Perception of professionalism in clinical practice among clinical year radiography students in a tertiary institution in Ghana.

INTRODUCTION: Professionalism describes the positive attitudes, conduct, aims, values, skills, and behaviours that characterize a profession or a group of professionals. The steady professional growth of radiographers, which begins during undergraduate training, continues to be significantly influenced by education. As professional traits are ingrained in radiography students through official clinical instruction and observations, research on professionalism is necessary to monitor the perception of the subject matter. However, no study on Ghanaian radiography students on professionalism has been conducted. The goal of this study was to determine how clinical radiography students at a higher education facility in Ghana viewed the professionalism of radiography practice. METHODS: Sixty-four consenting Level 300 (3rd year) and Level 400 (4th year) students in the University of Ghana School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences' BSc Diagnostic Radiography and BSc Therapy programmes completed the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine Professionalism Questionnaire (PSCOM-PQ) which was used to determine the impacts and challenges to professionalism. Version 23.0 of the Statistical Package for Social Science program (SPSS 23.0) was used to analyze the collected data. RESULTS: A good sense of professionalism in clinical practice was held by the majority of clinical radiography students. More than 56% of them observed professional practice among the majority of radiographers, contrary to 40.6% of them who witnessed it among only a few radiographers. The students observed both positive and negative effects on the professionalism of radiography practice. As a result, 77.9% of the students said that it was difficult to exhibit professionalism in radiography during their clinical training. CONCLUSION: The students agreed that professionalism impacted positively and negatively on radiography practice, and consequently identified to need to address the mitigating challenges to improve the level of professionalism. By this, most of the clinical year students had a better understanding of perceptions of the professionalism of radiography practice. IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE: According to the study's findings, clinical students' radiography practice is affected either positively or negatively by their conceptions of professionalism and their adherence to them during the entire training period.

Assessment of diagnostic radiographers' knowledge of work-related health problems and associated effects: A multicentre study in Ghana.

INTRODUCTION: Work-related health problems (WRHPs) are health conditions peculiar to a group of people or occupations including radiography in a specific work setting. These WRHPs occur as a result of prevailing work conditions which predispose workers to risks of physical or psychological distress. AIM: This study assessed the knowledge of WRHPs among practicing radiographers in Ghana and evaluated the sources, causes, effects and preventive measures of WRHPs. METHODS: A prospective cross-sectional design incorporating a quantitative data collection approach was used. A questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge and evaluate the effects of WRHPs among two cohorts of 31 practicing radiographers at a regional hospital (RH) and a teaching hospital (TH). RESULTS: An average score of 4.2 (SD = 0.4) out of 5 (84.8%) obtained on the knowledge scale indicated very good knowledge of WRHPs among the radiographers. Physical work demands, ergonomic issues, increased workload and stress levels on on-duty radiographers due to sick absence by colleagues, large numbers of daily cases, and extra work without incentives were reported as WRHPs effects mostly experienced by the radiographers. The study also showed no significant difference between gender groups (p = 0.313), years of professional practice experience level (p = 0.319), and academic qualifications (p = 0.287) on knowledge of WRHPs. CONCLUSION: Radiographers working in some referral and teaching hospitals in Ghana demonstrated very good knowledge of WRHPs and identified several effects of WRHPs on professional practice. IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE: The study concludes that WRHPs predispose radiographers to adverse health conditions, and administrative protocols are required to prevent or mitigate the burden.

Defective jejunal brush border membrane sodium/proton exchange in association with lethal familial protracted diarrhoea.

The spectrum of clinical disease associated with specific defects in jejunal brush border membrane sodium/proton exchange is poorly defined and only two patients have been described so far. Jejunal brush border membrane transport studies were performed in a boy who presented with lethal familial protracted diarrhoea in the first few days of life. Using jejunal brush border membrane vesicles prepared from conventional jejunal biopsy specimens, initial sodium uptake under H+ gradient conditions was found to be only 6% of the mean control value. In contrast, sodium stimulated glucose uptake was normal. Our data confirm the importance of a congenital defect in this exchanger as a cause of severe sodium-losing diarrhoea and extend the spectrum of disorders characterised by a specific defect in brush border membrane Na+/H+ exchange to include some forms of lethal familial protracted diarrhoea.

Glucose-galactose malabsorption: demonstration of specific jejunal brush border membrane defect.

Jejunal brush border glucose transport was studied in a patient with glucose-galactose malabsorption and in controls, using jejunal brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) prepared from conventional jejunal biopsies. Whereas BBMV from controls showed a seven-fold enhancement of D-glucose uptake in the presence of an inwardly directed sodium gradient compared with its absence, no such enhancement was seen in the patient's vesicles. In BBMV from the patient, initial D-glucose uptake under sodium gradient conditions was only 10% of the mean control value. In contrast, sodium/proton exchange in BBMV from the patient was intact. These data provide the first unequivocal evidence that the jejunal brush border membrane is the site of a specific defect in sodium dependent glucose transport in glucose-galactose malabsorption. Measurement of glucose uptake by BBMV may well be the optimal diagnostic technique in this disorder.

Faecal chymotrypsin: a reliable index of exocrine pancreatic function.

Simultaneous measurements of duodenal and faecal chymotrypsin were made in 30 children aged 3 weeks to 14 years. Apparent chymotrypsin secretion rates measured after stimulation with pancreozymin were compared with the mean faecal chymotrypsin concentration derived from three stool specimens collected at random within 72 hours of the intraduodenal test. In the 25 children who responded to pancreozymin stimulation the mean faecal chymotrypsin concentration was significantly positively correlated with the apparent chymotrypsin secretion rate. Correlation using single specimen stools collected at random was appreciably poorer. In the five children with undetectable or only traces of chymotrypsin in the duodenum after stimulation, the mean faecal chymotrypsin concentrations were only 3-10% of the lower limit of the reference interval. In a second group of 46 children with cystic fibrosis proved by sweat tests and clinical evidence of malabsorption, the chymotrypsin concentration measured in a single stool specimen collected at random was unequivocally subnormal in each case. Faecal chymotrypsin measurement is a rapid, simple, cheap, readily repeated, non-invasive test of high specificity and sensitivity. Faecal chymotrypsin should be measured before contemplating intraduodenal tests of pancreatic function.

Postnatal development of disaccharidase activities in jejunal fluid of preterm neonates.

Because human fetuses of 26-30 weeks gestation are known to have low levels of intestinal mucosal lactase activity, it has been assumed that live born preterm neonates of comparable gestational age are also lactase deficient. We have previously shown that disaccharidase activities in jejunal fluid in infants are highly significantly correlated with enzyme activities in the adjacent mucosa. We have now measured disaccharidase activities cross-sectionally and longitudinally in the jejunal fluid of a group of very preterm neonates of 26-29 weeks gestation who were fed with pasteurised human milk. Lactase activity was within the normal range for older infants and children within the first week of life. Sucrase: lactase ratios fell significantly in the second and third weeks of life, strongly suggesting a further increase in lactase activity. This increase was independent of postconceptional age. Preterm neonates are not as lactase deficient as previously believed, and this has implications in the search for optimal feeding regimes.