Relationship between an amount of Key Tasks and Job Satisfaction among Caregivers and Nurses in Elderly Care Facilities

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to examine relationship between an amount of key tasks and job satisfaction among caregivers and nurses in elderly care facilities. METHODS: Questionnaires were mailed to the caring staff of elderly care facilities. After data collection (return rate 70%), information about work situations and health conditions were analyzed among 325 female workers, who were classified to 4 groups as follows; (1) caregivers under 40 years of age (2) caregivers of 40 years or over (3) nurses under 40 years of age (4) nurses of 40 years or over. RESULTS: Mean ages and length of career in caring sector were 37.2 +/- 12.2 yr and 4.5 +/- 3.0 yr for caregivers and 41.6 +/- 9.2 yr and 16.8 +/- 8.9 yr for nurses, respectively. A larger amount of care services were done on average by workers being dissatisfied with their job than by the satisfied workers in each of the 4 groups. The dissatisfied caregivers under 40 years showed significantly higher frequencies (as ratios of 1.4 - 2 to 1) in several care services such as "helping with showers or baths", "helping with eating", "changing diapers", "moving caretakers from bed or chair to wheelchair or vice versa", as compared with the satisfied caregivers under 40 years. Similarly, the 40 plus dissatisfied caregivers helped caretakers sit up in bed significantly more frequently. For nurses, on the other hand, "changing diapers" was found as the only service with a significant difference in frequency between the dissatisfied and the satisfied, but that was limited in the 40 plus age group. A frequency of "changing diapers" was associated with an increase in the risk of job dissatisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that an appropriate amount of each key task in elderly care facilities should be set to prevent staff\'s dissatisfaction with their job from growing excessively.

Surveys to assess the attitudes of medical students about learning / 医学教育

In the present study, surveys regarding the philosophy of learning were administered just after the entrance ceremony to all students entering the Fujita Health University School of Medicine in 2005 and then, once more, to the same students during the last term of the fourth year, so that the data could be subsequently analyzed. The 87 fourth-year students who completed the surveys were divided into 3 groups(top, middle, and bottom thirds)on the basis of their examination scores in the previous years. <br>1) Results of the fourth-year survey suggested that students in the middle or bottom third did not develop a "learning-centered campus lifestyle" during their 4 years of medical studies, although the first-year survey indicated that most students in all 3 thirds had desired such a lifestyle.<br>2) The image of a physician had changed somewhat for students in middle or bottom third but not for students in the top third.<br>3) Attendance rates in all years of medical study were lower for students in the bottom third than for students in the middle or top third. Moreover, the motivation to study and attend lectures showed a downward trend over time for students in the bottom third.

What factors affect examination results after admission?: Research at the Fujita Health University School of Medicine / 医学教育

At the Fujita Health University School of Medicine, about 30% of medical students are admitted on the basis of recommendations.To evaluate the performance of these students after admission, a placement test was given to all new students just after the entrance ceremony to examine basic academic abilities.The scores were compared with the number of absences from lectures and with examination results for the first and second years.<BR>1) The 398 students admitted from 2002 through 2005 were classified into three populations: 126 recommended students, 137 students who scored in the top half on the entrance examination, and 135 students who scored in the bottom half.<BR>2) Scores on the placement test were highest for the top-half students, intermediate for the bottom-half students, and lowest for the recommended students.Scores on examinations in the first and second years were highest for the top-half students, intermediate for the recommended students, and lowest for the bottom-half students.<BR>3) The average number of absences from lectures in the first and second years tended to be lower for recommended students than for the top-half or bottom-half students.<BR>4) The examination scores in the second year were correlated with scores in the first year, and the average number of absences in the second year correlated with those in the first year.<BR>5) These results indicate that the motivation of students in each classification to study in the 1st year is, in addition to their basic academic abilities obtained in high school, an important factor affecting their performance in the second year and beyond.

Fatigue among Medical Students in a Trial of Computer-based Testing for Common Achievement Tests / 医学教育

We investigated the degree of fatigue among medical students during the second trial of the Common Achievement Tests, which use a computer-based testing (CBT) method. A revised questionnaire for subjective fatigue symptoms proposed by the Industrial Fatigue Research meeting of the Japan Society for Occupational Health was used to examine the degree of fatigue. The CBT examinee group (n=41) sat for the examination for 6 hours using video display terminals. Significant changes were seen in 19 of the 25 items for subjective symptoms. At the end of the test period, significant differences between the CBT examinee group and the lecture participant group (n=50) were found for 15 of the items for subjective symptoms. Subjective symptoms were classified into 5 categories: sleepiness, instability, displeasure, feeling languid, and blurred vision. In the CBT examinee group, rates of symptoms increased significantly in all 5 categories. The increase in the rate of “blurred vision” was especially marked.