Objective:To investigate the necessary eligibility criteria for prescriptive authority for midwives,gather suggestions from experts on training content for prescriptive authority for midwives,and explore the scope of ...Objective:To investigate the necessary eligibility criteria for prescriptive authority for midwives,gather suggestions from experts on training content for prescriptive authority for midwives,and explore the scope of practice of their prescriptive authority in certain circumstances.The results of this study could serve as a reference for the development of policies on prescriptive authority for midwives.Methods:Based on a literature search and semistructured interviews,a modified Delphi method was first used to conduct 2 rounds of expert consultation on eligibility criteria and training content for prescriptive authority for midwives.This stage included nursing experts(20)and medical experts(16)engaged in midwifery in many tertiary Grade A hospitals in China.Subsequently,consultation on the scope of practice of prescriptive authority for midwives was conducted with nursing experts(18)and medical experts(14)engaged in midwifery in many tertiary Grade A hospitals in China.The suggestions from the experts were analyzed using statistical methods to confirm the eligibility criteria for prescriptive authority,training content,circumstances,scope of practice for prescriptive authority,and the prescription forms.Results:Among the consulted experts,70.59%(the highest acceptance rate)considered an undergraduate degree to be the minimum educational requirement for midwives to be eligible for prescriptive authority,85.29%(the highest acceptance rate)considered the supervisor nurse to be the minimum technical position experience necessary for midwives to be eligible for having prescriptive authority,and 50%(the highest acceptance rate)considered 5 years to be the minimum number of years of experience in the specialty for midwives to be eligible for prescriptive authority.The applicants should at least be practicing at Grade C hospitals,which was the consensus among 91.18%of the consulted experts.Among the consulted experts,100%,100%,97.06%,94.12%,and 94.12%agreed that the applicants should have knowledge in pharmacology,laws and ethics,nursing,diagnostics,and midwifery,respectively.The consulted experts confirmed 22 related course topics and identified 6 specific circumstances in which the midwives could partially practice prescriptive authority,including uterine atony,excessive uterine contraction,postpartum hemorrhage,premature rupture of fetal membranes,normal labor,and neonatal asphyxia.Under these 6 circumstances,the consulted experts commonly agreed that there were 20 medication prescriptions and 13 auxiliary examination prescriptions that could be prescribed by midwives.Of these prescriptions,51.5%were independent prescriptions,30.3%were protocol prescriptions,and the remaining 18.2%were both independent and protocol prescriptions.Conclusions:Midwives who have an undergraduate degree,supervisor nurse position,and 5 years of practice in Grade C hospitals are considered eligible to apply for prescriptive authority.Partial prescriptive authority could be granted after regulated training in fundamental theories and practices,which could improve the independence and professionalism of midwifery.展开更多
Maintenance decision problems generally involve multiple criteria which apparently are best addressed using Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) tools. This paper describes the use of a hybrid MCDM technique in prior...Maintenance decision problems generally involve multiple criteria which apparently are best addressed using Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) tools. This paper describes the use of a hybrid MCDM technique in prioritizing maintenance strategy for ship systems. The Hybrid MCDM technique combines Delphi method, AHP and TOPSIS methods. While the Delphi method and AHP are applied in screening of decision criteria and decision criteria weights determination respectively, the TOPSIS method is used in the ranking of alternative maintenance strategies. Five alternative maintenance strategies which include corrected maintenance, scheduled overhaul, scheduled replacement, continuous on-condition task and scheduled on-condition task are considered and the optimum maintenance strategy is selected based on twelve critical maintenance decision criteria. To demonstrate the suitability of the approach a case study of sea water pump of the central cooling system of a marine diesel engine is used.展开更多
基金project was supported by the Shanxi Province Soft Science Research Program in China(No.2017041041-1)
文摘Objective:To investigate the necessary eligibility criteria for prescriptive authority for midwives,gather suggestions from experts on training content for prescriptive authority for midwives,and explore the scope of practice of their prescriptive authority in certain circumstances.The results of this study could serve as a reference for the development of policies on prescriptive authority for midwives.Methods:Based on a literature search and semistructured interviews,a modified Delphi method was first used to conduct 2 rounds of expert consultation on eligibility criteria and training content for prescriptive authority for midwives.This stage included nursing experts(20)and medical experts(16)engaged in midwifery in many tertiary Grade A hospitals in China.Subsequently,consultation on the scope of practice of prescriptive authority for midwives was conducted with nursing experts(18)and medical experts(14)engaged in midwifery in many tertiary Grade A hospitals in China.The suggestions from the experts were analyzed using statistical methods to confirm the eligibility criteria for prescriptive authority,training content,circumstances,scope of practice for prescriptive authority,and the prescription forms.Results:Among the consulted experts,70.59%(the highest acceptance rate)considered an undergraduate degree to be the minimum educational requirement for midwives to be eligible for prescriptive authority,85.29%(the highest acceptance rate)considered the supervisor nurse to be the minimum technical position experience necessary for midwives to be eligible for having prescriptive authority,and 50%(the highest acceptance rate)considered 5 years to be the minimum number of years of experience in the specialty for midwives to be eligible for prescriptive authority.The applicants should at least be practicing at Grade C hospitals,which was the consensus among 91.18%of the consulted experts.Among the consulted experts,100%,100%,97.06%,94.12%,and 94.12%agreed that the applicants should have knowledge in pharmacology,laws and ethics,nursing,diagnostics,and midwifery,respectively.The consulted experts confirmed 22 related course topics and identified 6 specific circumstances in which the midwives could partially practice prescriptive authority,including uterine atony,excessive uterine contraction,postpartum hemorrhage,premature rupture of fetal membranes,normal labor,and neonatal asphyxia.Under these 6 circumstances,the consulted experts commonly agreed that there were 20 medication prescriptions and 13 auxiliary examination prescriptions that could be prescribed by midwives.Of these prescriptions,51.5%were independent prescriptions,30.3%were protocol prescriptions,and the remaining 18.2%were both independent and protocol prescriptions.Conclusions:Midwives who have an undergraduate degree,supervisor nurse position,and 5 years of practice in Grade C hospitals are considered eligible to apply for prescriptive authority.Partial prescriptive authority could be granted after regulated training in fundamental theories and practices,which could improve the independence and professionalism of midwifery.
文摘Maintenance decision problems generally involve multiple criteria which apparently are best addressed using Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) tools. This paper describes the use of a hybrid MCDM technique in prioritizing maintenance strategy for ship systems. The Hybrid MCDM technique combines Delphi method, AHP and TOPSIS methods. While the Delphi method and AHP are applied in screening of decision criteria and decision criteria weights determination respectively, the TOPSIS method is used in the ranking of alternative maintenance strategies. Five alternative maintenance strategies which include corrected maintenance, scheduled overhaul, scheduled replacement, continuous on-condition task and scheduled on-condition task are considered and the optimum maintenance strategy is selected based on twelve critical maintenance decision criteria. To demonstrate the suitability of the approach a case study of sea water pump of the central cooling system of a marine diesel engine is used.