akram mohammadi pelarti

The clinical learning environment is an important part of nursing education with a significant impact on nursing students’ perceptions and experiences. This study aimed to explore nursing students› reflections to determine the effects of the first rotation in the clinical learning environment of the oncology unit on their perceptions and practices. A descriptive qualitative study design was used. Data were collected using reflective diaries of forty 5th-semester nursing students about their experiences of learning in the oncology unit. Conventional content analysis was used for data analysis using MAXQD 10 software. Participants’ perceptions of the clinical learning environment of the oncology unit were categorized into four main categories, namely challenging encounters, perceived needs, internal transcendence, and professional role development. According to the results, nursing students’ unpleasant experiences must be managed. Careful attention should be devoted to the unique characteristics of this ward. Different educational strategies are needed, and clinical instructors must play their roles as facilitators in challenging conditions to promote nursing students’ clinical learning in oncology.

Nurses face many ethical challenges in providing care to patients. Scenario-based  learning along  with the use of  reflection can be an interactive, dynamic, and expansive learning strategy in ethics education that enhances students' decision-making skills and self-learning abilities. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of reflective learning based on clinical scenarios on students' moral sensitivity in the course of professional communication and nursing ethics.

This study was a semi-experimental pre-test-post-test single group study that was performed on nursing students of Fasa University of Medical Sciences during the academic year of 2018-2019 in three stages of design, implementation and evaluation to assess students' moral sensitivity. In this study, all second semester nursing students including 48 people participated in the study. To collect data, the Persian version of the Lutzen Ethical Sensitivity Questionnaire (2006) was used. Data were analyzed in SPSS software version 21 at the level of descriptive and analytical statistics (paired t).

In this study, there was no significant difference between the mean of the total score of moral sensitivity before and after the intervention (p value> 0.05). Also, the results of paired t-test did not show a significant difference before and after the educational intervention in the subscales of moral sensitivity (Sense Of Moral Burden,  Moral Strength, Moral Responsibility) (p value> 0.05).

The present study, considering the non-significant difference between students 'moral sensitivity scores before and after the intervention, suggests that despite the place of reflective activities in the development of students' learning, especially in Western studies, and also applying such new approaches, especially by considering different cultural pedagogies, can take on more complex dimensions in order to be effective. Therefore, further studies on the effectiveness and dimensions of using reflection activities in ethics education are recommended to undergraduate nursing students in Iran.

Scenario-based learning provides students with the opportunity to interact with each other and engage in the situation through applying active learning strategies. The present study intended to compare scenario-based learning with two methods of group discussion and question and answer on the learning achievement of nursing students.

This interventional-comparative study was conducted during the first semester of the academic year 2018-2019, with 94 nursing students in the 6th semester who were randomly assigned to two groups. In the control group, case scenarios were taught through question and answer method while in the test group, the scenario cases were taught through group discussion method. The final test score of Nursing Care at Home course was compared as a marker of learning achievement between the two groups. To analyze the data, independent t-test was applied to compare the scores of the two groups, covariance analysis test was performed to adjust the variables and to investigate the relationship between demographic traits (age and average score) with learning achievements Pearson Correlation Coefficient was implemented using SPSS 18.

Analysis of covariance by adjusting the variables in the two groups detected that the obtained scores from the final exam as a marker of learning achievement had a significant relationship with the teaching method (P-value< 0.05) therefore the average score of the group with discussion method was higher than that of the group with question and answer method in scenario-based learning.

Scenario - based learning with group discussion methods can facilitate and promote students' learning.

Critical thinking development in healthcare professions is a necessity for making effective decisions in high-risk situations. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of reflective writing with Gibb’s cycle on students’ critical thinking disposition.

This was an interventional research with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The anesthesia students in the clinical education course were selected, and those entered into the control group received conventional education such as clinical conferences, performing actions and giving performance reports under the supervision of a clinical instructor. On the other hand, a structured reflective writing activity was implemented in the intervention group. Moreover, a critical thinking disposition questionnaire was applied to evaluate the difference in the level of critical thinking disposition and its subscales before and after the intervention.

In the present study, the total mean score of critical thinking disposition and the innovativeness subscale were significantly higher in the test group after the intervention, compared to the control group (P<0.05).

Findings suggested the positive effects of reflective writing as a part of students’ learning activities on the development of critical thinking disposition during a clinical education course. It is recommended that reflective writing be used as a part of students’ assignments when planning clinical education courses.

Asthma is the most important chronic disease in school-age children. The effects are significant in terms of increased economic costs, decreased quality of life, hospitalization, absenteeism, and death. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of family-centered education based on the Health Belief Model on absenteeism and hospitalization of 6 to 12-year-old children with asthma.

In this clinical trial study, parents of 64 children with asthma were recruited from Arya Hospital Specialty Center for Asthma and Allergy in Ahvaz, Iran. Purposeful and accessible sampling was performed and the samples were randomly divided into two groups of case and control (32 each). Data were collected through a questionnaire containing demographic information and a researcher-made questionnaire of health beliefs and child asthma remediation indices that were collected twice (before educational intervention and 4 months later). Data were analyzed using SPSS 18 software.

A total of 64 samples were included in the present study. Each parent group included 32 children with asthma. According to the Health Belief Model, the mean score of sensitivity, severity, perceived benefits, and barriers and self-efficacy before intervention did not show any significant difference between the two groups (p> 0.05). After intervention, the mean score of case group was significantly higher than the control group (p <0.05). Also, there was no significant difference between the number of absences from school and hospital stay before intervention (p> 0.05). However, these characteristics were significantly lower in the case group after intervention (p <0.05). 

Family-based care based on the Health Belief Model leads to improvement of asthma indices in children and consequently prevents additional costs to the patient. Therefore, it is recommended that this model be used to train nursing students.

Asthma is the mostcommonchronic condition among children. It requires parents to engage in child care. Thus, the quality of asthma control depends on parents’ knowledge and attitude towards asthma and its treatments.

This study sought to evaluate the effects of family-centered education based on the Health Belief Model on knowledge and attitude among the parents of children with asthma.

This randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 64 parents of children with asthma who were purposefully recruited from a pulmonary clinic in Ahvaz, Iran. Participants were randomly allocated to either a control or an intervention group. Participants in the intervention group were offered a family-centered educational program based on the Health Belief Model, while participants in the control group received the same educational materials without the use of the Health Belief Model. Participants’ knowledge and attitude were measured before and three months after the intervention using a forty-item researcher-made questionnaire. The SPSS program (version 18.0) was employed for data analysis.

There were no significant differences between the groups regarding participants’ demographic characteristics and the pretest mean scores of knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and selfefficacy (P > 0.05). However, all posttest values of these mean scores in the intervention group were significantly different from the control group (P < 0.05).

Family-centered education based on the Health Belief Model is effective in significantly improving knowledge and attitude about asthma and its treatments among the parents of children with asthma.