Healthcare Professional Students Research Articles

Achievement of interprofessional competencies in live and virtual community clinics: A comparative study

BackgroundInterprofessional education is imperative for training future healthcare professionals. While barriers exist within and across institutions to implement and sustain effective interprofessional education experiences for students, virtual clinics utilizing electronic health records may provide comparable benefits to in-person clinics. ObjectiveTo determine whether differences in pre- and post-test self-assessments of interprofessional collaborative competencies are different between in-person and virtual clinics. DesignPretest-posttest design utilizing the Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey (ICCAS) before and immediately after participating in clinics, virtual or in-person. SettingA large, public university in the southeastern United States. ParticipantsSenior nursing students, third-year pharmacy students, senior nutrition/dietetics students, and undergraduate and graduate social work students. MethodsThis study was conducted evaluating five cohorts of students engaged in interprofessional education clinics. Two cohorts completed in-person community clinics in 2019. In March 2020, the interprofessional education program adopted virtual clinics (three cohorts) utilizing pre-selected electronic health record cases. Student responses from the 20-item ICCAS, which was completed before and immediately after clinics, were aggregated into interprofessional competency subscale scores (communication, collaboration, roles and responsibilities, collaborative patient/family-centered approach, conflict management/resolution, and team functioning) and a total ICCAS score. Two-way ANOVA assessed Pre-Post and Mode (in-person vs. virtual) on total ICCAS score. t-tests compared Pre-Post ICCAS scores for each Mode. ResultsEffects of Pre-Post (p < 0.001), but not Mode (p = 0.523), were observed on Total ICCAS scores. All ICCAS subscale scores were significantly higher in Post compared to Pre regardless of Mode. ConclusionsVirtual interprofessional education clinics confer similar benefits to interprofessional collaborative competencies in healthcare professions students compared to in-person community clinics. Thus, modality offers flexibility for interprofessional education and provided several benefits over the in-person clinic approach.

Implementation and evaluation of simulations in a required course to improve empathy of pharmacy students

IntroductionIt is essential for health care professionals to display empathy when communicating with patients. Therefore, empathy is an important skill to teach health care professional students. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of a course enhancement consisting of formal instruction and application-based simulations on empathy in pharmacy students. MethodsThe Jefferson Scale of Empathy for Health Profession Students (JSE-HPS) was administered at the start of the semester and again at the end of the 16-week required course for third-year pharmacy students. Differences in the mean scores were analyzed using a paired t-test. An inductive conventional content analysis approach was utilized to analyze end of the course reflections about empathy by two investigators. ResultsOn the pre-survey (n = 140), the empathy scores ranged from 86 to 140 (mean 113.8). On the postsurvey (n = 73), scores ranged from 93 to 137 (mean 117.5). A statistically significant increase in students' empathy scores on the JSE-HPS was observed following the completion of the course (P = .006). The main themes that emerged from the students' reflections were the impact of empathy on patient-centered care and the importance of patient-provider relationships. Students also discussed the development and use of empathy skills. ConclusionsA combination of didactic and skills-based training led to an improvement in empathy in third-year pharmacy students. Student comments highlighted the value of practicing empathy skills in a simulated environment.

DEcrease STress through RESilience training for Students (DESTRESS) Study: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial nested in a longitudinal observational cohort study

IntroductionChronic stress and burnout are highly prevalent among academically trained healthcare professionals, negatively affecting their well-being and capacity to engage in their work. Resilience to stress develops early in one's career path, hence offering resilience training to university students in these professions is one approach to fostering well-being and mental health. The aim of this study is to assess whether offering mindfulness-based resilience training to university students in healthcare professions reduces their perceived chronic stress. Methods and analysisThe study has a hybrid design combining a longitudinal observational cohort with a nested randomized controlled trial (RCT) with sequential multiple assignment and multistage adaptive interventions while taking participants' preferences into account. All students in healthcare related programmes at the Erasmus University Rotterdam are invited to participate. Within the observational cohort, students with a score of 14 or higher on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) are invited to take part in the RCT (n = 706). Eligible participants are randomized to control or active intervention in a ratio of 1:6. Those randomized to the control group and non-randomized participants in the cohort receive passive web-based psychoeducation about chronic stress and burnout through referral to specific websites. Participants randomized to the intervention group receive one of 8 active mindfulness-based interventions. They select a rank order of 4 preferred interventions and are randomized across these with equal probability. Non-response to the intervention is followed by sequential randomized assignment to another intervention, for a total maximum of 3 sequential interventions. All participants receive questionnaires at baseline, before and after each 8-week intervention period, and at 1- and 2-year follow-up. The primary outcome is perceived chronic stress measured with the PSS. Secondary outcomes include mental well-being, burnout, quality of life, healthcare utilization, drug use, bodyweight, mental and physical stress-related symptoms, resilience, and study progress. Ethics and registrationApproval from the Medical Ethics Review Committee was obtained under protocol number MEC-2018-1645. The trial is registered in the Netherlands National Trial Register by registration number NL7623, 22/03/2019, https://www.trialregister.nl/.

Student Evaluation of Distance Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey on Medical, Dental, and Healthcare Students at Sapienza University of Rome.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a deep impact on university education, necessitating an abrupt shift from face-to-face learning to distance learning (DL). This has created new challenges, especially for those courses in which practical activities and internships are integral parts of the education program. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of DL on the study progress of a population of pregraduate students of medicine, dentistry, and healthcare professions. The survey was administered through an anonymous questionnaire by sharing a Google Forms link. Demographic data and educational background information were collected to obtain a profile of the participants. Different aspects of DL were investigated, including availability of digital devices, quality of connection, and environmental conditions; other questions focused on the effects of DL on students’ progress and professional maturation. Measures of association were also calculated using the chi-squared test, Cramer V, and Somers D. Among the 372 who participated, the results showed that students had a positive attitude toward online classroom and that DL did not substantially affect their progress. Most of the associations were statistically significant, also highlighting the effect of the degree course on the responses. Some critical issues clearly emerged, however, including the lack of adequate devices and environmental conditions due to economic disparity, poor relationships, suspension of internship programs, and clinical training. The results suggest that DL cannot be considered as a substitute for classroom-based medical education outside an emergency context.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Health Education in Healthcare Professional Graduate Programs: A Comparison of Medical, Nursing, and Pharmacy Students

ABSTRACTRelative to cisgender heterosexual persons, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people experience greater health inequities, thereby affecting their engagement in care. One strategy to address these disparities is to educate future healthcare professionals to provide nondiscriminatory care to LGBT people. The goal of this study was to explore the perceived coverage of LGBT health education topics in graduate-level medical (MD), pharmacy (PharmD) and nursing (DNP) curricula. Cross-sectional data were collected from web-based surveys (N = 733) completed by healthcare professional students enrolled at two universities in New York State. Of those who responded, 50.5% were MD, 38.9% were PharmD, and 10.6% were DNP students. Overall, mean scores indicated a dearth of perceived LGBT health coverage. Results demonstrated variations in coverage by degree program. Findings highlight the need to develop educational curricula inclusive of topics concerning LGBT patient health. Adequately educating the next generation of healthcare professionals can further promote healthcare engagement among LGBT persons and improve pedagogical practices in healthcare professional education programs.

Impact of Autonomous Learning for Advanced Acquisition of Physiology (ALAAP) module among undergraduate health-care professional students

Objectives: The present study aims to document the effectiveness of self-directed activity-based Autonomous Learning for Advanced Acquisition of Physiology (ALAAP) module for endocrine learning among undergraduate physical therapy students. Materials and Methods: Fifty-five second semester students (28 males and 27 females) of the physical therapy course of a private healthcare university were recruited and the traditional didactic method of teaching-learning was compared with that of the newly developed ALAAP module. Results: The triad approach employed to compare the scores of pre-test and post-test after the ALAAP module intervention showed P &lt; 0.001 and Hedges’ g effect size of 0.75 with a 95% CI of –3.41 to –1.5 implying the effectiveness of the module to be strong. Furthermore, the feedback obtained was favourable toward this module and showed that there was an increase in both the affective and cognitive domains of learning. Conclusion: ALAAP module for endocrine physiology is effective and positively targeted all types of learners. It helped their transition from pedagogy to andragogy type of deep learning. The group work done by the students as a part of this module instilled collaborative and cooperative learning in them.

A QUESTIONNAIRE-BASED ONLINE SURVEY ON KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF ANAEMIA AMONG FEMALE HEALTH-CARE PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS IN TAMILNADU

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the knowledge and awareness about anemia among Female Health-Care Professional Students in Tamil Nadu. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted in Tamil Nadu, from December 2021–February 2022. Permission was obtained from IEC; a well-organized questionnaire was executed with 20 items using the Google Forms. Pre-structured questions were pre-validated by Experts. Google form contains the details such as socio-demographic, awareness, and knowledge based questions. The correct answer was marked as aware and incorrect as unaware and has converted to percentage. The completed data were collected, entered in excel sheet and the results were analyzed with the proper statistical method. Results: A total of 340 responses received and among that only 50.52% of female health-care professional students were aware of anemia and 72.83% of female health-care professional students had adequate knowledge about anemia. Conclusion: A significant lack of awareness was observed in female health care students. This study highly suggests the provision of health education, which can be implemented through periodic educational interventions such as webinars, CME programs, and role-plays. This may acts to build a safe tool to create more knowledge and awareness.

Measuring vaccine acceptance and knowledge within health professions education

BackgroundRecent rises in the incidence of vaccine-preventable illnesses and suboptimal vaccine acceptance are considered a consequence of accumulating misinformation. Evidence-based approaches to patient-provider communication are key to addressing vaccine hesitancy. ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to assess vaccination attitudes and foundational knowledge among healthcare professions students. MethodsA 72-item survey was developed to assess vaccine attitudes and knowledge about vaccination among health professions students. The survey incorporated 14 demographics questions, 41 attitude questions, and 17 knowledge questions. 16 of the attitude questions, derived from a set of core questions used to diagnose vaccine hesitancy from the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) Vaccine Hesitancy Matrix, were analyzed together to derive a vaccine acceptance score. Results295 anonymous survey responses were collected between July 2019 and November 2020. Respondents represented students enrolled in medical, dental, pharmacy, optometry, and biomedical science health professions programs. Respondents scored 82.0% ± 0.8% (mean ± standard error of the mean) on questions that gauged vaccine acceptance. The mean vaccine acceptance score was 85.4% ± 1.0% for medical students and 88.0% ± 1.6% for biomedical science students. The mean knowledge score across all programs was 67.7% ± 1.1%. The greatest proficiency in knowledge scores was seen amongst medical students (79.0% ± 1.3%). ConclusionsAmongst the different health professions, students in the fields of medicine and biomedical sciences had the highest levels of vaccine acceptance attitudes and knowledge. The vaccine acceptance score can be utilized by health professions educators to guide vaccine education for future health professionals to better prepare them to address vaccine hesitancy and educate patients on vaccination.

Maintenance of Effects and Correlates of Changes Following Mindfulness for Interdisciplinary Health Care Professional Students.

Objectives:To evaluate long-term outcomes after an 8-week mindfulness intervention, Mindfulness for Interdisciplinary Health Care Professionals (MIHP), and investigate relationships between outcomes overtime.Design/Methods:In this single-arm study, 35 participants received MIHP and completed measures of burnout, perceived stress, activity impairment, and dispositional mindfulness at baseline, post-MIHP, and a 3-month follow-up. Changes over time were evaluated using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and reliable change indices (RCIs). Then, correlations between dispositional mindfulness and distress/impairment outcomes were evaluated.Results:At follow-up, aspects of burnout and several mindfulness skills demonstrated maintained improvements. RCIs showed that a higher percentage of participants improved on all outcomes at each time period than declined—all outcomes showed little to no deterioration. However, most participants did not reliably change, and this was more pronounced at the follow-up. Changes in two mindfulness skills (acting with awareness and nonjudging of inner experience) were consistently negatively correlated with distress and impairment outcomes.Conclusions:Acquired mindfulness skills during MIHP were maintained at the follow-up. RCI analyses demonstrated that MIHP may protect against worsening stress and burnout during training. Two mindfulness skills, acting with awareness and nonjudging of inner experience, showed potential mechanistic effects on work-relevant outcomes. Booster sessions to encourage maintained mindfulness practices and skills should be investigated in future trials. This study was registered on clinicaltrials.gov (#NCT03403335) on January 11, 2018.

Effectiveness of a case-based digital learning interprofessional workshop involving undergraduates in medical technology, radiological science, and physical therapy: A pre-post intervention study.

All healthcare professionals must understand information on a patient’s biophysical functions, and it is important to educate professionals on how to use this information in an interprofessional team for diagnosis. However, there is little interprofessional education for students of medical technology and radiological science involved in biophysical function diagnosis. In the present study, we developed a case-based interprofessional learning tool for using biophysical information for diagnosis. The study examined the effects of a collaborative exercise workshop for healthcare professional students using the tool. Participants were 234 students from three healthcare professions (medical technology, radiological science, and physical therapy). They completed the Japanese version of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale before and after the workshops. The workshops incorporated digital materials that allowed students to examine the test results of a virtual patient, answer questions, and discuss their diagnoses and prognoses. For analysis, a two-way analysis of variance was performed on the total score on the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale of the three departments, and the effectiveness of the workshop for the three departments was compared. Statistical analyses showed no interaction between time and department (p = 0.283). After the workshop, students from all three departments showed significant improvements in total scores on the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (p < 0.01) with medium to large effect sizes (r = 0.33–0.52). In the comparison between departments, there was a significant difference in the awareness levels of only medical technology and radiological science students before the workshop (p = 0.015). This study conducted case-based learning workshops with students from three departments, in which a patient’s biophysical information was conveyed between occupational practices. The workshops improved the awareness of interprofessional education in students from all departments and revealed that interprofessional education is important for healthcare professions involved in biophysical function diagnosis.

Impact of a stroke interprofessional simulation on health professional students

IntroductionThe objective was to describe the interprofessional stroke simulation delivered across three campuses with seven types of health professions students and the impact the activity had on the students. MethodsAn interprofessional stroke simulation event was completed with pharmacy, medical, nursing, physician assistant, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech pathology students across a multi-site campus. Pre-activity, demographic information was requested including age, gender, discipline, year in respective program, number of experiences in prior interprofessional events, and comfort working with other health care professionals. The survey was repeated after the session and gathered free-text responses on whether learners gained information on working together, if they learned about the roles of other health care workers, and if they found the session useful. ResultsA total of 1820 health care professional students completed the simulation activity over four years. Of those students, 1035 (57%) completed the pre-survey, and 884 (49%) completed the post-survey. From the post-survey results, 91.5% of participants felt that they learned how health care disciplines can work together. Also, 87% of participants felt more comfortable working with learners from other professions. Most participants agreed the session was useful (77.1%) and rated it as moderately to extremely effective (81.8%). ConclusionsInterprofessional sessions with health care professional students are beneficial for learning new information about other professions and enhancing comfort levels in working with interprofessional groups. The interprofessional simulation improved the comfort level of students working with other health care professional students and should be considered in professional student curricula.

Knowledge, Preventive Behaviour and Risk Perception about COVID-19 in Health Care Professional Students

Background: With 3.95 lakhs of active COVID-19 cases in India and Tamilnadu being the second-largest hub of COVID-19, the health and social impact on the public, especially the health care warriors would be considerable. Objective: To evaluate and compare the levels of knowledge, preventive behaviour and risk perception of South Indian Health Care Professional(HCP) Students regarding COVID-19.Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in a tertiary care centre and teaching hospital in May-June 2020 amongst 873 students pursuing various HCP courses. The questionnaire comprised four sections - demographic details, COVID–19 related knowledge, preventive behaviour and risk perception. Results: Females volunteered to complete the survey (n= 623; 71.4%) more than males (n= 250; 28.6%). Most participants had received awareness about COVID-19 (n=860; 98.5%) from many resources of information. While females (97.50 ± 8.94) had significantly higher scores on items for preventive behaviour than males (94.7±15.55; p=0.006), the scores were similar for knowledge and risk perception. There was a statistically significant difference in risk perception among various courses with students pursuing Pharmacy having higher risk perception. Items regarding the use of masks in general and hospital setups and availability of antivirals for COVID-19 received many incorrect responses. Conclusions: HCP students presented with high levels of COVID-19 related knowledge and preventive behaviour, but moderate risk perception. Continuing education programs and preventive behavioural training are the need of the hour to strengthen the knowledge and alleviate the anxiety of HCP students towards the pandemic.

Impact of a resilience and wellbeing program: A longitudinal cohort study of student dietitians.

In response to growing evidence that student healthcare professionals find professional practicum stressful and that it negatively affects their mental health, a six‐session psychoeducation Resilience and Wellbeing Program was implemented by a professional counselor in Year 3 of the Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics at Griffith University, Australia. The aim of this study was to evaluate student dietitians' perceptions of whether the program improved their ability to cope with practicum stressors. The study used a longitudinal cohort design, with students completing surveys at three time points: before and after the program and after the final practicum. The study was completed with two cohorts of students between 2018 and 2020 (n = 111). Most respondents (95%) found their professional practicum to be stressful or challenging on at least some occasions, mostly due to constantly being assessed (56%), finances (40%), and being away from usual supports (38%). Almost all students rated the program as having some value (99%), with the content about stress and self‐care the most highly rated. Qualitative comments revealed the program helped students to manage stress by prioritizing their personal needs. Students used stress management skills during the practicum to achieve balance in their lives, despite pandemic conditions.

A dataset of simulated patient-physician medical interviews with a focus on respiratory cases

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is playing a major role in medical education, diagnosis, and outbreak detection through Natural Language Processing (NLP), machine learning models and deep learning tools. However, in order to train AI to facilitate these medical fields, well-documented and accurate medical conversations are needed. The dataset presented covers a series of medical conversations in the format of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE), with a focus on respiratory cases in audio format and corresponding text documents. These cases were simulated, recorded, transcribed, and manually corrected with the underlying aim of providing a comprehensive set of medical conversation data to the academic and industry community. Potential applications include speech recognition detection for speech-to-text errors, training NLP models to extract symptoms, detecting diseases, or for educational purposes, including training an avatar to converse with healthcare professional students as a standardized patient during clinical examinations. The application opportunities for the presented dataset are vast, given that this calibre of data is difficult to access and costly to develop.

Editors’ welcome

Tēnā koutou katoa and welcome to Issue 34 of Te Hautaka o ngā Akongā Rongoā, the New Zealand Medical Student Journal (NZMSJ). The theme of this issue is “Global Health,” which is an important topic for medical students and health professionals. It is our privilege to share with our readers a wide range of insightful and high-quality articles by health care professional students, clinicians, and academics from Aotearoa and abroad. Global health has been thrust into the spotlight by the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, but it has long been a focus of international collaboration. The United Nations published its sustainable development goals (SDGs) in 2012 and included its third goal: to “ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages.”1 The wording of this SDG reflects the changing perspective of global health as an entity. Inequity is now recognised as the fundamen- tal obstacle that must be overcome in pursuing health and wellbeing for all. Inequity takes many different forms, including a lack of access to health care and the continuing disparities in representing certain groups in research and decision-making.2,3 In this complex health land- scape, at the crossroads of geopolitical, socioeconomic, and biophysi- cal influences, it can be challenging to know where we fit in as medical students and clinicians with a passion for global health. The scale of the task at hand can also be overwhelming, especially for those just beginning their journey. We believe current and future health care professionals in Aotea- roa have a vital role in our collective global health. Through education and sustainable changes, the ambitious goals that we see can become achievable. We hope that this issue of the NZMSJ will highlight the stories of people who have found diverse opportunities in global health and inspire a new generation of health professionals to con- tribute to this critical work.

Mnemonics Improve Pharmacy Students' Knowledge Retention, Clinical Application, and Exam Performance in a PharmD Pharmacology Course

BackgroundStudents in healthcare professions taking pharmacology courses often feel challenged with learning and remembering crucial facts about medications, i.e., knowledge acquisition and retention. In addition, applying pharmacological knowledge into clinical settings consumes significant amounts of the student’s working memory (i.e., cognitive load). Mnemonics (memory aids) are used to reduce cognitive load and facilitate learning and knowledge retention among students. Our study assessed the impact of the mnemonics' use in a Pharmacology course offered to second‐year pharmacy students on students' perceptions of knowledge acquisition, retention, and clinical application in correlation to their exam performance.MethodsEighteen mnemonics were developed and used in a course covering endocrine and autonomic pharmacology topics. Students' perceptions of the impact of mnemonics' use on their knowledge acquisition, retention, clinical application, critical thinking, and confidence while answering questions on exams were collected using an anonymous survey in the fall semester of 2020. Further, students' perceptions were matched to their exam performance.ResultsSurvey responses from 56 students (85% response rate) indicated that 80.4% agreed that mnemonics' use facilitated knowledge acquisition by reducing anxiety while learning, and 98.2% of students indicated that the use of mnemonics improved knowledge retention and application. Mnemonics' use was also reported to improve critical thinking while answering exam questions (89.3% agreed) and increased confidence during test‐taking (96.4% agreed). Interestingly, 64.7% of students using mnemonics answered the associated exam questions correctly compared to 35.3% of students (p&lt;0.05) who did not use the mnemonic aids.ConclusionsOur study suggests that mnemonics' use in pharmacology courses not only improved students' perception of knowledge acquisition, retention, application, and critical thinking but also improved their exam performance on specific questions that tested concepts taught with mnemonics. Future studies will assess students' knowledge retention and perceptions of mnemonics' use with exam performance in subsequent pharmacotherapy and pharmacy skills courses.

Intimate Partner Violence Knowledge and Preparation: Perspective of Health Care Profession Students

Introduction. Victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) access various health care services for diagnosis and treatment of their injuries. The primary aim of this study was to examine whether IPV attitudes, perceived knowledge, and preparation differ by the health care program in which the students are enrolled. The secondary aim was to determine whether demographic and clinical variables known to predict self-perceived IPV knowledge and preparation differ between health care professions. Review of Literature. Intimate partner violence is a global public health concern affecting approximately 25% of women and 10% of men. Persons with a history of IPV have elevated health care utilization rates compared with persons with no history of IPV. Health care providers without adequate IPV training may discount/minimize the abuse or blame the victim for the abuse. Subjects. Respondents included students enrolled in entry-level physical therapy/occupational therapy programs (n = 96), prelicensure nursing programs (n = 141), and medical school (n = 154). Methods. Respondents completed the Nursing Roles and Values Scale, Domestic Violence Myth Assessment Survey, and a modified Provider Readiness to Manage IPV Survey online. Results. Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy (PT/OT) students had the lowest self-perceived IPV knowledge and preparation scores and were more likely to adhere to IPV myths. Self-perceived IPV knowledge and preparation were predicted by student's opinions about IPV and level of IPV training, regardless of health care profession. Lifetime IPV experience predicted medical student's level of IPV knowledge but did not predict PT/OT and nursing students' knowledge. Discussion and Conclusion. Intimate partner violence education was shown to significantly influence students' perceived knowledge and preparation to care for victims of IPV, supporting the need for inclusion of IPV content in health profession curricula. Academic programs provide an ideal opportunity to prepare future health care providers with the knowledge and preparation to appropriately respond to IPV in the clinical environment.

Health professional students’ self-reported emotions during simulation-based education: An interpretive descriptive study

AimThis study aimed to explore active students’ experiences of emotions during simulation-based education (SBE) sequences when a simulation was performed as a part of formal curriculum in natural educational settings and to consider the practical educational implications of the findings. BackgroundAn SBE approach is used widely in nursing education. Emotions are necessary for learning to take place and some of these can prevent or promote learning. This is an active and affective learning activity that can trigger various emotions. Previous research in SBE has studied student anxiety, which has been frequently measured quantitatively. An understanding of students’ emotions can give valuable insight into the learning process and improve nursing educational practice. MethodsThe study took place in four Norwegian universities. It was guided by interpretive descriptions, which involve qualitative methodology. This study was approved by the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (No: 59059). Data were collected using an interpersonal process interview with eight healthcare professional students after participating in SBE. ResultsThe results show that students experienced coexisting and changing emotions during the shifting academic scenes in the simulations. During briefing, scenario and debriefing, students experienced being activated and had coexisting pleasant and unpleasant emotions. Unpleasant emotions were found to decrease during the simulation. Numerous identified emotions were found to be valuable for learning. ConclusionThe insight into students’ experience of arousal, negative emotions and the potential for SBE to trigger students’ comprehensive academic emotions have implications for nurse educators when planning and facilitating simulations.

The predictive role of tendency toward mobile learning and emotional intelligence in Internet addiction in healthcare professional students.

Introduction: Internet addiction is a psychological disorder that can lead to serious damages to university students as a group at risk. This study aimed to determine the predictive role of tendency toward mobile learning (purposeful use of mobile technologies for educational purposes) and emotional intelligence in Internet addiction in healthcare professional students. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on 403 healthcare professional students at Saveh University of Medical Sciences-Iran in 2021 using convenience sampling method. For data gathering, three questionnaires were used: willingness to use mobile learning, Young’s Internet Addiction Test, and the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal. Data analyses were done using Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Hierarchical Regression in SPSS 16 (Inc SPSS USA, IL, Chicago). Results: The mean age of the participants was 21.09±1.47 years; 125 subjects (31.01%) were boys and 278 (68.99%) girls. As the findings showed, 16.87% of the students had Internet addiction and 33% were on the edge of developing Internet addiction. Internet addiction was significantly negatively correlated with willingness to m-learning (r=-0.45, P=0.001) and emotional intelligence (r=-0.32, P=0.01). In addition, regression analysis results showed that the variables willingness to use learning and emotional intelligence explained 23% of the Internet addiction variance (P<0.001). Conclusion: In the present study, a considerable number of the healthcare professional students had excessive and unnecessary use of the Internet. Emotional intelligence and willingness to use mobile learning had an inverse relationship with Internet addiction. There is a need to screen Internet-addicted students using proper screening tools and take primary preventive measures in this regard. In addition, proper measures are needed to be taken to improve emotional intelligence and mobile learning skills and control Internet addiction to some extent.

A Study to Access the Prevalence and Drivers of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Indian Population Including Health Care Professional and Dental Students – A Cross-Sectional Survey

Background: The acceptance and availability of effective vaccines are crucial for the success of vaccination programs. Medical doctors and students are the epitome of shaping the public interest in vaccines. Aim: To evaluate the general public's attitudes, including dental students and health care professionals, at the national level towards COVID-19 vaccines and explore the potential drivers for students' acceptance levels. Methods: A national-level cross-sectional study was carried out in May-June 2021 using an online questionnaire. The sample was categorized based on age, gender, academic level, and location. The dependent variable was the willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine. The independent variables included demographic characteristics, COVID-19-related experience, and the drivers of the COVID-19 vaccine-related attitude suggested by the WHO SAGE. Results: The number of people who answered the questionnaire was 1271. The males accounted for 38.9%, and females were 61.1%. The age group, 18-45 years with 14.7%, has the highest percentage of people who have not taken vaccination. In context to gender, 13.5% of males and 13.1% of females have not taken vaccination. The percentage of vaccination hesitancy is highest in rural areas with 19.5%. The health care professionals were vaccinated with the highest percentage of 89.8%. Conclusion: The vaccination acceptance level of the population for COVID-19 vaccines was good, approximately 63%, and their worrisome level of vaccine hesitancy 27% was governed by demographic, social, and economic factors. The media and social media, public figures, insufficient knowledge about vaccines, and mistrust of governments and the pharmaceutical industry were major hurdles to vaccination.