Donor Breast Milk Banking: Knowledge and Attitudes of Iranian Mothers.

INTRODUCTION: Milk donation is allowed in Islam and considered a virtue, though according to Islam Sharia, feeding donated milk of other mothers leads to kinship between infants, complicating milk donation programs in Islamic countries. This study aimed to determine the knowledge and attitude of Iranian Muslim mothers regarding milk donation and milk banks. METHODS: In this cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study, 634 mothers of infants below 1 year of age were recruited using cluster random sampling from health care centers in Tabriz, Iran. Data were collected by questionnaire. RESULTS: The findings revealed a low level of knowledge but relatively positive attitudes. Knowledge predictors were education level, income, type of birth, breastfeeding experience, encouragement to donate milk, and hearing about milk donation (p ≤ .02). Predictors of attitude were knowledge score and encouragement to donate milk (p ≤ .001). DISCUSSION: Comprehensive, culturally congruent education of mothers during pregnancy and post-pregnancy related to milk banks is recommended.

Language Assistance Services in Nonfederally Funded Safety-Net Medical Clinics in the United States.

Background: In the United States, nonfederally funded safety-net clinics provide health care services to underserved populations, including patients with limited English proficiency. Unlike clinics that receive federal funding, which requires provision of qualified interpreters, these clinics are not required to provide such services. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the types of language assistance services used by safety-net clinics and their approaches to medical interpreter training for volunteers and staff. Methods: A survey was administered by mail and email to nonfederally funded medical safety-net clinics identified from publicly available directories. The survey collected information on clinic characteristics, interpreter modalities used, and interpreter training and could be completed on paper or online. Results: Among 859 eligible clinics, 216 completed the survey (24% response rate). Few clinics reported timely access to professional interpreter services in-person (18.5%), by phone (23%), or by video (7%), while 80% of clinics used ad hoc family member or friend to interpret and 53% used ad hoc child to interpreter. Seventy-eight percent of clinics reported using bilingual staff, providers, and/or volunteers. Staff/volunteer training was provided by 22 clinics (11%). Conclusion: Most safety-net clinics relied upon ad hoc interpreters, contrary to best practices. Use of ad hoc interpreters can lead to errors in interpretation, contributing to inequities in quality of health care services. Future efforts should identify economical strategies to improve access to qualified interpreter services at nonfederally funded safety-net clinics.

RN to BSN Students' Experiences With Asynchronous Audio-Video Discussion Responses.

ABSTRACT: Literature suggests use of audio-video (AV) technology enhances a sense of connectedness between students in online programs. In a previous quantitative study conducted by these authors, the use of AV discussion responses revealed that social presence was negatively impacted. This descriptive study explored RN to BSN students' experiences with AV discussion formats. Participants found value related to forming distinct impressions of others but expressed feelings of distress; they described issues with technology and time as barriers. Implications suggest that AV format is not supported for use in every discussion forum but may be of value if limited to select discussion forums.