Informing the medical education reform in Tajikistan: evidence on the learning environment at two nursing colleges.

BACKGROUND: The Tajik medical education system is undergoing a complex reform to enhance the transition of the healthcare system from its soviet legacy of emphasizing secondary level care/specialisation to become more family medicine and primary health care oriented. The current study presents the first empirical evaluation of the educational environment for nursing students in Tajikistan using the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM). The study results contribute to the benchmarking efforts of monitoring and positively steering the educational environment over time. METHOD: The study was based on a cross-sectional survey involving 630 nursing students at two nursing colleges in Tajikistan. Students' perception of the learning environment was measured using the DREEM. Internal consistency was examined using Cronbach's alpha. General scores were calculated and measured against international benchmarks. Data was further interpreted by comparing DREEM scores between students of different sex, at different colleges and different study years using T tests. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.30 to 0.75 with an overall alpha of 0.89. General DREEM scores were slightly above average compared to similar studies with nursing students in other countries. In particular, results showed that students' academic self-perception and teachers' technical competences were generally favourably rated. Teachers' pedagogical skills were critically perceived by the study participants and teaching was generally viewed as too teacher-centred with an over-emphasis on factual learning. CONCLUSIONS: Statistical results indicated acceptable levels of reliability of the DREEM tool when applied to the Tajik nursing educational context. Students rated the learning environment as generally satisfactory with average scores similar or slightly higher than comparable scores from similar studies involving nursing students. However, the on-going educational reform could have placed more emphasis on developing faculty pedagogical skills in nursing schools. Teaching approaches would benefit from being more competency based rather than so heavily focused on factual knowledge.

Implementing Family Health Nursing in Tajikistan: from policy to practice in primary health care reform.

The health systems of former Soviet Union countries are undergoing reform away from the highly centralised, resource-intensive, specialised and hierarchical Soviet system, towards a more generalist, efficient health service with greater focus on primary health care. Family Health Nursing is a new model designed by WHO Europe in which skilled generalist community nurses deliver primary health care to local communities. This paper presents a qualitative evaluation of the implementation of Family Health Nursing in Tajikistan. Using Stufflebeam's 'Context, Input, Process, and Product' model, the paper aims to evaluate the progress of this reform, and to understand the factors that help or hinder its implementation. A four-phase research design investigates the development of the Family Health Nurse role over time. In 5 rural areas, 6 focus groups and 18 interviews with Family Health Nurses, 4 observations of their practice, 7 interviews with families and 9 interviews with physicians were carried out. Data were analysed according to the components of Stufflebeam's model. Although the legacy of the Soviet health system did not set a precedent for a nurse who is capable of decision-making and who works in partnership with the physician, Family Health Nurses were successfully implementing new practices. Crucial to their ability to do so were the co-operation of physicians and families. Physicians were impressed by the nurses' development of knowledge, and families were impressed that the nurses could offer real solutions to their problems. However, failure to pay the nurses regular salaries had led to serious attrition of the workforce. We conclude that the success of the Family Health Nurse role in other countries will depend upon its position in relation to the historical health care system.