Empathetic, persistent and female: A snapshot of oral health therapy students in Australia and New Zealand.

INTRODUCTION: Dental therapists, hygienists and oral health therapists constitute up to a third of the dental workforce in Australia and New Zealand. Personality is often explored in health professions to provide insights into traits that are conducive to workforce retention and to assist in planning and training. This study aimed to investigate the current demographic and personality characteristics of oral health students in Australia and New Zealand. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Students in years one to three of all eight undergraduate Bachelor of Oral Health programs in Australia and New Zealand were invited to complete an online survey. The survey measured activities prior to entering into oral health, career intentions and included a personality questionnaire, the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). RESULTS: Three quarters of participants (n = 336; 30% response rate; females = 90%) were single, from an urban area and 20-29 years of age. Oral health students overall portrayed high trait levels of Persistence and Cooperativeness. Cluster analysis of TCI traits identified three groups. Groups of students with high Persistence and Cooperativeness tended to be older, were working in non-dental and dental careers prior to their degree and were interested in working in regional areas after graduation. CONCLUSIONS: Students with high levels of persistence and cooperativeness were interested in working in regional areas after graduation, highlighting the importance of industriousness and persistence in overcoming barriers to practicing in regional areas. Further research is warranted to investigate barriers and enablers in recruitment and retention of males in a primarily female dominated profession.

Bridging understanding in nursing and radiography students: An interprofessional experience.

Health professionals must improve interprofessional communication and collaboration to ensure quality patient care. Through socialization, simulation, and case-based learning, improved collaboration among health professions is possible. Students from two programs, nursing and radiography, were involved in interprofessional activities, including case studies, simulation, and debriefing. The students completed a pre- and postsurvey to assess attitudes and knowledge of each profession. Data were analyzed in SPSS using paired t tests. Nursing and radiography students were assessed separately. A 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree) was used to quantify student selections. The nursing students showed increased confidence and knowledge in preparing patients, and deeper understanding of the role and knowledge base of the radiographer. While significant changes in student nurse attitudes and perceptions were noted, no significance was shown pre- to postsurvey in the radiography students' attitudes and perceptions. This may be attributed to an increased level of clinical exposure and experience in the radiography students. The perceptions of the students during debriefing, as well as from the survey data, indicate a heightened awareness of the collaborative nature of health care. Student comments support interprofessional education (IPE) as a method to reach beyond a single professional boundary and increase communication and understanding among healthcare providers. Through this activity, attitudes changed and knowledge of health profession roles increased in novice nursing students. Health professions educators must embrace IPE to encourage interprofessional collaboration for patients navigating the complex healthcare system today and in the future.

Quality of sleep and health-related quality of life in renal transplant recipients.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the sleep quality and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients after renal transplantation and to explore the relationship between the quality of sleep and the HRQOL. BACKGROUND: Sleep disorders are still an important clinical problem after renal transplantation. Previous studies mainly focused on patients' sleep quality before kidney transplant. More studies are needed to document sleep quality after renal transplantation. DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was used in this study. METHODS: A convenience sample of renal transplant recipients was recruited at an outpatient transplant clinic of a general hospital in Beijing, China. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to measure quality of sleep. The Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form (MOS SF-36) was used to measure health-related quality of life. RESULTS: The average PSQI score of the 204 renal transplant recipients was 5.81±3.52, significantly lower than the norm. Fifty (24.5%) recipients were classified as having poor sleep quality (global PSQI > 7). The mean scores of renal transplant recipients for SF-36 Mental Component Summary (MCS) and Physical Component Summary (PCS) were 47.57±6.71 and 48.26±9.66 respectively. Compared with residents in Sichuan province, recipients' scores for SF-36 dimensions were statistically lower except the dimension of mental health. SF-36 scores of poor sleepers (PSQI > 7) were significantly lower than the good sleepers (PSQI ≤ 7) in both the MCS and PCS. Significant differences exist between the groups in physical function, bodily pain, vitality, and mental health dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep quality and HRQOL of patients after renal transplantation were lower than the norm. Poor sleep is associated with lower HRQOL. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Health professionals need to pay attention to sleep quality and HRQOL in renal transplant recipients and take appropriate measures to improve patients' sleep quality and HRQOL.

Improving Objective Measurement in Nursing Research: Rasch Model Analysis and Diagnostics of the Nursing Students' Clinical Stress Scale.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to use Rasch model diagnostics and analysis to understand survey item (questions) functioning of the Nursing Students' Clinical Stress Scale, a rating scale instrument developed by Whang (2002). METHODS: A rating scale instrument originally written in Korean was translated into English and administered to a convenience sample of all junior (46) and senior (64) students at a large Midwest university. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Rasch model analysis provided the empirical evidence to support that the survey items measured the latent variable, stress. Diagnostic results indicated the need for improved category labeling. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: It is imperative that nursing educators evaluate and facilitate inter- and intraprofessional relationships between students and staff/faculty as well as understand the student experience.

Perceptions of Clinical Stress in Baccalaureate Nursing Students.

The Nursing Students' Clinical Stress Scale, a Likert-type survey by Whang (2002), translated from Korean into English, was used to identify perceptions of stress in baccalaureate nursing students. Data was collected from a convenience sample of baccalaureate nursing students at a Midwestern university. Students ranked their perceived stress level from clinical situations. One open-ended item asked students to describe their most stressful clinical experience. Rasch Model analysis/diagnostics were used to check the instrument for validity and reliability. Quantitative data were analyzed for descriptive statistics (means). Information from open-ended question was analyzed for themes. Qualitative themes were consistent with results from quantitative analysis and well-aligned with the literature. Students were stressed by incivility by healthcare staff and instructors, inconsistencies and time constraints. Research shows that stress can interfere with learning. It is imperative to determine causes of stress so educators can help decrease stress and improve student learning.

Comparing the effectiveness, practice opportunities, and satisfaction of the preceptored clinical and the traditional clinical for nursing students.

AIM: A preceptored clinical education model was introduced in partnership with a health care agency and compared with the traditional model for nursing clinical education. The preceptored model provided clinical education that more realistically approached the job responsibilities of the registered nurse. METHOD: Students were surveyed and measured at three points in their curriculum. RESULTS: Students in the preceptored clinical reported significantly more practice opportunities, but there were no significant differences on any cognitive measures of performance. In the first semester, the preceptored group reported higher satisfaction and perception of learning facilitation. These differences disappeared at the mid and endpoint measures. CONCLUSIONS; Preceptored students appeared to have greater practice opportunities, but this experience did not alter classroom performance or satisfaction beyond the first semester.

Dental hygiene student experiences in external placements in Australia.

While placements in external locations are being increasingly used in dental education globally, few studies have explored the student learning experience at such placements. The purpose of this study was to investigate student experiences while on external placement in a baccalaureate dental hygiene program. A self-reporting questionnaire was distributed to final-year dental hygiene students (n=77) at the University of Newcastle, Australia, in 2010. The questionnaire included questions regarding the type of placement, experiences offered, supervision, resources available, and lasting impressions. Responding students were generally positive about their external placement experience and indicated that the majority of facilities provided them with the opportunity to provide direct patient care and perform clinical tasks typical of a practicing hygienist. However, there was a statistically significant difference in their opinions about discipline-focused and community placements. Students indicated that their external placement experience provided opportunities to learn more about time and patient management, including hands-on experience with specific clinical tasks. Ongoing evaluations are necessary to ensure that external placements meet both student needs and intended learning outcomes within dental hygiene programs.

Prolonged suppression of ecosystem carbon dioxide uptake after an anomalously warm year.

Terrestrial ecosystems control carbon dioxide fluxes to and from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and respiration, a balance between net primary productivity and heterotrophic respiration, that determines whether an ecosystem is sequestering carbon or releasing it to the atmosphere. Global and site-specific data sets have demonstrated that climate and climate variability influence biogeochemical processes that determine net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange (NEE) at multiple timescales. Experimental data necessary to quantify impacts of a single climate variable, such as temperature anomalies, on NEE and carbon sequestration of ecosystems at interannual timescales have been lacking. This derives from an inability of field studies to avoid the confounding effects of natural intra-annual and interannual variability in temperature and precipitation. Here we present results from a four-year study using replicate 12,000-kg intact tallgrass prairie monoliths located in four 184-m(3) enclosed lysimeters. We exposed 6 of 12 monoliths to an anomalously warm year in the second year of the study and continuously quantified rates of ecosystem processes, including NEE. We find that warming decreases NEE in both the extreme year and the following year by inducing drought that suppresses net primary productivity in the extreme year and by stimulating heterotrophic respiration of soil biota in the subsequent year. Our data indicate that two years are required for NEE in the previously warmed experimental ecosystems to recover to levels measured in the control ecosystems. This time lag caused net ecosystem carbon sequestration in previously warmed ecosystems to be decreased threefold over the study period, compared with control ecosystems. Our findings suggest that more frequent anomalously warm years, a possible consequence of increasing anthropogenic carbon dioxide levels, may lead to a sustained decrease in carbon dioxide uptake by terrestrial ecosystems.

When West meets East: a short-term immersion experience in South Korea.

The purpose of this study was to explore American student perceptions of caring for Korean patients during a 2 week exchange program. Perceptions of Korea/Koreans focused on five areas: respect, hospitality and gift giving, ability to speak English, hierarchical relationships, and being protective. Their perceptions of personal change focused in four areas: valuing personal cultural experiences, increasing cultural awareness and compassion, seeing people from other ethnic groups as individuals and developing interest in oriental medicine. Four areas of importance identified when caring for Korean patients included showing respect, importance of family, food, and care for post-partum mothers. Differences were experienced between an individualistic, low-context society (United States) and a collectivist, high context society (Korea) where the influence of Confucianism is pervasive.

Divergence of reproductive phenology under climate warming.

Because the flowering and fruiting phenology of plants is sensitive to environmental cues such as temperature and moisture, climate change is likely to alter community-level patterns of reproductive phenology. Here we report a previously unreported phenomenon: experimental warming advanced flowering and fruiting phenology for species that began to flower before the peak of summer heat but delayed reproduction in species that started flowering after the peak temperature in a tallgrass prairie in North America. The warming-induced divergence of flowering and fruiting toward the two ends of the growing season resulted in a gap in the staggered progression of flowering and fruiting in the community during the middle of the season. A double precipitation treatment did not significantly affect flowering and fruiting phenology. Variation among species in the direction and magnitude of their response to warming caused compression and expansion of the reproductive periods of different species, changed the amount of overlap between the reproductive phases, and created possibilities for an altered selective environment to reshape communities in a future warmed world.

Stop, look, listen, and think? What young children really do when crossing the road.

This study sought to provide basic information about children's behaviour in realistic traffic situations. Most literature in this area has focused on children's knowledge about road safety or has assessed their behaviour in simulated traffic environments. However, until more is known about what children actually do in traffic environments, our ability to identify the important elements for inclusion in educational programmes remains limited. Fifty-six children, aged 5-6 years, took part in a 'treasure trail' activity in which they were confronted with two road crossings, one at a T-junction with a moving car and the other between parked cars. Children's performance was videotaped and coded for relevant behaviours such as stopping at the kerb, looking for traffic, direction of gaze, and style of crossing (i.e. walking vs. running). Results revealed that performance was extremely poor. Sixty percent of the children failed to stop before proceeding from the kerb onto the road. Looking for oncoming traffic was exhibited by no more than 41% of the sample, dropping to as low as 7% in some instances. When looking did occur, it was initially as likely to be in the inappropriate direction (i.e. to the left) as in the appropriate direction (i.e. to the right). Consideration of individual performance revealed the existence of individual differences within the sample; such differences were relatively stable across the two road crossings. These findings, based on controlled naturalistic tasks and detailed observational methods, build on earlier studies that are generally able to provide only estimated rates of children's behaviour.

Response of an allergenic species, Ambrosia psilostachya (Asteraceae), to experimental warming and clipping: implications for public health.

We examined the responses of an allergenic species, western ragweed (Ambrosia psilostachya DC.), to experimental warming and clipping. The experiment was conducted in a tallgrass prairie in Oklahoma, USA, between 1999 and 2001. Warming increased ragweed stems by 88% when not clipped and 46% when clipped. Clipping increased ragweed stems by 75% and 36% in the control and warmed plots, respectively. In 2001, warming resulted in a 105% increase in ragweed aboveground biomass (AGB), and the ratio of ragweed AGB to total AGB increased by 79%. Dry mass per ragweed stem in the warmed plots was 37% and 38% greater than that in the control plots in 2000 and 2001, respectively. Although warming caused no difference in pollen production per stem, total pollen production increased by 84% (P < 0.05) because there were more ragweed stems. Experimental warming significantly increased pollen diameter from 21.2 µm in the control plots to 23.9 µm in the warmed plots (a 13% increase). The results from our experiment suggest that global warming could aggravate allergic hazards and thereby jeopardize public health.