effect of cardiac arrhythmias simulation software on the nurses' learning and professional development

Introduction: one of the important tasks of nurses in intensive care unit is interpretation of ECG. The use of training simulator is a new paradigm in the age of computers. This study was performed to evaluate the impact of cardiac arrhythmias simulator software on nurses' learning in the subspecialty Vali-Asr Hospital in 2016

Methods: this study was conducted by quasi-experimental randomized Salomon four group design with the participation of 120 nurses in subspecialty Vali-Asr Hospital in Tehran, Iran in 2016 that were selected purposefully and allocated in 4 groups. By this design other confounding factors such as the prior information, maturation and the role of sex and age were controlled by Solomon 4 design. The valid and reliable multiple choice test tools were used to gather information; the validity of the test was approved by experts and its reliability was obtained by Cronbach's alpha coefficient 0.89. At first, the knowledge and skills of the participants were assessed by a pre-test; following the educational intervention with cardiac arrhythmias simulator software during 14 days in ICUs, the mentioned factors were measured for the two groups again by a post-test in the four groups. Data were analyzed using the two way ANOVA. The significance level was considered as p<0.05

Results: based on randomized four-group Solomon designs and our test results, using cardiac arrhythmias simulator software as an intervention was effective in the nurses' learning since a significant difference was found between pre-test and post-test in the first group [p<0.05]. Also, other comparisons by ANOVA test showed that there was no interaction between pre-test and intervention in all of the three knowledge areas of cardiac arrhythmias, their treatments and their diagnosis [p>0.05]

Conclusion: the use of software-based simulator for cardiac arrhythmias was effective in nurses' learning in light of its attractive components and interactive method. This intervention increased the knowledge of the nurses in cognitive domain of cardiac arrhythmias in addition to their diagnosis and treatment. Also, the package can be used for training in other areas such as continuing medical education

Evaluation of information literacy status among medical students at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: The information literacy status and the use of information technology among students in the globalization age of course plans are very momentous. This study aimed to evaluate the information literacy status and use of information technology among medical students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2013

Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical study with crosssectional method. The study population consisted of all medical students [physiopathology, externship and internship] studying at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The sample size [n=310] was selected by systematic random sampling. The tool of data gathering was LASSI questionnaire [assigned by America research association] with 48 closed items in five-point LIKERT scale. The questionnaire included two distinct parts of demographic questions and the information literacy skills based on the standards of information literacy capacities for academic education. The content validity was acquired by professors' and experts' comments. The reliability was also calculated by Cronbach's alpha [0.85]. Data were analyzed in both descriptive [frequency- mean] and analytical level [t-test, analysis of variance] using SPSS 14 software

Results: 60.3% of the participants were females, and the remaining [29.7%] were males. The mean score of information literacy and its five subgroups among the students weren't at a desirable level. The mean scores of information literacy for educational grades from the highest to lowest belonged to the internship, physiopathology and externship. The results showed that the highest average was related to the effective access ability to information among interns [9.27+/-3.57] and the lowest one was related to the ability of understanding legal and economical cases related with using information among externs [3.11+/-1.32]. The results of ANOVA showed that there wasn't a significant difference between educational grades and information literacy. Finally, the result of independent t-test did not show a significant difference between the two genders in information literacy

Conclusion: Regarding the importance of information literacy for medical students and undesirable status of information literacy among students, the current educational plans will need to be revised

Assessment of dental students' communication skills with patients

Introduction: Establishment of effective communication between the clinician and patient is essential in order to increase the effectiveness of treatment. These skills have been less investigated among dental students. This study aimed to evaluate communication skills of dental students in Shiraz with patients through direct observation, patients' perspectives and students' self-assessments

Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled the fifth and sixth year dental students and one of each student's patients who was chosen using simple random sampling method. We used a checklist for data collection. Students' communication skills were assessed at three steps of the student-patient interview - at the beginning of the interview, during the interview, and at the end of the interview. The checklist was completed by three groups: 1] an observer, 2]] the patient and 3] the student, as self-assessment. The validity of the checklist was confirmed by clinical professors and the reliability was determined by Cronbach's alpha test. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Student's t test. A repeated measure MANOVA was used to compare the mean communication skills in the researcher, patients, and students at each step of the patient interviews

Results: There were 110 students [mean age: 22.3 +/- 8.4 years] and 110 patients [mean age: 32 +/- 8.8 years] who completed the checklists. Overall, the communication skills of dental students were rated as good according to the patients. However, the observer and student participants rated the skills at the moderate level. We observed significant differences between communication skills in all three groups and in the three steps of the patient interviews [p<0.001]. According to patients' beliefs and students' self assessments, there were no differences between male and female students in communication skills in the three steps of the patient interviews [all p>0.05]. However from the observer's viewpoint, female students showed better communication skills during the interviews [p<0.00l]

Conclusion: There was a degree of failure in communication skills of dental students with patients in the interview process. It will be necessary that communication skills be taught, particularly for students involved in clinical practice

People's attitudes towards the quality of physician-patient interactions in primary health care units in Fars Province

Background: Changes in expectations and requirements of the end users of medical education "community members" and evolution in health services necessitate some changes in the medical education curriculum. To achieve this reform in curricula, obtaining insight into the health care needs of community members and their comments about their physicians is highly required in community-oriented education. This survey was conducted to determine the attitudes of health care receivers toward the general physicians' professional behavior in Fars province, Iran

Methods: This is a descriptive study and the subjects were the receivers of health care services. We selected 97 individuals in each city of Fars province using randomized-cluster sampling. The sample size increased to 150 in each city and overall 2500 individuals participated in the study. For data collection, an anonymous questionnaire was developed which was tested for the validity of the contents using the experts' views and reliability was checked using test-retest. The data were analyzed using SPSS 14 statistical software

Results: The results of this study revealed the participants' attitudes toward education, treatment and consultative services by physicians in Fars province. Overall, the response rate was about 95%. The patients rated the physicians' professional behavior, as one of the key determinants of their experiences with healthcare services. Moreover, 73.2% of the participants were fully satisfied with the quality of care they received from their physicians and 24.9% were satisfied to some extent

Conclusion: According to the results of the study, the physician's educational and consultative roles in medical education curricula must be reviewed and emphasized

qualitative inquiry into the challenges and complexities of research supervision: viewpoints of postgraduate students and faculty members

Introduction: The supervision of academic theses at the Universities of Medical Sciences is one of the most important issues with several challenges. The aim of the present study is to discover the nature of problems and challenges of thesis supervision in Iranian universities of medical sciences

Methods: The study was conducted with a qualitative method using conventional content analysis approach. Nineteen faculty members, using purposive sampling, and 11 postgraduate medical sciences students [Ph.D students and residents] were selected on the basis of theoretical sampling. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and field observations in Shiraz and Isfahan universities of medical sciences from September 2012 to December 2014. The qualitative content analysis was used with a conventional approach to analyze the data

Results: While experiencing the nature of research supervision process, faculties and the students faced some complexities and challenges in the research supervision process. The obtained codes were categorized under 4 themes based on the characteristics; included [Conceptual problem], [Role ambiguity in thesis supervision], [Poor reflection in supervision] and [Ethical problems]

Conclusion: The result of this study revealed that there is a need for more attention to planning and defining the supervisory, and research supervision. Also, improvement of the quality of supervisor and students relationship must be considered behind the research context improvement in research supervisory area