Perception of Medical Students towards Hepatitis B Virus Infection and Hepatitis B Vaccination in a Private Tertiary Hospital in Jos North Local Government, Plateau State, Nigeria

Background: Prevention is one of the safe schemes against the high prevalence of viral Hepatitis. Negative perceptions or perceptions about the risks of hepatitis B among medical students and health care workers may influence the behavioral pattern and adoption of preventive measures against the virus and can affect the uptake of the Hepatitis B vaccine. This study assesses the perception of medical students towards Hepatitis B virus infection and Hepatitis B Vaccination in a Private Tertiary Hospital in Jos North Local Government, Plateau State, Nigeria. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study done in August 2021 among 236 clinical medical students using a multistage sampling technique. Data was collected using an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire and analysed using the IBM SPSS 28 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Ethical approval was granted by Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Ethics Committee, Jos, Plateau State. Results: Two-thirds of respondents were of the opinion that they are at risk of contracting HBV. Half were of the opinion that the risk is very much while a third believed the risk is moderate. Among those who think they are not at risk of contracting HBV, the majority felt so because they are vaccinated while 10.3% believe that they are safe. 43.2% of respondents think that HBV Vaccine is very effective in preventing HBV infection while 39.8% think it is slightly effective, and 7.6% think it is not effective. Almost all respondents, 99.2% are of the opinion that HBV Vaccination is important for students while 0.8% think it is not important. The majority of the respondents at 95.8% were willing to be screened for HBV. The majority (85.6%) of respondents are willing to pay for HBV Vaccine as against 14.4% of respondents who are not willing to pay. Conclusion: Summarily, 21 (8.9%) of the students had a negative perception of Hepatitis B Vaccination, and 215 (91.1%) had a positive perception of Hepatitis B Vaccination. Perception-sustaining events like seminars, workshops, road shows, and campaigns should be organized among students and health workers.

Teachers’Perception for Evaluation of the Primary School Students With Final Grade

The most difficult and delicate part of the learning process is assessment.Assessment is difficult because during his/her accomplishment the teacher has to consider not only the acquisition of knowledge from students,but also the overall degree of development of their competencies.It is delicate,because through assessment we can influence the emotional side of students and their“willingness”to learn.Despite these facts,teachers need to evaluate students during the learning process.The purpose of the research is to find out what is the perception of teachers about the level of evaluation of students with final grade.The overall results showed that 89%of teachers agree,9%of them have a neutral attitude,and 2%do not agree that the evaluation of students with a final grade is done taking into account many aspects and using many methods,the overall average of the results,M=4.36.Based on the empirical results,it was found that teachers who have completed assessment training have a more positive approach to student assessment,as the average score is higher than teachers who have not completed assessment training.From the qualitative results it was understood that the Teachers did not encounter any difficulties during the assessment of the students.

Undergraduate nursing students' knowledge of aging, attitudes toward and perceptions of working with older adults in Kathmandu Nepal

Objectives: This study aims to examine Nepalese undergraduate nursing students' knowledge of aging,attitudes towards older adults and perceptions of working with older adults,and to assess differences in these outcomes by socio-demographic characteristics as well as type of nursing program.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 385 undergraduate nursing students in six nursing colleges located in the Kathmandu Valley,Knowledge of aging,attitudes toward older adults and perceptions of working with older adults were assessed using standardized tools,the Palmore Facts on Aging Quiz,Kogan's Attitudes towards Older People Scale,and Nolan's Intent to Work with Older People Questionnaire,respectively.Results: The mean knowledge scores on older adults and aging were relatively low;participants scored an average of 26.9 out of 50.Scores assessing attitudes towards and perceptions of working with older adults were more favorable.Compared to students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN),students pursuing a Bachelor of Nursing (BN) had a significantly higher score on the knowledge,attitudes and perception of aging scales.Linear regression analyses showed that the students' knowledge of aging (β =0.55;95% CI =0.25-0.86) and perceptions of working with older adults (β =0.22;95% Cl =0.05 -0.38) had a significant positive association with their attitudes toward older adults.Conclusions: Undergraduate nursing students in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal displayed a relatively low level of knowledge,but a positive attitude towards older adults,and a positive perception of working with older adults.Observed differences in knowledge,attitude,and perception scores between students in BSN and BN programs needs further investigation;closing this gap may be important for bolstering undergraduate gerontological preparation in Nepal.

Nurses' and students' perception of risk from medical practices

Objectives: To determine the risk perceptions of a series of medical practices in non-expert (un-dergraduates) and expert (nurses) samples.Methods: Four hundred and forty-seven nurses and 246 undergraduate students participated in this study. They all answered questionnaires about the risk dimensions and acceptance for medical practices. Results: An exploratory factor analysis on participants' answers to various dimensions of risk yielded a two-factor structure for risk perception in both samples: for nurses, the factors were"Unknown"and"Dread,"while for students, they were"Dread"and"Lack of Independence."For both nurses and stu-dents, the factor scores of Dread negatively related to individual risk acceptance of medical practices. Furthermore, nurses tended to be more accepting of practices that they knew well (i.e., low Unknown scale scores). For students, the subscale scores of the Lack of Independence factor negatively related to individual risk acceptance only for health examination practices. Nurses conceived risks more correctly and concretely compared to students. This was especially pronounced for practices related to medication use. Conclusions: Although both nurses and students conceived various risk contents from medical practices, their conceptions still differed. Knowledge of these differences in the structure of risk perception and conceived risk contents of various medical practices between nurses and students could be utilized to improve risk communication in clinical practice.

Students’ perception of effective clinical teaching and teacher behaviour

Learning in the clinical environment is an integral part of nursing education programme. In tertiarybased nursing courses, students spend time learning in the clinical setting as they do in their classroombased studies. The purpose of this study was to explore teaching skills considered by undergraduate student nurses as effective in the clinical setting as well as qualities that make a clinical teacher effective. A descriptive design was employed using questionnaires to collect data. Respondents comprised year four undergraduate student nurses admitted through direct entry (DE) and university matriculation examination (UME) results. Using validated structured questionnaire, data were collected from 101 students who had completed their six months consolidated clinical experience on their perception of teaching skills and teacher qualities considered effective in the clinical setting. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Specifically, frequencies, percentage and standard deviation were used for descriptive analysis of scores while chi square and Mann-Whitney tests were used to test the mean differences in the teaching skills and to test whether there was a significant difference in their perception of teacher behaviours respectively at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that having both clinical (professional) and teaching knowledge were the most important teaching skills for effective clinical teaching. Five qualities ranked by students as teacher behaviours important for effective teaching include being honest with students, motivation to teach, willingness to listen and using good communication skills, supervising students effectively and being positive role model. These factors could be considered when recruiting future clinical teachers and when planning inservice education programmes for clinical teachers to promote student learning.

Beyond Bloom’s: Students’ Perception of Bloom’s Taxonomy and its Convolution with Cognitive Load

Bloom’s taxonomy is widely used in educational research to categorize the cognitive skills required to answer exam questions.For this study,we analyzed how students categorize exam questions(high-level question or low-level question,)gathered data as to their rationale for categorization,and compared their categorizations to those of experts.We found that students consistently rank high-level questions incorrectly.We analyzed student reasons for their categorizations,and found that for many of the incorrectly categorized questions the students referred to reasons related to Cognitive Load Theory.This shows that cognitive load prevents students from accurately assessing the cognitive level of an exam question.Thus,extra cognitive load in exam questions may prevent those questions from accurately measuring the skills and knowledge of the student.This points to the need for instructors to eliminate cognitive load from their exams.

Sexual Perception of Young Lebanese Students

This article presents the sexual perception of young Lebanese students. We hypothesized that, in Lebanon and the Arab countries, premarital sex is forbidden by most cultures because of conservative societies and backgrounds. Sexuality lives as a “myth” in these conservative societies. We examined the influence of demographics and genders among a group of 706 Lebanese university students, from public and private universities, as well as the fluctuation of sexual beliefs and practices, based on their gender, demographics and social pressure. The method used was a questionnaire collected form n = 706 students, 446 females and 260 males. The female population of our sample is 62.9% of the total volunteers while the male population is 36.7%. They come from different religions (Christian, Muslim, Druze and Other), between May 2015 and December 2015. Quantitative significant results: 1) A non-conformity with the social and demographic pressure and an openness of the new generations. Similarly, it shows more permissiveness in flirting. Even though, parts of the negative answers were significantly linked to understanding the rules of prohibited sex (NO 32.4% for belief and NO 34.5% for practice);2) the reality of Lebanese youth, their integrity in engaging in a relationship, and their true daily happening of social and peer pressure;3) An opening to a natural outlook of sexual life, (25.5%) with reluctance on dating (51.1%);4) An important significance is showed in the percentage between beliefs and practice: 18% in belief and 78.3% in practice (Q1) and 34.2% in belief and 60.8% in practice (Q2) emphasizing on the reality of sexual engagement within Lebanese youth;5) However, reluctance in engaging in sexual activity and attachment and fear to social sanctions toward premarital sex and agreeing on abstinence before marriage. Quantitative findings supported the lack of sexual education and the prevalence of religious and social norms. This article examines Young Lebanese adolescents do not always have the same views neither the same patterns of sexual behaviors between men and women. Education and awareness are the keys to a healthy sexual life. Specifically, it considers the way they receive their sexual education, the acceptance and refusal of differences between genders, beliefs and practices. It becomes a real challenge when it comes to early learning and education, openness, and real communication of sexual life, being a natural part of life, with honesty and transparency.

Perception of Blood Donation among Medical and Pharmaceutical Science Students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka

Background: Safe blood is a vital component in improving healthcare globally and millions of lives are saved each year through blood donation. But most hospitals in the developing countries face challenges of constant supply of blood to carry out different life saving procedures that require blood, due to paucity of blood donors. Many studies have been done on the perception of blood donation but only a few have been on Medical and Pharmaceutical Students. Aim: To determine the perception of blood donation among Medical and Pharmaceutical Students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nnewi and Agulu Campuses respectively. Material and Methods: Stratified sampling technique was used to divide the students into strata (200, 300, 400, 500, and 600), then simple random sampling was used to select different respondents from each class and self-administered questionnaires were given to the respondents. Data was collected and results were analyzed. Results: 294 respondents, 147 medical students and 147 pharmaceutical students participated in the study 141 (95.9%) of medical students and 137 (93.2%) of pharmaceutical students had heard of blood donation. 139 (94.6%) of medical students and 140 (95.2%) of pharmaceutical students knew their blood groups. 59.5% of the respondents had donated blood. The commonest motivating factor towards blood donation is “to save a friend or family member”. Conclusion: The knowledge of the students regarding blood donation was high but the practice of blood donation was low.

The Perceptions for Hong Kong Male Students Refusing HPV Vaccination: An Exploratory Study

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a group of common viruses that can cause a sexually transmitted infection (STI). People with HPV infection can be susceptible to cervical cancer, anogenital warts, and another HPV-related disease. Although the HPV infection can be prevented by HPV vaccination, the vaccination rate in Hong Kong is relatively low particular in males comparing to other countries. Study design: An exploratory qualitative approach was adopted. Aim: This study attempted to explore the perceptions of male college students refusing HPV vaccination in Hong Kong. Methods: A total of 20 male college students participated in the unstructured interview with audio-tape recording and field-notes done to explore their perceptions refusing HPV vaccination. Content analysis was utilized to extract significant themes and sub-themes. Results: Six major themes were identified including a lack of perceived risk, knowledge deficit, inadequate promotion, a high price of the HPV vaccine, inconvenience to receive the HPV vaccine and peer influence. Conclusion: Exploring the perceptions for Hong Kong male college students refusing HPV vaccination could provide essential information to the local government to establish corresponding health campaign for males to increase receiving HPV vaccination for curbing the HPV-related diseases.

Pilot study:Nursing students'perceptions of the environment in two different clinical models

Purpose:This pilot study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of a modified Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure(m-DREEM)tool used to evaluate the effects of different pedagogical approaches in a clinical learning environment on nursing students'learning perceptions.Methods:A sample consisting of 130 nursing students in two different models of clinical education was surveyed.Results:This pilot study demonstrated that m-DREEM yields a high internal consistency.This tool can be used to evaluate nursing students'perceptions of their clinical learning environment on the basis of five sub-scales:students'learning perceptions,facilitators,academic self-perception,atmosphere,social self-perception,and mentorship.Conclusion:A definitive and inferential relationship between sub-scales and clinical models,namely,block and non-block dispersed models,could not be determined because of the small sample size of the block clinical model.Hence,further research should be performed.

A time to look within curricula—Nursing students’ perception on sexuality and gender issues

Nursing students could be viewed as dynamic change agents given the knowledge and skills they would be equipped with. Amongst all areas to be addressed in their clientele of the hospital or community setting, one key area that a nurse could focus on is sexuality. This however is often neglected for simple reasons such as lack of knowledge, embarrassment, fear of intrusion on privacy, or it is perceived as an un-important concern of the patient. Focus groups discussions combined with self report were conducted on 84 nursing students selected by the faculty from three institutions of nursing to assess their perceptions related to sexuality and gender issues, and thus extrapolate on their learning needs within the curriculum. Student expressed discomfort in caring for patients who had sexual expressions and relationships different from the accepted cultural norm;perceived sexuality primarily as heterosexual relationship;helplessness when faced with sexual harassment in the health care field and gaps in their present curricula in relation to contextualization of sexuality and gender issues.

The DNP: Knowledge and perceptions of students in an accelerated master’s program in nursing

While the nursing community generally agrees that the Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree will strengthen nursing as an academic discipline, there is little known about students’ perceptions of the advanced degree. Nursing students enrolled in an accelerated master’s program in nursing (N = 45) were surveyed to assess their knowledge of the DNP degree while also identifying the perceived effect a DNP might have on their careers, on nursing as a discipline, and on public perceptions of nursing practice. In this study, 51% of participants supported the transition to the DNP as the standard degree for practice nursing while 29% were opposed. The majority of participants (71%) planned to pursue an advanced practice nursing degree/certification with 81% of this group signifying that they would do so even if a DNP is required. The majority of participants agreed that the DNP will improve public perception of advanced practice nursing, but 71% thought the title of “doctor” would confuse patients. While current nursing students are generally informed of the upcoming DNP transition, there is disagreement regarding its implications for their careers and for the extent of public understanding.

Mobile Based Learning and Examination: Students and Instructors Perceptions from Different Arab Countries

The online education market is expanding both globally and locally;Arab countries are paying special attention to the growth of this sector. Reports showed that the e-learning market arrived at $27.1 billion in the year 2009 and is expected to surpass $49.6 billion by the year 2014. This paper presents and surveys the perception of students and instructors regarding mobile learning and mobile examination system in some Arab countries. Many universities in the Arab world are under progress in the implementation of this new technology and many have already implemented it. Strong tools are required to improve e-learning system of education. This research supports the transition of education from conventional methods to m-learning and m-exam systems. The purpose of this research is to study the perception of both instructors and students regarding mobile learning and mobile examination systems. The introduction of such systems to the educational process requires people involved to have basic technical skills and to be aware of the benefits of such systems. Results showed different perspectives from three countries;also showed that online examination systems could be very helpful, but many factors should be considered and they should be implemented carefully to guarantee the successful adoption, fairness and reliability.

Tunisian DREEM: Nursing Students’ Perception of the Learning Environment

Objectives: The evaluation of the learning environment has become critical to professional development and student success. This study aims to evaluate the viewpoints of nursing sciences students on the learning environment using the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) at a Higher Institute of Nursing Sciences in Tunisia. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 200 students at the Higher Institute of Nursing Sciences. The Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure was used as a worldwide tool. Descriptive statistics and one-way analysis of variance with a post hoc Tukey-Kramer multiple comparisons test were used for data analysis. Results: The total mean score on the 50-item DREEM inventory was 111.9 out of a maximum of 200. Students’ perceptions of learning, their teachers, their academic self, and of the atmosphere were more positive than negative. Student social self-perception was negatively evaluated. Students were not satisfied with the support system in the institute. The DREEM score was significantly higher for the students in the first year of study (P Conclusion: This is the first study in Tunisia assessing the nursing learning environment;it showed a positive assessment. Therefore, improvements are required, especially in the learning and social domains of the educational environment.

Spiritual health, empathy ability and their relationships with spiritual care perceptions among nursing students in China: A cross-sectional correlational study

Objective:To investigate the status quo of spiritual care perceptions and associated factors among nursing students in China,and explore the relationships among spiritual care perceptions,spiritual health and empathy ability,in order to provide reference for the construction of spiritual care education intervention program to improve the spiritual care perceptions and competence of nursing students in China.Methods:A cross-sectional and correlational design was undertaken and a convenience sample of 3615 nursing students selected from 11 universities and colleges in Hebei Shijiazhuang and Tianjin,China from January to July 2021.Participants provided data on sociodemographic by completing the sociodemographic characteristics questionnaire,the Chinese Version of the Spiritual Care-Giving Scale(C-SCGS),Spiritual Health Scale Short Form(SHS-SF)and Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Nursing Student(JSPE-NS).Results:The scores of spiritual care perceptions and spiritual health were 172.44±26.23 and 97.54±12.37,respectively,both in the middle level.The score of empathy ability was 102.92±19.65,lower than the average.Spiritual care perceptions of nursing students were positively correlated with spiritual health(r=0.635,P<0.01)and empathy ability(r=0.547,P<0.01).Conclusions:The level of spiritual care perceptions of nursing students in China needs to be improved.It is suggested that nurse managers and educators should pay attention to the spiritual care education of nursing students,by perfecting the spiritual care education system to improve their spiritual health level and empathy ability in multiple ways and levels,like clarifying and standardizing educational objectives,breaking through the traditional single evaluation system,and formulating scientific comprehensive evaluation standards and systems.,so as to improve their spiritual care perceptions and competence level.

Comparison of the Perception of English Learning Between Ethnic Group Students and Han Students

This paper has analyzed the discrepancies of the perception of English learning between ethnic students and Han studens in a trilingual language context.The research results will be expected to broaden our understanding of the ethnic group students in the minority regions,and to provide some empirical references and implications for teachers.

Strangers in a New Land: Rural School Personnel’s Perceptions of the Implementation of an International Student Program

Many high schools in the northeastern United States have suffered from declining enrollment due to a declining population of school-age children in the region.Administrators,counselors and teachers perceive many impacts of the implementation of an international student program at a rural high school.This qualitative case study reveals that the rural high school’s unique nature impacts international student programs,international students influence both school culture and programming,and international students suffer from isolation.School leaders would benefit from considerations in the form of professional development both prior to implementation of an international student program and ongoing throughout its duration.It is important for schools to find ways to respectfully honor student cultures and optimize learning experiences.School leaders would be wise to determine desired size of international student programs and make efforts accordingly to achieve that size for optimal effectiveness for the benefit of both host and international students.Implications and recommendations for future research include further exploration of the perceived experiences of European and Chinese international students,understanding the unique nature of rural high schools and international student experiences,and examination of school practices.