Iranian Journal of Medical Education

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Introduction: Clinical Education is the essential part of nursing education. Because the nursing teachers' clinical role is not clearly defined, this study was designed to understand the clinical role and its process in nursing teachers. Methods: This was a qualitative research (Grounded Theory) in which 15 nursing teachers of five nursing schools participated based on theoretical sampling. The data were collected using a semi-structured interview. The data constant comparison was used for analysis. Results: Categories including role clarity, professional identity, professional autonomy and fitting in were proposed as the means of describing how the respondents approached their clinical role. Conclusion: Due to perceived role ambiguity and professional dependence, the nursing teachers have problems in achieving their role of mastery. They try to avoid these problems by making a new professional identity and fitting in strategies. Unfortunately, these strategies banish them from educational real goals. Key words: Nursing Teachers, Clinical Role, Role Clarity, Nursing Education Address: Zamanzadeh V, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran Source: Iranian Journal of Medical Education 2002 6: 27-32.

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Introduction: Identifying effective factors in learning is one of the important issues considered by researchers. The aim of this study was to determine nursing and midwifery students’ learning styles in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Methods: In a descriptive study performed in 2005, 250 nursing and midwifery students were selected by census sampling method. The research tool was David A. Kolb's Learning Style Inventory including 12 questions which was distributed and collected as group administered. The analysis of data based on LSI guide was done by SPSS. Results: The majority of nursing and midwifery students were converger (54.2%). Also, 32.1, 7.5 and 6.2 percent of them were assimilator, accommodator, and diverger, respectively. Conclusion: Considering the use of converger and assimilator learning styles among students, it is recommended that faculty members use visual methods, diagrams, teacher’s handouts, lecture and self-learning methods.

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Introduction: One of the reasons causing academic failure among students is disregarding factors affecting learning. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between academic achievement of nursing and midwifery students and their learning characteristics including study style, control locus, and self-organized learning factors which are modifiable issues in learning. Methods: In this correlational study, all nursing and midwifery students with average grade of 17 and above (high academic achievement) or average grade of 14 and lower (low academic achievement) in Tabriz School of Nursing and Midwifery were investigated through census sampling method in the year 2005-2006. Data was gathered using questionnaires of "Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory," "Karami Study Methods," "Julian Rotter Locus of Control," and "Motivational Strategies for Learning" and then, was analyzed through descriptive statistics and logistic regression test by SPSS software. Results: Logistic regression analysis showed that control locus (P=0.008) and motivational strategies for learning (P= 0.032) had a significant relationship with academic achievement of students. Conclusion: Control locus and motivational strategies for learning, were recognized as determining factors in academic achievement. Taking the results of this study into consideration, running workshops or seminars on the issue of "Locus of control related to learning" and "motivational strategies for learning" are recommended for learning improvement in first year students.

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Introduction: Promoting clinical education quality, requires continuous assessment of the current situations in clinical education fields, identifying the strengths, and improving the weaknesses. The aim of this study was to assess clinical education fields of School of Nursing and Midwifery from the viewpoints of its faculty members. Methods: This study which is a description of current situation in clinical education fields, was carried out during the second semester of 2004-2005 academic year. The study population included clinical education teachers of school of nursing who were selected by census sampling method through 4 sessions held with the members of different departments of medical surgical, midwifery, pediatrics, health and psychiatric nursing. The data gathering tool was a questionnaire consisted of two parts: Clinical teachers' demographic data and the characteristics of clinical education field including 5 parts of the feَAutres of compiled education program in the field, appropriate learning fields, method of education, method of evaluation, and other indices. Results: Clinical teachers assessed educational departments of pediatrics (54.2 percent), medical-surgical (43.8 percent), midwifery (61.6 percent), and health and psychiatric nursing (57.5 percent) as good and excellent. Considering compiled program, clinical education fields were described as good and excellent by 74.9 percent of the participants. Some strength of this aspect included introducing the course objectives at the first day of clinical education as well as presenting references according to the references introduced by the related ministry. Appropriate position of nursing students and instructors in the field and also the unimportant role of the educational department in the management of the educational field were amongst weaknesses of this aspect. Conclusion: Although some aspects of clinical education field were good and excellent, improving positive aspects and modifying the weaknesses may be an effective step in clinical education quality promotion. Continuous assessment of clinical fields and comparing the current situation with the previous situation can reveal the strengths and weaknesses of clinical education.

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Introduction: Several studies have recommended revisions in educational programs based on learners' feedbacks and needs. This study was performed with the aim of exploring and describing the meaning of challenges and feelings experienced by nursing students during their study. Methods: This qualitative study was performed as phenomenology on 20 senior nursing students selected by purposeful sampling method. In-depth and semi-structured interviews were used for data gathering. Data was analyzed by the team of researchers using hermeneutic analysis method. Results: Findings were categorized into three major themes including challenge of "integrating knowledge and practice" with minor themes of employing theory in practice, using nursing procedure, and following scientific principles in clinic, the challenge of "management of learning environment" with the minor themes of environmental factors' effect on students' learning, causes of hopelessness and disappointment with nurses, preference in evaluation, deficiencies of educational programming, and lack of respecting patients' rights and privileges, and the challenge of "lack of community's respect to the value of nursing" with the minor themes including recognizing stَAuts of nursing discipline, and the necessity for its revision, attitude of individuals and society toward nursing and limited independence of nursing. Conclusion: Interviewing students provided an insight into the challenges of educational environment which students had faced, during their study. Using the results of this study, nursing educators could build a positive and stimulating environment for students' learning and motivate them to maintain their interest in education and learning.

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Introduction: Proper educational programs should have an active and dynamic nature and be revised and modified following the received feedbacks. Clinical learning guide if integrated with interactive logbooks is considered an appropriate tool for clinical learning enhancement by providing opportunity for more interaction among student, clinical environment, and instructor. Therefore, this study was performed with the aim of investigating the effect of using logbooks on students' learning. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 25 internship nursing students. Based on a Delphi study, a clinical learning guide integrated to logbook was designed and developed for ICU and CCU wards. Then, students were randomly assigned into two groups of control and experiment. The control group was trained through usual method and the experiment group was taught using logbook in selected wards. Students' clinical learning was assessed considering cognitive and psychomotor domains in both groups. Results: The mean score of the experiment group in ICU ward in both cognitive and psychomotor domains was significantly higher than that of the control group. Although the experiment group's mean score in both domains in CCU ward increased compared to the control group but the difference was not significant. Conclusion: The increase in students' scores in both cognitive and psychomotor domains in ICU and CCU wards can be a motivation for applying this method in clinical education. Further studies on other educational wards are recommended in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of logbook on nursing students' clinical learning.

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Introduction: The importance of clinical education in personal and professional development of nursing students and their clinical skills is undeniable, so any weakness in clinical education can decrease the efficacy of nursing graduates. One of the most important factors affecting clinical education is clinical teachers and their quality of teaching. The purpose of this study was to determine the perspective of clinical teachers and nursing students on the characteristics of an efficient clinical teacher in nursing. Methods: This study is a qualitative research based on content analysis. Data were separately collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with 12 nursing clinical teachers who had 3 years of clinical teaching experience, and 15 nursing students passing fifth term or more of education. Data analysis was done after each interview through content analysis. The accuracy of data collection and analysis was achieved by external check (member and peer check). Results: From the viewpoint of clinical nursing teachers, efficient clinical teachers had two themes: extra-personal and personal characteristics, while nursing students opted for only one theme: personal characteristics. The extra-personal theme had two subthemes including system encouraging effective clinical teachers, and support for clinical teacher and personal characteristics according to the teachers included management characteristics, moral characteristics, educational skills, and emotional characteristics. According to the students, personal characteristics were managemerial, mora and emotional characteristics, educational skill, appearance and their supportive role. Conclusion: Clinical teachers and students had the same idea about efficient clinical teachers on most characteristics, but the main differences lay in the viewpoints of teachers on some characteristics that affect the educational process and were out of their control and also students pointed to the teachers’ appearance and supportive role. The result of this study identifies some characteristics of efficient clinical teachers and can be used as a guideline in clinical management and education.It is also suggested that more studies be done to support the application of these characteristics in clinical education.

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Introduction: Alteration and adjustment of nursing care system in 21st century depends on its success in designing the nursing pedagogical models. This study was conducted in order to identify and explain the challenges in postgraduate (MSc) levels in nursing and to represent appropriate solutions. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in two phases. The existing challaenges were identified through "Focus Group Discussion" method in phase one and for the second, "Delphi Technique" was utilized to prove the challenges and represent the solutions. Sixteen MSc students participated in phase one and thirty panel members including nursing managers of teaching hospitals, faculty members and executive staff of nursing school, and eight MSc students and PhD candidates attended in phase two. FGD data analysis was done through content analysis by conventional approach. For phase two through Delphi Technique, consensus has been gained on final options after three rounds. Results: This study identified post graduate (MSc level) challenges including 1)Cultural and professional identity, 2)Work atmosphere and 3)Imbalance between theory, research and clinical practice. The most important solutions to these challenges were respectively as follows: “to adopt strategies to improve the nursing image”, “to specify determined positions for postgraduates of MSc and to define their duties”, and “to specialize nursing education in MSc degree and upper levels as well as representing new disciplines such as intensive nursing and cardiovascular nursing”. Conclusion: Challenges identified through FGD, were proved via Delphi Technique. The offered solutions were also supported by review of literature. The information derived from this study could be used as a base for further investigations in the application of these solutions.

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Introduction: Regarding the importance of ethics and specifically justice, the most basic concept in the realm of ethics, in designing curriculums and considering the importance of curricula in the development of the country, this study aimed to design novel scales to evaluate curricula in terms of ethics and justice.
Methods: This developmental and psychometric study was performed in the School of Nursing and Midwifery of Tabriz in the year 2018. To develop the initial scales, initially, the related literature was reviewed to define ethics, justice and curriculum, and then the Scale items were presented. To confirm the face and content validity of the scales, qualitative methods as well as descriptive statistics were used. Moreover, the reliability of the scales was computed via Inter-rater reliability coefficient (Kappa) and internal consistency method (Cronbach's alpha coefficient).
Results: Initially, the scales for the evaluation of ethics and justice were developed, each containing 25 and 39 items respectively. After quantitative and qualitative measurement of the face and content validity of the scales, the total number of the items in the scale of ethics increased to 28 items and that of justice declined to 32 items. The content validity of the whole scales based on S-CVI/Ave was 96.34 and 89.07 respectively. Moreover, the kappa coefficient of each scale was 0.87 and 0.81 and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.76 and 0/92 respectively.
Conclusion: In this study, the scales for the evaluation of the curriculum in terms of ethics and justice were developed, which can examine curriculum in terms of applying the required principles of healthcare ethics. It is recommended to use pilot scales in other educational environments.