Nursing faculties' knowledge and attitude on evidence based practice

Evidence based practice [EBP] is one of the main professional competencies for health care professionals and a priority for medicine and nursing curriculum as well. EBP leads to improve effective and efficient care and patient outcomes. Nurse educators have responsibility to teach the future nurses, and an opportunity to promote patient outcomes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe nurse educators' knowledge and attitude on EBP. This was a descriptive study conducted in nursing faculties of two major universities of medical sciences affiliated to Ministry of Health and Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran. Data were gathered using a three section questionnaire. Content and face validity was further enhanced by submitting it to nursing research and education experts. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS 11 software. According the results, nursing faculties' knowledge of EBP was mainly moderate [47.1%]. Significant statistical relationship was found between the level of knowledge with education and teaching experience in different nursing programs. Nurses generally held positive attitudes toward EBP [88.6%] and there was no statistical significant relationship with demographic variables. Nursing educators are in a position to influence nursing research in clinical practice in the future. Therefore, it is critical to achieve implementation of EBP and be a change agent for a paradigm shift toward EBP.

Learning outcome in two different teaching approach in nursing education in Iran: E-learning versus lecture

Traditional teaching methods used in medical education couldn't meet the need for keeping pace with up to date information. Present study has conducted in order to compare the effect of lecture and e-learning methods on nursing students' learning outcomes in the context of Iran. A cross-over design was applied. Study sample was consisted of 32 students which were in third semester of nursing bachelor program and were passing Maternal Child nursing course. The first part of the course was taught using lecture method during first four weeks; an e-learning method was the technique used to educate the remained part of the course during the second four weeks. Students' learning outcomes in each method, opinion toward and participation with both educational methods was assessed. No significant difference was found between students exam scores in both methods. Considering students' opinion toward educational methods, no significant difference was found between two methods in general but students reported better "capability" and "independency" in e-learning method while lecture was obtained higher scores in "effectiveness on learning" and "motivation" characteristics. E-learning can be used in teaching some nursing courses. It is recommended to use e-learning method with appropriate interactive strategies and attractive virtual environments to motivate students

[Factors affecting students' evaluation of teachers: comparing viewpoints of teachers and students]

Introduction: Teacher evaluation is carried out through several ways among which the most used method in our country is teacher evaluation by students which is so controversial. This study was performed to compare the viewpoints of teachers and students about factors affecting teacher evaluation by students

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in second semester of 2007-2008 academic years, in school of nursing and midwifery of Tehran Medical University. Using convenient sampling method based on time, 95 teachers and 379 students of this school were selected as study samples. Their viewpoints were collected by two separate questionnaires each comprising 5 sections. These questionnaires were distributed among students as group administered and among teachers as self-administered. Data was analyzed by SPSS software using frequency distribution and t-test

Results: There was no significant difference between the mean score of students' and teachers' viewpoints considering factors related to teachers' personal features, teacher's educational activities, educational conditions, and factors associated with students. But a significant difference was observed between their mean score regarding factors related to practical course. Students considered factors unrelated to teacher's quality of education such as easy taking, easy examination questions, level of interest in discipline, and level of interest in teacher, very important

Conclusion: According to teachers' and students' viewpoints, many factors affect teacher evaluation that discounting factors related to practical course, all other factors are adhered by both groups. Therefore, evaluation by students serves as a valuable criterion for teachers' performance. It is necessary to pay attention to the factors unrelated to teacher's quality of education in teacher evaluation by students