Effectiveness of Education Using Comic Media on Knowledge About Covid-19 Among Elementary School Students

@#Introduction: Children typically have a diminished capacity to comprehend the COVID-19 epidemic. To convey information about COVID-19 to elementary school students (ESS), it takes educational comic media that children like because it is “fun,” “ informative, “ and well-understood. However, the effectiveness of this intervention has yet to be thoroughly investigated. This study aimed to measure the knowledge of ESS after studying COVID-19 with comics. Methods: A pre-post quasi-experimental design with a control group was used in this study. There were 66 ESS recruited on purpose. Intervention (n = 33) and control (n = 33) groups were formed. The intervention group received COVID-19 education using comic book media. Who Will Win the Fight Between Kids, Vaayu, and Corona?, a COVID-19 Awareness Comic, was translated into Indonesian. The education was given twice every two weeks, while the standard school intervention was given to the control group. To collect data, researchers designed a questionnaire based on a literature study. The questionnaire was valid and reliable, with a Cronbach alpha of 0.71, and the results were analysed using the independent sample t-test. Results: There was a substantial difference in Knowledge towards COVID-19 ratings between the control and intervention groups (p = 0.001). The mean Knowledge towards COVID-19 score of the intervention group was higher than that of the control group (M=4.33 vs M=1.63). Knowledge about COVID-19 differed significantly between the intervention and control groups (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Comic books are effective in increasing knowledge about COVID-19 in ESS.

The effect of chlorhexidine in reducing oral colonisation in geriatric patients: a randomised controlled trial

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>Inadequate oral care has been implicated in the development of aspiration pneumonia in frail geriatric patients and is a major cause of mortality, due to the colonisation of microbes in vulnerable patients. This type of pneumonia has been associated with an increase in respiratory pathogens in the oral cavity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of chlorhexidine compared to routine oral care in edentulous geriatric inpatients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A double-blind, parallel-group randomised controlled trial was carried out. The intervention group received oral care with chlorhexidine 0.2%, while the control group received routine oral care with thymol. Nurses provided oral care with assigned solutions of 20 mL once daily over seven days. Oral cavity assessment using the Brief Oral Health Status Examination form was performed before each oral care procedure. Data on medication received and the subsequent development of aspiration pneumonia was recorded. An oral swab was performed on Day 7 to obtain specimens to test for colonisation.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The final sample consisted of 35 (control) and 43 (intervention) patients. Chlorhexidine was effective in reducing oral colonisation compared to routine oral care with thymol (p < 0.001). The risk of oral bacterial colonisation was nearly three times higher in the thymol group compared to the chlorhexidine group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The use of chlorhexidine 0.2% significantly reduced oral colonisation and is recommended as an easier and more cost-effective alternative for oral hygiene.</p>

What Influences Malaysian Nurses to Participate in Continuing Professional Education Activities?

PURPOSE: A cross sectional descriptive study, which involved government hospitals and health clinics from Peninsular Malaysia sought to identify the continuing professional education (CPE) needs and their readiness for E-learning. This paper focuses on the first phase of that study that aimed to determine the factors that influence nurses' participation in CPE. METHODS: Multistage cluster sampling was used to recruit 1,000 nurses randomly from 12 hospitals and 24 health clinics from four states in Peninsular Malaysia who agreed to be involved. The respondent rate was 792 (79.2%), of which 562 (80%) had participated in CPE in the last 12 months. RESULTS: Findings suggested that updating knowledge and providing quality care are the most important factors that motivate participation in CPE, with respective means of 4.34 and 4.39. All the mean scores for educational opportunity were less than 3.0. Chi-square tests were used to test the association of demographic data and CPE participation. All demographical data were significantly associated with CPE participation, except marital status. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of mandatory CPE is considered an important measure to increase nurse's participation in CPE. However, effective planning that takes into consideration the learning needs of nurses is recommended.