.53–7.29).ConclusionsPractice patterns for management of BE among endoscopists are variable. Attending training courses on BE improves adherence to guidelines.

Intensive care nurses' knowledge of enteral nutrition at public hospitals in Sana'a, Yemen: a cross-sectional survey

Background: Nurses have a pivotal role in initiating and managing enteral nutrition (EN) and monitoring any potential complications. Yet, it is unclear whether Yemeni nurses have adequate knowledge to deliver and manage enteral nutrition safely. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the level of ICU nurses’ knowledge regarding the management of EN. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2019 to March 2019. A probability sampling method was used to recruit 174 nurses from four public hospitals in the capital city of Yemen. A self-administered 17-item questionnaire related to ICU nurses' knowledge regarding EN intervention was used to collect the data. Results: Out of the 174 respondents, 60.9% were females, 48.9% were aged between 20 and 25 years and 66.1% had a 3-year nursing diploma. Most respondents (79.3%) had one to five years of working experience as nurses, while almost two-thirds (70.7%) had one to five years of working experience as an ICU nurse. Above half (59.2%) of the respondents had never attended training courses on EN management and 65.5% specified that the college or institute of nursing was the source for their knowledge about EN management. Only 10.9% of the respondents had an adequate level of knowledge, while (43.1%) of them had a moderate level of knowledge and 46.0% of them had an inadequate level of knowledge regarding the EN management. Significant associations between the level of ICU nurses' knowledge of EN management and their level of education and the sources of knowledge were detected. Conclusions: The significant gap in ICU nurses’ knowledge regarding EN management identified implies the need to upgrade and refresh of the ICU nurses' knowledge by implementing a regular training program concerning EN management.

Relationship between Nurse’s Knowledge and Compliance with Standard Precautions in the Operating Room

Background: The compliance with standard precautions is a primary strategy for the preventionof operating room infections. Aim; the study aimed to assess the relationship between nurses'knowledge and their compliance with standard precautions in operating room. Design; descriptiveresearch design was used. Setting; this study was conducted in the operating room at general surgerydepartment at Benha University Hospitals and Benha Teaching Hospital, Egypt. Sample; All availablenurses (60) working at operating room. Tools; two tools were used, tool (1); Self-assessmentquestionnaire to assess nurses’ knowledge regarding standard precautions and tool (2): Compliancechecklist to assess nurses’ practice regarding standard precautions. Results; found that 45% of nursestheir age ranged between 21≤30 years, 63.3% of them were females, while 53.3% of them weregraduated from Technical Institute of Nursing and not attended training courses in standard precautionsagainst infection during the past year, Meanwhile 68.3% of the studied nurses had unsatisfactory levelof total knowledge about standard precautions in the operating room. Also 73.3% of nurses were notadherent with standard precautions in operation room. This study showed that there were highlystatistically significant positive correlation between total nurses’ knowledge score and total nurses’compliance score regarding standard precautions in the operating room. Conclusion; The present studyshows that more than two thirds of the studied nurses had unsatisfactory level of total knowledge aboutstandard precautions in the operating room, and less than two third of them were not adherent withstandard precautions in operation room. There was a highly statistically significant positive correlationbetween total nurses’ knowledge and total nurses’ compliance about standard precautionsRecommendation; there is a need for continuous monitoring and evaluating of nurses’ performanceregarding compliance with standard precautions and correction of poor performance is essential.

Lifelong learning and the structure of professionals' thinking, on the example of case conceptualisation

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the elements of psychotherapists’ informal education and features of concept maps reflecting the properties of thinking structure.Design/methodology/approachTo study the structure of professional thinking, a complex diagnostic task (computer-aided conceptual mapping task) was used. The diagnostic task consisted of categorising the client’s statements, presenting relations between the categories and concept maps accounting for problems reported by the client and contributing factors and links between them.FindingsThe obtained results showed that self-education, through participation in scientific conferences and attending training courses, was significantly associated with the number of perceived causal relationships between categories and the number of perceived reciprocal links between conceptual categories.Originality/valueThis research show factors which may contribute to more reliable case conceptualisation in psychotherapy. The method used to measure integrative complexity was original.

La incorporación de la realidad aumentada en las clases de ciencias

La Realidad Aumentada (RA) se considera una de las opciones de mayor proyección educativa gracias a su capacidad para conseguir mayor percepción, interacción y aprendizaje por parte del alumnado. El objetivo de este estudio es conocer y analizar las percepciones de un grupo de profesores de Primaria y Secundaria sobre la RA, las ventajas que otorga dicha tecnología y las necesidades para su incorporación. Han participado 806 profesores y se ha utilizado un cuestionario para la recogida de datos. Los resultados evidencian que la mayoría del profesorado indicó no haber implementado la RA en sus aulas. Los que la implementaron, señalan que aumenta de la motivación del alumnado y mejora su acción formativa. La mayoría nunca han asistido a cursos de formación para utilizar esta herramienta, considerando que es necesaria la misma, no solo en función de la tecnología sino con relación a los contenidos que se transmiten.

Pathargama Primary Agriculture Credit Co-Operative Society a Case for Intense Study With Respect Transformations Brought by Vaidyanathan Committee Recommendations in PACSs

The present study is related with the impact analysis of Pathargama PACS in Godda district of Jharkhand. The PACS under study has 1812 members out of which 12 persons are in the Board of Directors of the society include 5 women and 1 ST members. Vaidyanathan study team provides financial as well as non-financial assistance to only eligible Societies. Eligibility criteria comprise improvement is management and record keeping, efforts taken to improve recovery performance and aiming at enhance overall efficiency. The concerned committee fulfills the criteria. Hence it was provided assistance of Rs 232000 from the DCCBs Godda which was given fund by NABARD through the Government of Jharkhand. The fund obtained was utilized by the society for legislative reformed brought about in the Bye-Laws by the state government. It provided reduction in government intervention such as voting right to members, limiting supervisory power of the Government and increase in composition of its functions. The Society adhered to the programme of providing and attending training courses organized by the BIRD, DLTs and CAS. Vaidynathan committee also effected technological reforms and attempted to provide Internet facility to the society. In this attempt the society has not been successful till date. Attempts have been taken to improve recovery performance regularity in holding meetings, according larger membership to weaker sections of the society and enlargement of financial capacity and it’s functioning in addition to credit activities.

Pathargama Primary Agriculture Credit Co – Operative Society, A case for intense study with respect Transformations brought by Vaidyanathan Committee Recommendations in PACSs

The present study is related with the impact analysis of Pathargama PACS in Godda district of Jharkhand. The PACS under study has 1812 members out of which 12 persons are in the Board of Directors of the society include 5 women and 1 ST members. Vaidyanathan study team provides financial as well as non-financial assistance to only eligible Societies. Eligibility criteria comprise improvement is management and record keeping, efforts taken to improve recovery performance and aiming at enhance overall efficiency. The concerned committee fulfils the criteria. Hence it was provided assistance of Rs 232000 from the DCCBs Godda which was given fund by NABARD through the Government of Jharkhand. The fund obtained was utilized by the society for legislative reformed brought about in the Bye-Laws by the state government. It provided reduction in government intervention such as voting right to members, limiting supervisory power of the Government and increase in composition of its functions. The Society adhered to the programme of providing and attending training courses organized by the BIRD, DLTs and CAS. Vaidynathan committee also effected technological reforms and attempted to provide Internet facility to the society. In this attempt the society has not been successful till date. Attempts have been taken to improve recovery performance regularity in holding meetings, according larger membership to weaker sections of the society and enlargement of financial capacity and it’s functioning in addition to credit activities.

Lifelong learning y autoeficacia del profesorado

Sentirse profesores eficaces significa creer en las propias capacidades de influir en la prestación de los estudiantes y las modalidades de aprendizaje de los alumnos, incluso los más difíciles o desganados (Guskey y Passaro, 1994). La autoeficacia aumenta la motivación, la cuantía del compromiso empleado, el tiempo dedicado y, en el ámbito laboral, mejora la satisfacción laboral. En el presente trabajo, se ha querido investigar la relación entre la autoeficacia y la formación continua de los profesores, teniendo como objetivo general demostrar que la participación en cursos de actualización, diplomas de perfeccionamiento o master contribuya a aumentar el sentido de eficacia de los profesores. Además, se perseguirán los objetivos de evaluar lo que afecta a la precariedad en el sentido de autoeficacia y analizar las variables que influyen en la autoeficacia percibida por los profesores.A la investigación participaron 225 profesores italianos, que respondieron a través de una suministración on line, a un protocolo de investigación, que comprenda las siguientes escalas de medida: Escala de eficacia personal en el ámbito escolar (Borgogni, Petitta, Steca, 2001), escala de eficacia colectiva percibida en el ámbito escolar (Borgogni, Petitta, Steca, 2001), escala de Self-Efficacy general de Schwarzer, en su adaptación italiana de Lucio Sibilia, Ralf Schwarzer Matthias Jerusalem (1995), cuestionario sobre la satisfacción laboral de Weiss et al. (1967), adaptado y validado en italiano por Di Nuovo y Alba (1990), Survey of Perceived Organizational Support de Eisenberg et al. (1986), adaptado y validado en italiano por Battistelli y marianos en 2011, escala del Compromiso Organizacional y de la implicación en el trabajo de Barbaranelli y Fida (Barbaranelli, Fida, Paciello, Di Giunta, Caprara 2008). Entre los resultados se desprende que los profesores que han frecuentado más cursos de formación y master en los últimos tres años obtienen puntuaciones significativamente más altas en la escala de Autoeficacia escolar personal respeto a los profesores que no lo han frecuentado; además, los profesores titulares resultan tener una eficacia escolar personal significativamente más alta con respecto a los profesores temporales. Además, del análisis de las regresiones lineales se desprende que las variables que predicen la eficacia escolar personal son la eficacia escolar colectiva, la selfefficacy general y su implicación en el trabajo. Dado que la eficacia personal está influida también por la eficacia colectiva, en conclusión, parece necesario dirigir tipos de intervención a la escuela centradas sobre las variables de tipo colectivoy organizativo, que mejoren el sentido de pertenencia, la identidad organizativa, la comunicacióninterna y externa.

الشعور بالسعادة وعلاقته بالتفکير الإبداعي لدى طلاب المرحلة الثانوية بمنطقة عسير

هدفت هذه الدراسة الى الکشف عن العلاقة بين الشعور بالسعادة والتفکير الإبداعي لدى طلاب المرحلة الثانوية في منطقة عسير وقد استخدم الباحث المنهج الإرتباطي , ولتحقيق هدف الدراسة تم تطبيق مقياس الشعور بالسعادة ومقياس التفکير الإبداعي على عينة تکونت من (516) طالبا من طلاب المرحلة الثانوية وقد تم اختيارهم بالطريقة العشوائية البسيطة. وأشارت النتائج إلى : أن درجة الشعور بالسعادة والتفکير الإبداعي جاءت مرتفعة. کما أظهرت النتائج وجود علاقة موجبة إحصائيا بين الشعور بالسعادة والتفکير الإبداعي , وعدم وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية بين الصفوف الثلاثة في درجة الشعور بالسعادة , کذلک عدم وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية بين الصفوف الثلاثة في درجة التفکير الإبداعي . وقد توصلت الدراسة الى العديد من التوصيات منها:العمل على رفع مستوى الطلاب في المرحلة الثانوية في التفکير الإبداعي والشعور بالسعادة من خلال إلحاقهم بالدورات التدريبية المستمرة في هذا المجال, تقديم البرامج الإرشادية والتوجيهيه للأسرة حول کيفية تنمية مکونات السعادة النفسية لدى الأبناء, تدريب الشباب على کيفية مواجهة ضغوط الحياة والأحداث الضاغطة التي تسبب انخفاض في الشعور بالسعادة, تضمين برامج المرحلة الثانوية مقررا عن مهارات التفکير الإبداعي التي تؤدى إلى زيادة مستوى السعادة النفسية, مساعدة الأفراد على تعديل أفکارهم السلبية الى التفکير بطريقة تفاؤلية , وجعل مشاعرهم ايجابية فيها رضا عن الحياة . This study aimed to reveal the relationship between happiness feeling and creative thinking for secondary school students in Asir Region. The researcher used link descriptive curriculum, to achieve study goal, he applied happiness feeling scale and creative thinking scale on a sample of 516 students of secondary school and they were chosen randomly. The main results were, the degree of happiness feeling and creative thinking was medium. The results showed a positive relationship between happiness feeling and creative thinking statistically. There weren't statistical differences for the three classes in creative thinking. The study reached many recommendations; work on improving the creative thinking and happiness feeling for secondary school by attending training courses. Presenting guidance courses for family about how to improve physical happiness for their sons. Train students to face life pressures that cause sad life. Include a curriculum for secondary stage that talks about creative thinking which leads to physical happiness. Help individuals to change their negative ideas to positive thinking and make them happy and feel positively and have satisfaction.

Nursing Errors Regarding Preparation and Administration of Intravenous Drugs

Background: Intravenous (IV) medications pose particular risks because of their greater complexity and the multiple steps required in their preparation, administration and monitoring. The aim of this study was; assess the nursing errors during preparation and administration of intravenous drugs. Research design: Descriptive research design used in this study. Subjects: Non probability (convenience) sample was utilized, consisting of all nurses (30 nurses, 18 nurses in burn unit and 12 nurses in plastic surgery unit). Tools: Self-administered questionnaire sheet designed to assess nurses' knowledge in preparation and administration of intravenous drugs and direct Observational check list sheet designed to assess nurses' practice regarding the preparation and administration of IV drugs. Results: More than half of the studied nurses have good knowledge 53.3% regarding preparation of IV drugs, 50% regarding Administration of IV drugs, more than half of them have adequate practice 60% and there were significant relation between nurses' demographic data and their nursing practice regarding training needs (p=0.042). Conclusion: more than half of the studied nurses have good knowledge and adequate practice. Recommendations The nurses need to continue attending training courses, and increase number of nurses in the units

INTERVENTION IN ROMA COMMUNITIES. PARTICIPATION IN FORMATION ACTIVITIES

The study developed within an integrated program follows the actions carried out on the labour market for the employment of the Roma population. Are these measures effective and respond to the needs of the Roma population or the lack of adequacy to the specifics of the population leads to poor results? Data collection methodology included face-to-face questionnaire interviews with predefined questions, administrated by trained field operators. A total of 1064 questionnaires with Roma people were also collected. The marginalised Roma persons have been selected using the “snowball” method (we started from the town hall; if we had no success with the town hall, we approached the next institutions that might supply such information, for instance, the church, health care unit, police, school etc.). A percent of 13% of the respondents declared that they attended professional training courses after having graduated the school. The respondents who attended training courses after having graduated the school, attended training courses in mechanics and plumbing (26%), in constructions (16%), catering and services (14%), counselling and formation (12%). Less than 10% of these respondents attended training courses in other areas.

Performance of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nurses in Blood Culture Procedure in Tabriz Hospitals in 2016

Background: Blood culture is a method in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and a gold standard for the diagnosis of infection that is essential for proper newborn management. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of nurses in the NICUs of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences using a standard sampling method. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 90 nurses working in Al-Zahra and Taleghani ‎Educational and Medical Centers, and Tabriz Children Hospital using the convenience sampling method. The study tool included a two-part questionnaire in which the first part contained demographic characteristics of the infants and nurses and the service area. The second part included a checklist of the nurses' performance before and during ‎the blood culture procedure. Data analysis was performed using SPSS statistical software (version 21), as well as descriptive and analytical statistics. Results: Most nurses did not attend training courses for blood culture. The total performance scores before and during blood ‎culture sampling were ‎13.20‎‏±‏‎2.57 and ‎12.48‎‏±‏‎2‎.14‎, respectively.‎ Conclusion: Nurses are responsible for the correct sampling of blood culture and this procedure requires sufficient skill. Therefore, organizations must adapt their system to the standards in order to determine the benefits and disadvantages of the standards.

Do professional facial image comparison training courses work?

Facial image comparison practitioners compare images of unfamiliar faces and decide whether or not they show the same person. Given the importance of these decisions for national security and criminal investigations, practitioners attend training courses to improve their face identification ability. However, these courses have not been empirically validated so it is unknown if they improve accuracy. Here, we review the content of eleven professional training courses offered to staff at national security, police, intelligence, passport issuance, immigration and border control agencies around the world. All reviewed courses include basic training in facial anatomy and prescribe facial feature (or ‘morphological’) comparison. Next, we evaluate the effectiveness of four representative courses by comparing face identification accuracy before and after training in novices (n = 152) and practitioners (n = 236). We find very strong evidence that short (1-hour and half-day) professional training courses do not improve identification accuracy, despite 93% of trainees believing their performance had improved. We find some evidence of improvement in a 3-day training course designed to introduce trainees to the unique feature-by-feature comparison strategy used by facial examiners in forensic settings. However, observed improvements are small, inconsistent across tests, and training did not produce the qualitative changes associated with examiners’ expertise. Future research should test the benefits of longer examination-focussed training courses and incorporate longitudinal approaches to track improvements caused by mentoring and deliberate practice. In the absence of evidence that training is effective, we advise agencies to explore alternative evidence-based strategies for improving the accuracy of face identification decisions.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH RISKS OF HAIRDRESSERS: KNOWLEDGE, PRACTICE AND SELF-REPORTED SYMPTOMS

Introduction: Hairdressing is associated with exposure to various harmful conditions which may be chemical, physical and ergonomic. Proper knowledge of hazardous exposures leads to reduction of adverse health outcomes. Hairdressing has been linked with several self- reported symptoms as respiratory, allergic and musculoskeletal complaints. Aim of work: To measure the knowledge of hairdressers regarding hazardous work exposures, safe work practices, in addition to describe the possible work-related symptoms experienced by them. Materials and methods: This is a cross sectional study including 200 male hairdressers working in this career for not less than 2 years. A self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic and occupational data, description of the workplace safety measures, their knowledge regarding effects of hazardous work exposures. Complaints of any symptoms were also included related to respiratory, allergic reactions and skin problems. Results: Mean knowledge score of the study population was 4.65 ± 1.8 with the highest percentage of them reporting their knowledge of being at risk of musculoskeletal disorders and electrical injuries. Best practice was for wearing personal protective devices, washing hands after handling chemicals and before eating. A significant association was found between mean knowledge score and attending training courses. Moreover, a significant association was found between mean work duration and reporting chest symptoms and between mean working hours per day and skin allergic and musculoskeletal complaints. Conclusion: The poor knowledge of the possible health effects due to work exposures and the increased frequency of self-reported symptoms necessitate dissemination of general safety guidelines and offering more training courses to this occupational sector.

Satisfaction and perceived usefulness with newly-implemented Electronic Health Records System among pediatricians at a university hospital

BackgroundApposite implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHR) is anchoring standards of care in healthcare settings by reducing long-run operational costs, improving healthcare quality, and enhancing patient safety. ObjectiveThis study aims to explore factors that might influence Pediatricians’ satisfaction with an implemented EHR system and its perceived usefulness at a tertiary-care teaching hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. MethodsA cross-sectional survey distributed to all physicians working in the pediatric department of King Saud University Medical City (KSUMC) in the period from June to November 2015, two months after the launch of the EHR system, internally branded as electronic system for integrated health information (eSiHi). Bivariate and multivariate regression were analyzed to examine factors associated with physicians’ satisfaction. ResultsOf the 112 physicians who completed the survey, 97 (86.6%) attended training courses before the implementation of new EHR. On average, the participants rated the perceived usefulness of the new system at 6.4/10 for patient care and physicians' satisfaction levels were 5.2/10. The top indicator of EHR usefulness was the system's ability to reduce errors and improve the quality of care [mean 3.31, SD 0.9, RII 82.8%]; the lowest-ranking indicator was the physicians’ perceived familiarity with functions and benefits [mean 2.68, SD 0.7, RII 67%]. The top indicator of satisfaction with the EHR system was enhanced “individual performance” [mean 3.04, SD 1, RII 60.9%]; the lowest-ranking perceived indicator was the limited availability of workplace computers [mean 1.91, SD 1.2, RII 38.2%]. ConclusionsLimited data regarding EHR implementation and end-users satisfaction in the Middle East region necessitates further work on factors affecting levels of satisfaction with the EHR system among different health institutes. Lack of information technology (IT) support, hardware, and time-consuming data entry process are challenging barriers for proper utilization of EHR for pediatric health care services.

Examining the perceived versus the actual knowledge about forensic odontology: A cross-sectional survey among dentists.

Dentists should have the basic essential skills and knowledge about forensic odontology, to better collaborate with law enforcement and investigations. The objective of this survey was to assess the perceived and actual knowledge toward forensic odontology among dentists and to question their willingness to attend training courses on this specialty. A cross‐sectional survey based on a self‐administered questionnaire was conducted in various districts of Saudi Arabia. Four hundred dentists responded to a questionnaire that tested their actual knowledge of forensic odontology based on answering 15 statements using the alternatives correct, incorrect, do not know. The perceived knowledge was registered as strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, and strongly disagree, then assigned scores respectively from four to zero. A willingness to attend a training course in the future was recorded by (yes/no). Scores were summated then subjected to descriptive statistics and regression analyses. Responses were received from 360 study participants (89% response rate). The percentage of correct answers, that is, the actual knowledge, was 67.9 (standard deviation [SD] ± 18.4). About two thirds of the responders (n = 251, 69.7%) indicated a willingness to attend a forensic odontology course in the future. Differences in both actual and perceived knowledge were identified on the basis of gender, work experience, education level, attended a course in forensic odontology, and having previously provided a past bite‐mark examination. The perceived knowledge on forensic odontology among dentists was moderate to low. The gap between perceived and actual knowledge signifies low self‐confidence. Dentists with higher education levels and experience tend to have better knowledge.

Core Competencies of Nurse Educator At Technical institutes of Nursing

Background: Core Competencies are a valuable resource for nurse educators. The appropriate preparation of nurse educators is critical to the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes of nurses. Aim: Study was aimed to assess core competencies of nurse educators at technical Institutes of nursing. Subjects and methods: - A descriptive cross sectional design was used in carrying 0ut the study on (40) nurse educators from Nursing Technical Institute affiliated to Ain Shams Specialized and University Hospitals, and (56) educators from Imbaba Technical Health Institute for Nursing, affiliated to Ministry of Health. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The fieldwork lasted from October to December 2016. Results: - the results revealed that their age ranged between 25 and 56 years, and 52.1% had a postgraduate degree. The highest core competencies were facilitating learning, while the lowest was participating in curriculum design and evaluation. Overall, 76.0% had high competencies. In total, 92.5% of nurse educators' in Ain-Shams institutions had high core competencies, compared with 64.3% in Imbaba institution (p˂0.001). Those who attended training courses had higher facilitator competency (p=0.047). in multivariate analysis, working in Imbaba institutes was the only significant independent negative predictor of the score of core competencies. Conclusion and Recommendations: - the nurse educators in the study setting have good core competencies, which are influenced by their age, qualification, attendance of training courses, and the workplace

Discussion on implementation of public health standards adopted in centers for disease control and prevention

As the most important phase in standardization activity, implementation saves as the essence. CDC in China are the major institutions undertaking disease control and prevention. Implementing the standards of public health provides technical basis for CDC to complete the task of disease control and prevention. In the study, spot conversation and questionnaire were used to investigate the implementation of standards on public health in CDC. Results showed that the staff of CDC got to know the standards through the Internet. The departments of CDC which conducted training and sent staff to attend training courses accounted for 50.00%(25/50) and 34.00%(17/50), respectively. State mandatory rule is still the main reason for relevant departments to implement the standards of the public health. Government promotion activities facilitate the implementation of Standards, and the degree of familiarity with Standards affects the implementation as well. The paper summarizes the existing problems, such as the lack of coordination between departments of public health at provincial level or below, lack of access to standards, and the need to strengthen the training of the standard implementation etc. It puts forward some suggestions to strengthen the implementation of public health Standards.