Search Results for
"human"

In many countries, schools are encouraged to link with business to add authenticity to learning.The number of these business-school partnerships has shown a marked increase over the last twenty years. Traditionally researchers investigating these partnerships have focussed on the schools' perspectives (Du, Bhattacharya, & Sen, 2010, pp. 32-33), however this New Zealand research has focused solely on the business perspective of established school partnerships. The study used a mixed methods approach utilising both online survey and semi-structured interviews. Ten out of the forty participating businesses surveyed used a brokering organisation as a way of developing and maintaining these partnerships and some developed rationales to support the partnership. This study investigated the value of using brokering organisations, rationales and designated staff to support business-school partnerships. Findings indicate that brokers and designated staff play a very effective role in enhancing business-school links, and more benefits are perceived when a rationale has been established. It is anticipated that these findings will support the development and success of business-school partnerships. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.

Background: The measurement of competence in evidence-based practice (EBP) remains challenging to many educators and academics due to the lack of explicit competency criteria. Much uncertainty exists about what specific EBP competencies nurses should meet and how these should be measured. Objectives: The objectives of this study are to develop a competency framework for measuring evidence-based knowledge and skills in nursing and to elicit the views of health educators/researchers about elements within the framework. Design: A descriptive survey design with questionnaire. Participants and Settings: Between August and December 2013, forty-two health academics/educators, clinicians; and researchers from the medical and nursing schools at the University of Sydney and the Nurse Teacher's Society in Australia were invited to comment on proposed elements for measuring evidence-based knowledge and skills. Methods: The EBP competency framework was designed to measure nurses' knowledge and skills for using evidence in practice. Participants were invited to rate their agreement on the structure and relevance of the framework and to state their opinion about the measurement criteria for evidence-based nursing practice. Results: Participant agreement on the structure and relevance of the framework was substantial, ICC: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.67-0.88, P < 0.0001. Qualitative analysis of two open-ended survey questions revealed three common themes in participants' opinion of the competency elements: (1) a useful EBP framework; (2) varying expectations of EBP competence; and (3) challenges to EBP implementation. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggested that the EBP competency framework is of credible value for facilitating evidence-based practice education and research in nursing. However, there remains some uncertainty and disagreement about the levels of EBP competence required for nurses. These challenges further implicate the need for setting a reasonable competency benchmark with a broader group of stakeholders in nursing. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd.

Underpinned by stage-environment fit and job demands-resources theories, this study examined how adolescents' anxiety, depressive symptoms, and positive functioning developed as they transferred from comprehensive school to further education, employment or training, or became NEET (not in education, employment, or training), at age 16 years, in the longitudinal English national cohort study Next Steps (N ± 13,342). Controlling for childhood achievement, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and gender, we found that NEET adolescents had the largest losses in mental health. This pattern was similar to adolescents staying on at school who had increased anxiety and depression, and decreased positive functioning, after transition. In comparison, adolescents transferring to full-time work, apprenticeships, or vocational college experienced gains in mental health. © 2016 American Psychological Association.

Background: There is a workforce crisis in primary care. Previous research has looked at the reasons underlying recruitment and retention problems, but little research has looked at what works to improve recruitment and retention. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate interventions and strategies used to recruit and retain primary care doctors internationally. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL and grey literature were searched from inception to January 2015. Articles assessing interventions aimed at recruiting or retaining doctors in high income countries, applicable to primary care doctors were included. No restrictions on language or year of publication. The first author screened all titles and abstracts and a second author screened 20 %. Data extraction was carried out by one author and checked by a second. Meta-analysis was not possible due to heterogeneity. Results: Fifty-one studies assessing 42 interventions were retrieved. Interventions were categorised into thirteen groups: financial incentives (n = 11), recruiting rural students (n = 6), international recruitment (n = 4), rural or primary care focused undergraduate placements (n = 3), rural or underserved postgraduate training (n = 3), well-being or peer support initiatives (n = 3), marketing (n = 2), mixed interventions (n = 5), support for professional development or research (n = 5), retainer schemes (n = 4), re-entry schemes (n = 1), specialised recruiters or case managers (n = 2) and delayed partnerships (n = 2). Studies were of low methodological quality with no RCTs and only 15 studies with a comparison group. Weak evidence supported the use of postgraduate placements in underserved areas, undergraduate rural placements and recruiting students to medical school from rural areas. There was mixed evidence about financial incentives. A marketing campaign was associated with lower recruitment. Conclusions: This is the first systematic review of interventions to improve recruitment and retention of primary care doctors. Although the evidence base for recruiting and care doctors is weak and more high quality research is needed, this review found evidence to support undergraduate and postgraduate placements in underserved areas, and selective recruitment of medical students. Other initiatives covered may have potential to improve recruitment and retention of primary care practitioners, but their effectiveness has not been established. © 2016 Verma et al.

General practice registrars in Australia undertake most of their vocational training in accredited general practices. They typically see patients alone from the start of their community-based training and are expected to seek timely ad hoc support from their supervisor. Such ad hoc encounters are a mechanism for ensuring patient safety, but also provide an opportunity for learning and teaching. Wenger’s (Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1998) social theory of learning (‘communities of practice’) guided a secondary analysis of audio-recordings of ad hoc encounters. Data from one encounter is re-presented as an extended sequence to maintain congruence with the theoretical perspective and enhance vicariousness. An interpretive commentary communicates key features of Wenger’s theory and highlights the researchers’ interpretations. We argue that one encounter can reveal universal understandings of clinical supervision and that the process of naturalistic generalisation allows readers to transfer others’ experiences to their own contexts. The paper raises significant analytic, interpretive, and representational issues. We highlight that report writing is an important, but infrequently discussed, part of research design. We discuss the challenges of supporting the learning and teaching that arises from adopting a socio-cultural lens and argue that such a perspective importantly captures the complex range of issues that work-based practitioners have to grapple with. This offers a challenge to how we research and seek to influence work-based learning and teaching in health care settings. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Purpose: The meaning assessors attach to assessment criteria during clinical placement is under-researched. While personal beliefs, values or expectations may influence judgements, there is scant evidence of how this manifests in a clinical attachment setting. This research explored the concept and source of internalised standards and how these may influence judgements. Methods: This study, within the constructivist paradigm, was informed by the principles of grounded theory. Seven radiation therapists, purposefully selected, were interviewed face-to-face using semi-structured interviews. The sample size allowed for the gathering of sufficient data for in-depth thematic analysis, using the functionality of CAQDAS (NVivo 9). Results: Radiation therapists' judgements when assessing students were influenced by their previous experience. They had different expectations of the appropriate standard for each criterion on students' assessment forms - relating to technical ability, clinical knowledge and attitude. They had their own set of values, or expectations which informed 'internalised standards' which influenced their judgements about student performance. Prior experience - as students and as qualified professionals - influenced these decisions. Conclusion: Assessment of students' performance may differ depending on the clinician conducting the assessment. Even where assessors are given the same criteria and training, this does not ensure reliability, as judgements are influenced by their internalised standards. This has implications for the design of more appropriate assessor training which recognises and addresses this phenomenon. These results will be of interest to radiation therapists, radiographers, medical educators, allied health professionals and any academic or professional body with responsibility for ensuring that we qualify competent practitioners. © 2015 The College of Radiographers.

Background and objectives: Both France and Switzerland face a general practitioner (GP) shortage. What differences or parallels exist between the two countries with regard to the causes for this shortage? What conclusions might be drawn from a systematic comparison? Methods: Literature review with qualitative and semi-quantitative content analysis. Results: Parallels exist in the comparing categories work contents, working structure, income and social status, medical school formation, private life, psychological motives. Differences are found in the categories biography and social selection, medical socialisation, residency. In Switzerland, residency is not uniformly structured, rarely institutionally organised and contains only few elements specific to general medicine. In France, medical socialisation not only exalts the specialists, but also strongly devaluates the GPs. Conclusions: By systematic analysis and comparison of both countries' pertinent literature, France and Switzerland can deepen their understanding of GP shortage. This paper identifies possible fields of action from medical school through residency up to workplace conditions that are pivotal in addressing the shortage of GPs. © 2016 Hogrefe.

The present articles introduce the e-Portfolio as a storage, workspace and showcase to support teaching and learning in higher education institutions (HEIs). Thus, the mix-method approach was implemented on determining important elements of e-Portfolio as a storage, workspace and showcase for a social sciences and humanities context. This study implemented thematic analysis and Fuzzy Delphi Method to obtain the result. Therefore, 25 experts in instructional technology was participated in the process of the making a decision. As resulted, this study highlighted the fundamental of e-Portfolio consists; workspace, storage and showcase. Eventually, the instructional designer will understand and strategies on how to develop an effective e-Portfolio as learning support tool to enhance the learning experience between facilitator and learner. © 2016 Canadian Center of Science and Education. All rights reserved.

In recent years, the value of social learning approaches as part of the design and delivery of formalised coach development initiatives has gained credence in the literature. However, insight is currently lacking into the fundamental social dimensions that underpin coach learning. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore coaches’ perceptions of their actual and preferred methods of acquiring new coaching knowledge, the types of knowledge they currently acquire and/or desire, and their application of new knowledge. Responses to an online survey, completed by practicing coaches (N = 320) in a range of sports and contexts, were analysed descriptively and inductively. Results revealed that coaches preferred, and mostly acquired, coaching knowledge from informal learning activities, especially when these permitted social interaction. Notably, however, formal coach education courses were also reported relatively frequently as a source of recent knowledge acquisition. Nevertheless, critical justification for and application of acquired knowledge was largely absent. Based on the findings, we suggest that, before social learning activities such as mentoring schemes and communities of practice are placed at the centre of formalised coach development provision, coach educators must put in place the support structures to better enable coaches to recognise and deal with the potentially mixed influences of the social milieu on coach learning, aiming to ensure that their informal development is sufficiently open-minded, reflective and critical. © 2015 Taylor & Francis.

Background: Apprentices in human service professions are exposed to emotional and physical stresses in their workplaces. Moreover, they are in the vulnerable phase of becoming an adult. Their lifestyle and health therefore seem to be particularly unstable. This study aims to evaluate and compare the health behaviour, health status and occupational prospects of apprentices in nursing and early childhood education and to identify factors associated with their physical and mental health. Methods: A cross-sectional study based on self-administered questionnaires was carried out at eight vocational schools in Hamburg, Germany. Four hundred two apprentice geriatric nurses, hospital nurses and kindergarten teachers/assistants participated (response rate: 99 %). Apprentices were compared in terms of their physical activity, dietary patterns, cigarette and alcohol consumption, body mass index, self-rated health, previous diseases, job satisfaction and occupational prospects. Factors associated with the participants' musculoskeletal or mental disorders were identified using logistic regression. Results: Around 33 % of apprentice geriatric nurses and kindergarten teachers/assistants were overweight or obese. Fifty-five percent of geriatric nurses were smokers. Job satisfaction was lowest among hospital nurses. More than one third of the apprentices suffered from musculoskeletal or mental disorders. The ages of 23-26 years and mental disorder were associated with musculoskeletal disorders (OR 3.1, 95 % CI 1.4-6.7; OR 1.8, 95 % CI 1.1-3.1). Being an apprentice in early childhood education was associated with an increased chance of mental disorder (OR 2.9, 95 % CI 1.4-6.0). Additionally, musculoskeletal disorders, self-efficacy and irritation were associated with mental disorder. Conclusions: Differences between the occupational groups indicate the need for specific work-related health promotion for apprentices at an early stage in their careers. Future projects should focus on the implementation and evaluation of these measures. © 2016 Wirth et al.