Compensation of Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)-Basics and Paramedics.

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Studnek, Jonathan R

2016-12-01

The objective of this paper is to identify factors associated with compensation for Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)-Basics and Paramedics and assess whether these associations have changed over the period 1999-2008. Data obtained from the Longitudinal EMT Attributes and Demographic Study (LEADS) surveys, a mail survey of a random, stratified sample of nationally certified EMT-Basics and Paramedics, were analyzed. For the 1999-2003 period, analyses included all respondents providing Emergency Medical Services (EMS). With the addition of a survey in 2004 about volunteers, it was possible to exclude volunteers from these analyses. Over 60% of EMT-Basics reported being either compensated or noncompensated volunteers in the 2004-2008 period. This was substantially and significantly greater than the proportion of EMT-Paramedic volunteers (Technician (EMT)-Basics and Paramedics. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(Suppl. 1):s87-s95.

Self-reported behaviors and perceptions of Australian paramedics in relation to hand hygiene and gloving practices in paramedic-led health care.

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Barr, Nigel; Holmes, Mark; Roiko, Anne; Dunn, Peter; Lord, Bill

2017-07-01

Noncompliance with recommended hand hygiene and gloving practices by workers in the emergency medical services may contribute to the transmission of health care-associated infections and lead to poor patient outcomes. The aim of this study was to explore the self-reported behaviors and perceptions of Australian paramedics in relation to their hand hygiene and gloving practices in paramedic-led health care. A national online survey (n = 417; 17% response rate) and 2 semistructured focus groups (6 per group) were conducted with members of Paramedics Australasia. Although most of the study participants perceived hand hygiene and gloving to be important, the findings suggest poor compliance with both practices, particularly during emergency cases. All participants reported wearing gloves throughout a clinical case, changing them either at the completion of patient care or when visibly soiled or broken. Hand hygiene was missed at defined moments during patient care, possibly from the misuse of gloves. Paramedic hand hygiene and gloving practices require substantial improvement to lower potential transmission of pathogens and improve patient safety and clinical care. Further research is recommended to explore how to alleviate the barriers to performing in-field hand hygiene and the misuse of gloves during paramedic-led health care. Copyright © 2017 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Paramedic Learning Style Preferences and Continuing Medical Education Activities: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study.

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Staple, Louis; Carter, Alix; Jensen, Jan L; Walker, Mark

2018-01-01

Paramedics participate in continuing medical education (CME) to maintain their skills and knowledge. An understanding of learning styles is important for education to be effective. This study examined the preferred learning styles of ground ambulance paramedics and describes how their preferred learning styles relate to the elective CME activities these paramedics attend. All paramedics (n=1,036) employed in a provincial ground ambulance service were invited to participate in a survey containing three parts: demographics, learning style assessed by the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI), and elective CME activity. 260 paramedics (25%) participated in the survey. Preferred learning styles were: assimilator, 28%; diverger, 25%; converger, 24%; and accommodator, 23%. Advanced life support (ALS) providers had a higher proportion of assimilators (36%), and basic life support (BLS) providers had a higher proportion of divergers (30%). The learning style categories of CME activities attended by paramedics were: assimilators, 25%; divergers, 26%; convergers, 25%; and accommodators, 24%. These results suggest that paramedics are a diverse group of learners, and learning style differs within their demographics. Paramedics attend CME activities that complement all learning styles. Organizations providing education opportunities to paramedics should consider paramedics a diverse learning group when designing their CME programs.

Student paramedic experience of transition into the workforce: A scoping review.

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Kennedy, Sean; Kenny, Amanda; O'Meara, Peter

2015-10-01

In this article we present the findings from a scoping review that sought to identify what is known about the experiences of paramedic students transitioning into the workforce. Within the emergency healthcare sector, paramedics are primarily tasked with the assessment, treatment and safe transport of patients to hospital. New paramedics entering the workforce are exposed to the full extent of human emotion, injury and suffering as part of their everyday work. There is evidence from other healthcare disciplines that the transition to practice period can be difficult for new graduates. We utilised Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage scoping review framework to identify what is known about the transition of paramedicine graduates to the workplace. The framework involves identifying relevant studies; study selection; charting the data; and collating, summarizing and reporting results. We identified eleven articles that explored transition of newly qualified paramedics. Thematic content was identified and discussed into four separate categories. Each theme revealing the emotional, physical and social impacts new paramedics face as they strive to find acceptance in a new workplace and culture. Given the significant role that paramedics have in modern healthcare, the transition from student to practitioner is a period of significant stress to the new paramedic. Limited research in this field though inhibits a thorough understanding of these issues. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Nutrition and shiftwork: evaluation of new paramedics' knowledge and attitudes.

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Macdonald, Amanda B; Rossiter, Melissa D; Jensen, Jan L

2013-01-01

The effect of an oral education intervention on nutrition knowledge was evaluated in new paramedic employees. The evaluation involved measuring knowledge of and attitudes toward nutrition and shiftwork before and after the directed intervention. A convenience sample of 30 new paramedic shiftworkers attended a 15-minute education session focused on nutrition management strategies. This matched cohort study included three self-administered surveys. Survey 1 was completed before education, survey 2 immediately after education, and survey 3 after one month of concurrent post-education and employment experience. Knowledge and attitude scores were analyzed for differences between all surveys. Participants were primary care paramedics, 59% of whom were male. They reported that previously they had not received this type of information or had received only a brief lecture. Mean knowledge scores increased significantly from survey 1 to survey 2; knowledge retention was identified in survey 3. A significant difference was found between surveys 2 and 3 for attitudes toward meal timing; no other significant differences were found between attitude response scores. The education session was successful in improving shiftwork nutrition knowledge among paramedics. Paramedics' attitudes toward proper nutrition practices were positive before the education intervention.

Undergraduate paramedic student psychomotor skills in an obstetric setting: An evaluation.

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Lenson, Shane; Mills, Jason

2018-01-01

The clinical education of paramedic students is an international concern. In Australia, student placements are commonly undertaken with local district ambulance services, however these placements are increasingly limited. Clinical placements within inter-professional settings represent an innovative yet underdeveloped area of investigation. This paper addresses that gap by reporting a pilot evaluation of paramedic student clinical placements in a specialised obstetrics setting. Using a case study approach, the evaluation aimed to identify paramedic psychomotor skills that could be practised in this setting, and understand the nature of key learning events. A purposive sample of paramedic students was recruited following completion of the obstetrics placement. A combination of student reflection and assessed psychomotor skills data were collected from clinical placement logs. Content analysis of all data was conducted inductively and deductively, as appropriate. Findings indicated a comprehensive range of psychomotor skills can be practised in this setting, with over thirty psychomotor skills identified directly related to the paramedic curriculum; and seven psychomotor skills indirectly related. The themes finding confidence in maternity care, watching the experts, and putting theory into practice provide narrative insight into the clinical learning experience of paramedic students in this setting. Further research is recommended to build upon this pilot. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Paramedic identification of acute pulmonary edema in a metropolitan ambulance service.

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Williams, Teresa A; Finn, Judith; Celenza, Antonio; Teng, Tiew-Hwa; Jacobs, Ian G

2013-01-01

Acute pulmonary edema (APE) is a common cause of acute dyspnea. In the prehospital setting, it is often difficult to differentiate APE from other causes of shortness of breath (SOB). Radiography and echocardiography aid in the identification of APE but are often not available. There is little information on how accurately ambulance paramedics identify patients with APE. Objectives. This study aimed to 1) describe the prehospital clinical presentation and management of patients with a clinical diagnosis of APE and 2) compare the accuracy of coding of APE by paramedics against the emergency department (ED) medical discharge diagnosis. This study included a retrospective cohort of all patients who had episodes identified as APE by ambulance paramedics and were transported to a metropolitan hospital ED in 2011. Two databases were used: an ambulance database and the Emergency Department Information System. The ED medical discharge diagnosis (using International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Problems, 10th Revision, Australian Modification [ICD-10-AM] codes) was used as the comparator with paramedic-assigned problem codes for APE. The outcomes for the study were the positive predictive value, i.e., the proportion of patients identified as having APE in the ambulance database who also had an ED discharge diagnosis of APE, and the sensitivity of paramedic identification of APE, i.e., the proportion of patients with an ED discharge diagnosis of APE that were correctly identified as APE by the ambulance paramedics. Four hundred ninety-five patients were transported to an ED with APE identified by the paramedics as the primary problem code. Shortness of breath, crepitations, high systolic blood pressure, and chest pain were the most common presenting signs and symptoms. Pink frothy sputum was rare (3% of patient episodes of APE). One hundred eighty-six patients received an ED discharge diagnosis of APE, i.e., a positive predictive value of 41%. Of 631 ED

Next generation paramedics, agents of change, or time for curricula renewal?

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Williams B

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Brett Williams, Paul A Jennings, Chris Fielder, Amanda Ghirardello Department of Community Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University – Peninsula Campus, Frankston, VIC, Australia Background: Knowledge translation involves the dissemination and application of scientific research findings into clinical practice. In the health care arena, uptake of evidence-based assessment and intervention strategies is aimed at reducing inefficiencies and ultimately improving patient outcomes. However, numerous studies have purported gaps in knowledge translation in the health care professions. The objective of this study was to classify the traits of undergraduate paramedic students from Monash Univeristy, Australia, using the practice style inventory (PSI. Methods: A cross-sectional study of students across all undergraduate years from Emergency Health and Emergency Health/Nursing was completed. Student knowledge translation levels were measured using the 17-item paper-based PSI. Results: A total of 266 students participated in the study, of which 68.4% were females. The majority of participants were <26 years of age (n=228 and just over half enrolled in second year studies (n=134. Two subscales produced statistically significant differences: evidence versus experience (extent to which scientific evidence rather than authority is perceived as the best source of knowledge and nonconformity (degree of comfort with clinical practices that are out of step with recommendations of leaders. There was a statistically significant difference between sex on the evidence versus experience subscale (P<0.0001, d =0.51, and between year levels on the nonconformity subscale (P<0.007, d =0.63. Conclusion: This study identified several differences in knowledge translation subscales in the undergraduate paramedic cohorts. Further investigation is warranted in order to better understand barriers and facilitate

Correlation among academic stress, academic burnout, and academic performance in nursing and paramedic students of Qom University of Medical Sciences, Iran

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hamid Asayesh

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background and Objectives: Learning is a stressful experience of human life; reduced adaption to stressors causes academic burnout which is a reason for academic failure among students. This study investigated the correlation among academic stress, academic burnout, and academic performance in nursing and paramedic students of Qom University of Medical Sciences. Methods: In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, 264 nursing and paramedic students were randomly selected. Demographic characteristics checklist, academic burnout questionnaire, and academic stress scale were used to gather data, and grade point average was considered to be the indicator of academic performance. Linear regression analysis was used to analyze the data. The level of significance was considered to be p<0.05. Results: The mean score for students' academic burnout was 28.52±15.84. Univariate regression analysis showed that the students' employment, years of education, academic performance, and all academic stress subscales had a significant correlation with academic burnout. According to multivariate regression analysis, having a field of study-related occupation was a protective factor and academic stress a risk factor for academic burnout. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that a large proportion of students experienced academic burnout, and students with higher levels of stress experienced more severe academic burnout and had poorer performance. Therefore, training ways to cope with stress can cause reduction in academic burnout and improvement of performance.

Telling stories out of school: experiencing the paramedic's oral traditions and role dissonance.

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Lazarsfeld-Jensen, Ann

2014-11-01

Role dissonance is an uncomfortable experience for graduate paramedics, and some blame their university education for the problem. For paramedics the conflict is between identifying as a rescuer and acting largely as a care giver. With vocational pathways into so many uniformed professions closing down in preference for graduate entrants, young new professionals have to negotiate a rapidly changing work culture. Their older colleagues may be challenged and threatened by the new order. For paramedics the problem is compounded by the newness of its place in the tertiary landscape. Since 9/11 young people have been increasingly attracted to rescue roles. Yet in Australia there is increasing need and scope for health workers in remote and aging populations, a preference not immediately attractive to young people hoping for a more heroic future. While the near professions such as nursing have established their discourses around culture, role and pedagogy, paramedics is still trying to chisel its identity. The myths of paramedic glories past tend to add to the confusion of graduates. Due to a lack of empirical studies of non-clinical aspects of paramedicine, a bricolage methodology was used to refresh data from two discrete qualitative research projects conducted in 2011. Both projects had originally been interested in optimal paramedic preceptorship before and after graduation, but neither had explored the implicit theme which revealed the role of rescue experiences in paramedic culture and identity. The bricolage included a new search of literature from near professions and applied new theoretical frameworks to the analysis of the extant data, to demonstrate how storytelling as an element of paramedic collegiality perpetuates rescue stories that are then used to define paramedic work. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Paramedics׳ involvement in planned home birth: A one-year case study.

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McLelland, Gayle; McKenna, Lisa; Morgans, Amee; Smith, Karen

2016-07-01

to report findings from a study performed prior to the introduction of publicly funded home birth programmes in Victoria, Australia, that investigated the incidence of planned home births attended by paramedics and explored the clinical support they provided as well as the implications for education and practice. retrospective data previously collected via an in-field electronic patient care record (VACIS(®)) was provided by a state-wide ambulance service. Cases were identified via a comprehensive filter, manually screened and analysed using SPSS version 19. over a 12-month period paramedics attended 26 intended home births. Eight women were transported in labour, most for failure to progress. Three called the ambulance service and their pre-organised midwife simultaneously. Paramedics were required for a range of complications including post partum haemorrhage, perineal tears and neonatal resuscitation. Procedures performed for mothers included IV therapy and administering pain relief. For infants, paramedics performed intermittent positive pressure ventilation, endotracheal intubation and external cardiac compression. Of the 23 women transferred to hospital, 22 were transported to hospital within 32minutes. findings highlight that paramedics can provide clinical support, as well as efficient transportation, during perinatal emergencies at planned home births. Cooperative collaboration between ambulance services, privately practising midwives and maternity services to develop guidelines for emergency clinical support and transportation service may minimise risk associated with planned home births. This could also lead to opportunities for interprofessional education between midwives and paramedics. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Near-Peer Teaching in Paramedic Education: A Repeated Measures Design

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Williams, Brett; Nguyen, David

2017-01-01

The transition of the Australian paramedic discipline from vocation education and training to the higher education sector has seen a sharp rise in interest in near-peer teaching (NPT). The objective of this study was to examine satisfaction levels of NPT over one academic semester among undergraduate paramedic students. A repeated measured design…

Stress, work overload, burnout, and satisfaction among paramedics in Israel.

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Nirel, Nurit; Goldwag, Rachel; Feigenberg, Zvi; Abadi, David; Halpern, Pinchas

2008-01-01

The number of paramedics in Israel is increasing. Despite this growth and important role, the emergency medical organizations lack information about the characteristics of their work. The objective of this study was to examine the characteristics of the paramedics' work, the quality of their working lives, the factors that keep them in the profession, or conversely, draw them away from it. Cross-sectional study conducted through telephone interviews of a random sample of 50% of the graduates of paramedic courses in Israel (excluding conscripted soldiers). The factors that attract paramedics to the profession have much to do with the essence of the job-rescuing and saving-and a love of what it involves, as well as interest and variety. Pressures at work result from having to cope with a lack of administrative support, paperwork, long hours, imbalance between work and family life, and salary. They do not come from having to cope with responsibility, the pressure of working under uncertain conditions, and the sudden transition from calm situations to emergencies. Dissatisfaction at work is caused by burnout, work overload, and poor health. Physical and mental health that impedes their ability to work is related to a sense of burnout and the intention to change professions. The findings about the relationships between health, job satisfaction, and burnout, coupled with the fact that within a decade, half of the currently employed paramedics will reach an age at which it is hard for them to perform their job, lead to the conclusion that there is a need to reconsider the optimum length of service in the profession. There also is a need to form organizational arrangements to change the work procedures of aging paramedics.

Paramedic specialization: a strategy for better out-of-hospital care.

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Caffrey, Sean M; Clark, John R; Bourn, Scott; Cole, Jim; Cole, John S; Mandt, Maria; Murray, Jimm; Sibold, Harry; Stuhlmiller, David; Swanson, Eric R

2014-01-01

Demographic, economic, and political forces are driving significant change in the US health care system. Paramedics are a health profession currently providing advanced emergency care and medical transportation throughout the United States. As the health care system demands more team-based care in nonacute, community, interfacility, and tactical response settings, specialized paramedic practitioners could be a valuable and well-positioned resource to meet these needs. Currently, there is limited support for specialty certifications that demand appropriate education, training, or experience standards before specialized practice by paramedics. A fragmented approach to specialty paramedic practice currently exists across our country in which states, regulators, nonprofit organizations, and other health care professions influence and regulate the practice of paramedicine. Multiple other medical professions, however, have already developed effective systems over the last century that can be easily adapted to the practice of paramedicine. Paramedicine practitioners need to organize a profession-based specialty board to organize and standardize a specialty certification system that can be used on a national level. Copyright © 2014 Air Medical Journal Associates. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Relationship between Motivation and Academic burnout in Nursing and Paramedical Students of Qom University of Medical Sciences, Iran

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Fatemeh Sharififard

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Background and Objectives: Academic burnout leads to poor performance in students. On the other hand, motivation has direct relationship with academic performance of students. In this study, the relationship between motivation and academic burnout among nursing and paramedical students was investigated. Methods: This study was conducted as a cross-sectional study on nursing and paramedical students of Qom city in the second semester of 2014-2015. A total of 264 students were randomly selected from nursing and paramedical students. Data collection tools were demographic information form, academic burnout questionnaire, and academic motivation scale. Data were analyzed using regression and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The significance level was considered p<0.05. Results: The mean and standard deviation of academic burnout scores of the students was 28.52±15.84. All academic motivation subscales had significant relationship with academic burnout. There were significant relationships between a motivation (OR=1.17, CI=1.08-1.26 and intrinsic motivation (OR=0.92, CI=0.88-0.95 with academic burnout. Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicated that a significant percentage of the students are experiencing academic burnout, and student with intrinsic motivation have lower academic burnout. Therefore, improvement of this personal trait in the students can reduce their academic burnout.

Paramedic student exposure to workplace violence during clinical placements - A cross-sectional study.

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Boyle, Malcolm; McKenna, Lisa

2017-01-01

Paramedic students are hesitant to formally report exposure to acts of workplace violence as they feel it may jeopardise their chance of getting a job. The objective of this study was to identify the type and number of workplace violence acts experienced by undergraduate paramedic students whilst on an ambulance clinical placement. This was a cross-sectional study using the Paramedic Workplace Violence Exposure Questionnaire to obtain student exposure to acts of workplace violence which occurred whilst on ambulance clinical placements. The survey response rate was 29.8%. The students' average age was 24.1 years, median age of 23 years, range 18-47 years. There were 32.6% of students who were exposed to at least one act of workplace violence with 56% of these being females. Verbal abuse 18%, and intimidation 17% were the common acts of workplace violence students were exposed to. One female, a nursing/paramedic student, was exposed to sexual harassment on more than one occasion. The findings from this study suggest that paramedic students are exposed to similar rates of workplace violence as full time practising paramedics. Further research is required into workplace violence against students from all professions and what detrimental effect this may have on them. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Basic life support: knowledge and attitude of medical/paramedical professionals.

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Roshana, Shrestha; Kh, Batajoo; Rm, Piryani; Mw, Sharma

2012-01-01

Basic life support (BLS), a key component of the chain of survival decreases the arrest - cardiopulmonary resuscitation interval and increases the rate of hospital discharge. The study aimed to explore the knowledge of and attitude towards basic life support (BLS) among medical/paramedical professionals. An observational study was conducted by assessing response to self prepared questionnaire consisting of the demographic information of the medical/paramedical staff, their personnel experience/attitude and knowledge of BLS based on the 2005 BLS Guidelines of European Resuscitation Council. After excluding incomplete questionnaires, the data from 121 responders (27 clinical faculty members, 21 dental and basic sciences faculty members, 29 house officers and 44 nurses and health assistants) were analyzed. Only 9 (7.4%) of the 121 responders answered ≥11, 53 (43%) answered 7-10, and 58 (48%) answered basic sciences faculty members attained a least mean score of 4.52 ±2.13 (P<0.001). Those who had received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training within 5 years obtained a highest mean score of 8.62±2.49, whereas those who had the training more than 5 years back or no training obtained a mean score of 5.54±2.38 and 6.1±2.29 respectively (P=0.001). Those who were involved in resuscitation frequently had a higher median score of 8 in comparison to those who were seldom involved or not involved at all (P<0.001). The average health personnel in our hospital lack adequate knowledge in CPR/BLS. Training and experience can enhance knowledge of CPR of these personnel. Thus standard of CPR/BLS training and assessment are recommended at our hospital.

Paramedics experiences and expectations concerning advance directives: a prospective, questionnaire-based, bi-centre study.

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Taghavi, Mahmoud; Simon, Alfred; Kappus, Stefan; Meyer, Nicole; Lassen, Christoph L; Klier, Tobias; Ruppert, David B; Graf, Bernhard M; Hanekop, Gerd G; Wiese, Christoph H R

2012-10-01

Advance directives and palliative crisis cards are means by which palliative care patients can exert their autonomy in end-of-life decisions. To examine paramedics' attitudes towards advance directives and end-of-life care. Questionnaire-based investigation using a self-administered survey instrument. Paramedics of two cities (Hamburg and Goettingen, Germany) were included. Participants were questioned as to (1) their attitudes about advance directives, (2) their clinical experiences in connection with end-of-life situations (e.g. resuscitation), (3) their suggestions in regard to advance directives, 'Do not attempt resuscitation' orders and palliative crisis cards. Questionnaires were returned by 728 paramedics (response rate: 81%). The majority of paramedics (71%) had dealt with advance directives and end-of-life decisions in emergency situations. Most participants (84%) found that cardiopulmonary resuscitation in end-of-life patients is not useful and 75% stated that they would withhold cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the case of legal possibility. Participants also mentioned that more extensive discussion of legal aspects concerning advance directives should be included in paramedic training curricula. They suggested that palliative crisis cards should be integrated into end-of-life care. Decision making in prehospital end-of-life care is a challenge for all paramedics. The present investigation demonstrates that a dialogue bridging emergency medical and palliative care issues is necessary. The paramedics indicated that improved guidelines on end-of-life decisions and the termination of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in palliative care patients may be essential. Participants do not feel adequately trained in end-of-life care and the content of advance directives. Other recent studies have also demonstrated that there is a need for training curricula in end-of-life care for paramedics.

The CHAP-EMS health promotion program: a qualitative study on participants' views of the role of paramedics.

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Brydges, Madison; Denton, Margaret; Agarwal, Gina

2016-08-24

Expanded roles for paramedics, commonly termed community paramedicine, are becoming increasingly common. Paramedics working in community paramedicine roles represent a distinct departure away from the traditional emergency paradigm of paramedic services. Despite this, little research has addressed how community paramedics are perceived by their clients. This study took an interpretivist qualitative approach to examine participants' perceptions of paramedics providing a community paramedicine program, named the Community Health Assessment Program through Emergency Medical Services (CHAP-EMS). Both participant observation and semi-structured interviews conducted with program participants were used to gain insight into the on-the-ground experiences of the program. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze all data. Three themes emerged: i) Caring and trusting relationships; ii) paramedics as health advocates; iii) the added value of EMS skills. Paramedics were perceived by residents as having dual identities: first in a novel role as health advocates and secondly in a traditional role as emergency experts despite lacking contextual features associated with emergency response. From this exploratory, qualitative study we present an emerging framework in which to conceptualize paramedic roles in community paramedicine settings. Future research should address the saliency of these roles in different contexts and how these roles relate to paramedic practice.

Pedagogy before Technology: A Design-Based Research Approach to Enhancing Skills Development in Paramedic Science Using Mixed Reality

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Michael Cowling

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In health sciences education, there is growing evidence that simulation improves learners’ safety, competence, and skills, especially when compared to traditional didactic methods or no simulation training. However, this approach to simulation becomes difficult when students are studying at a distance, leading to the need to develop simulations that suit this pedagogical problem and the logistics of this intervention method. This paper describes the use of a design-based research (DBR methodology, combined with a new model for putting ‘pedagogy before technology’ when approaching these types of education problems, to develop a mixed reality education solution. This combined model is used to analyse a classroom learning problem in paramedic health sciences with respect to student evidence, assisting the educational designer to identify a solution, and subsequently develop a technology-based mixed reality simulation via a mobile phone application and three-dimensional (3D printed tools to provide an analogue approximation for an on-campus simulation experience. The developed intervention was tested with students and refined through a repeat of the process, showing that a DBR process, supported by a model that puts ‘pedagogy before technology’, can produce over several iterations a much-improved simulation that results in a simulation that satisfies student pedagogical needs.

Recruitment and Retention of New Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)-Basics and Paramedics.

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Chapman, Susan A; Crowe, Remle P; Bentley, Melissa A

2016-12-01

The purpose of this paper is to describe factors important for the recruitment and retention of Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)-Basics and EMT-Paramedics new to the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) field (defined as two years or less of EMS employment) through an analysis of 10 years of Longitudinal EMT Attributes and Demographic Study (LEADS) data. Data were obtained from 10 years of LEADS surveys (1999-2008). Individuals new to the profession were identified through responses to a survey item. Their responses were analyzed using weights reflecting each individual's probability of selection. Means, proportions, and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were determined and used to identify statistically significant differences. There were few changes in the demographic characteristics of new EMT-Basics and Paramedics across survey years. New EMT-Basics tended to be older and less likely to have a college degree than new EMT-Paramedics. More new EMT-Basics than EMT-Paramedics worked in rural areas and small towns and reported that they were working as a volunteer. There were differences between new EMT-Basics and EMT-Paramedics in several of the reasons for entering the profession and in facets of job satisfaction. The findings provide guidance for recruiters, educators, employers, and governmental EMS policy organizations and will provide better insight into how to attract and retain new entrants to the field. Chapman SA , Crowe RP , Bentley MA . Recruitment and retention of new Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)-Basics and Paramedics. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(Suppl. 1):s70-s86.

[Tracheal Intubation by Paramedics in a Local Community: Current Situation and Future Challenges].

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Takinami, Yoshikazu

2016-03-01

As of April 2013, 164 paramedics are certified to perform tracheal intubation in Fukui Prefecture. This study investigated the current situation surrounding tracheal intubation performed by paramedics in prehospital care. Subjects were 58 paramedics who completed practical training at our hospital. Post-training duration, number of tracheal intubation cases, number of attempts before successful tracheal intubation, disease involved, rate of return of spontaneous circulation, and prognosis were examined. Tracheal intubation was successful on the first attempt in 92% of cases. Rate of return of spontaneous circulation was high in paramedics whose post-training duration was short. No return of spontaneous circulation occurred after a second attempt. Four patients survived asphyxia or aspiration. It is important to perform successful tracheal intubation on the first attempt, to recognize the probability of successful resuscitation in patients with exogenous disease, and to strengthen the medical control system.

Knowledge of Paramedical Students about Emergency Contraception in Baghdad City

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Suha A. Kadhum

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Objectives : To determine the knowledge and attitude of paramedical students about emergency contraception.   Methodology :A cross-sectional study conducted inn college of Health and Medical Technology, College of Nursing University of Baghdad, Institute of Medical Technol- ogy. Sampling was (non probability convenient & the sample size was 120 students. Study started from March 2015 to March 2016. Data was collected by questionnaire to obtain socio-demographic information (age, gender, contraception using intake of ,pills contained progesterone & estrogen ,pills without prescription ,family planning with con- traception, dual & signal pills ,disease prohibited from using ,side effects,. . . . . . ..etc.   Results: The result showed that there was a higher percentage of the received the answers were these of paramedical student in the college Nursing in age group ( 21-24whereas the higher level of knowledge of paramedical student was recorded in health and medical technologies their responses were about the emergency contraception contained progesterone and estrogens the percentage of their responses was ( 31.7 % .There is a sort of convergence in the level of education between the students ,Faculty of technical and those of the faculty of Nursing .   Recommendations: There is a great need to improve the quality of knowledge of paramedical student regarding the emergency contraception through supplying health education courses and seminars and tackling this thread intensively.

The evolving role of paramedics - a NICE problem to have?

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Eaton, Georgette; Mahtani, Kamal; Catterall, Matt

2018-07-01

This short essay supports the growing role of paramedics in the clinical and academic workforce. We present a commentary of recent draft consultations by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in England that set out how the role of paramedics may be evolving to assist with the changing demands on the clinical workforce. Using these consultations as a basis, we extend their recommendations and suggest that the profession should also lead the academically driven evaluation of these new roles.

Exploring the nature of resilience in paramedic practice: A psycho-social study.

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Clompus, S R; Albarran, J W

2016-09-01

Previous research has identified that paramedics experience high levels of stress and sickness rates which have escalated in recent years due to changes to workforce restructuring. While a number of studies have investigated resilience among healthcare professionals, there is little research exploring how paramedics address work challenges and how they become resilient. Using psycho-social methodology, seven paramedics participated in Free Association Narrative interviewing; all were based at one regional centre. In line with the study design, data analysis adopted a psycho-social approach that generated four themes and 10 sub-themes which, characterised participants' experiences. Coping and resilience was impacted upon via formal methods of support including management, debriefing and referral to outside agencies. Alongside this, more informal methods aided resilience. Informal methods included peer support, support from family and friends and the use of humour. Uniquely, this study uncovered how detachment is used to manage emotions. The study has implications for the services need to support the emotional needs of paramedics. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors influencing the departure of South African advanced life support paramedics from pre-hospital operational practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stuart Hackland

2011-06-01

Conclusion: Whilst the job of an ALS paramedic is difficult and demanding, it was not operational factors that appeared to cause the majority of ALS paramedics to leave operational practice, but rather organisational and career-based factors. These factors should be addressed in order to improve job satisfaction, with the objective of retaining more operational paramedics for longer.

Undergraduate paramedic students' attitudes to e-learning: findings from five university programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Graham Munro

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Computers and computer-assisted instruction are being used with increasing frequency in the area of undergraduate paramedic education. Paramedic students' attitudes towards the use of e-learning technology and computer-assisted instruction have received limited attention in the empirical literature to date. The objective of this study was to determine paramedic students' attitudes towards e-learning. A cross-sectional methodology was used in the form of a paperbased survey to elicit students' attitudes to e-learning using three standardised scales. Convenience sampling was used to sample a cross-section of paramedic students at five universities during semester 1 of 2009. The scales used were: the Computer Attitude Survey (CAS, the Online Learning Environment Survey (OLES, and the Attitude Toward CAI Semantic Differential Scale (ATCAISDS. There were 339 students who participated. Approximately onehalf (57.7% were female and most (76.0% were under 24 years of age. Moderate results were noted for the CAS general and education subscales. The CAS results were broadly corroborated by the OLES, although a statistically significant difference between participants preferred and actual results on the OLES Computer Usage subscale identified that participants would prefer to use computers less than they actually do. Similarly, the ATCAISDS found participants were largely ambivalent towards computers. As paramedic degree programs continue to emerge and develop, careful consideration should be given to the usability and utility of various e-learning approaches.

Prevalence of Unique Pediatric Pathologies Encountered by Paramedic Students Across Age Groups.

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Ernest, Eric V; Brazelton, Tom B; Carhart, Elliot D; Studnek, Jonathan R; Tritt, Patricia L; Philip, Genghis A; Burnett, Aaron M

2016-08-01

Introduction Traditionally, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) educators have divided the pediatric population into age groups to assist in targeting their clinical and didactic curriculum. Currently, the accrediting body for paramedic training programs requires student exposure to pediatric patients based entirely on age without specifying exposure to specific pathologies within each age stratification. Identifying which pathologies are most common within the different pediatric age groups would allow educators to design curriculum targeting the most prevalent pathologies in each age group and incorporating the physiologic and psychological developmental milestones commonly seen at that age. Hypothesis It was hypothesized that there are unique clusterings of pathologies, represented by paramedic student primary impressions, that are found in different age groups which can be used to target provider education. This is a retrospective review of prospectively collected data documented by paramedic students in the Fisdap (Field Internship Student Data Acquisition Project; Saint Paul, Minnesota USA) database over a one-year period. For the purposes of this study, pediatric patients were defined arbitrarily as those between the ages of 0-16 years. All paramedic student primary impressions recorded in Fisdap for patients aged 0-16 years were abstracted. Primary impression by age was calculated and graphed. The frequency of primary impression was then assessed for significance of trend by age with an alpha ≤.05 considered significant. The following primary impressions showed clinically and statistically significant variability in prevalence among different pediatric age groups: respiratory distress, medical-other, abdominal pain, seizure, overdose/poisoning, behavioral, and cardiac. In patients less than 13 years old, respiratory and other-medical were the most common two primary impressions and both decreased with age. In patients 5-16 years old, the prevalence of

Empathetic attitudes of undergraduate paramedic and nursing students towards four medical conditions: a three-year longitudinal study.

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Williams, Brett; Boyle, Malcolm; Fielder, Chris

2015-02-01

In the healthcare context empathy is the cognitive ability to understand a patient's perspectives and experiences and to convey that understanding back to the patient. Some medical conditions are frequently stigmatised or otherwise detrimentally stereotyped with patients often describing healthcare practitioners as intolerant, prejudiced and discriminatory. The purpose of this study was to find how a group of paramedic students and nursing/paramedic double-degree students regard these types of patients and to note any changes that may occur as those students continued through their education. The 11-questions, 6-point Likert scale version of the Medical Condition Regard Scale was used in this prospective cross-sectional longitudinal study. This study included paramedic students enrolled in first, second, third and fourth year of an undergraduate paramedic or paramedic/nursing program from Monash University. A total of 554 students participated. Statistically significant differences were found between double-degree and single-degree students (pintellectual disability and attempted suicide. No statistically significant results were found for acute mental illness. This study has demonstrated significant differences in empathy between paramedic and nursing/paramedic double-degree students in regard to patients with these complex medical conditions. Paramedic/nursing students generally showed a positive change in empathy towards these complex patients by their third year of study; however, they also showed some alarming drops in empathy between second and third year. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Paramedic and midwifery student exposure to workplace violence during clinical placements in Australia ? A pilot study

OpenAIRE

Boyle, Malcolm; McKenna, Lisa

2016-01-01

Objectives The objective of this pilot study was to identify the type of workplace violence experienced by undergraduate paramedic and midwifery students. Methods The study used a cross-sectional methodology with the self-administered paper-based Paramedic Workplace Violence Exposure Questionnaire to elicit undergraduate paramedic and midwife responses to workplace violence whilst on clinical placements. There were 393 students eligible for inclusion in the study. A convenience sample was use...

Challenges for environmental hygiene practices in Australian paramedic-led health care: A brief report.

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Barr, Nigel; Holmes, Mark; Roiko, Anne; Dunn, Peter; Lord, Bill

2018-06-01

This study explored the self-reported behaviors and perceptions of Australian paramedics in relation to their environmental hygiene practices. A national online survey was conducted with Paramedics Australasia members (N = 417). Participants reported working in ambulances often contaminated with body fluids. Widespread noncompliance with routine and deep cleaning of ambulances, and misunderstandings about environmental hygiene practices were apparent. Improvements to environmental hygiene practices of Australian paramedics are recommended to avoid pathogen transmission and ensure patient safety. Copyright © 2018 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Post-traumatic stress disorder among paramedic and hospital emergency personnel in south-east Iran

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Sedigheh Iranmanesh; Batool Tirgari; Hojat Sheikh Bardsiri

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND:Paramedic and emergency personnel may encounter directly many events that threat their own wellbeing during their daily work.This study was conducted to examine the prevalence rate of post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) among two groups of paramedic and emergency personnel in south-east Iran.METHODS:The study employed a descriptive design and was conducted in four hospital emergency wards and a pre-hospital emergency base supervised by Kerman Medical University.Using Mississippi PTSD,we assessed the prevalence rate in paramedics(n=150) and emergency personnel(n=250).RESULTS:The two groups had different levels of education,marital status,experience of traumatic events,work hours per month,and gender.Most(94%) of paramedic and hospital emergency personnel reported moderate PTSD.The two groups had significant different levels of PTSD in all subscale.CONCLUSION:The study suggests that health care managers should organize systematic and dynamic policies and procedures in dealing with PTSD to assist both groups of personnel.

Ambulance Clinical Triage for Acute Stroke Treatment: Paramedic Triage Algorithm for Large Vessel Occlusion.

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Zhao, Henry; Pesavento, Lauren; Coote, Skye; Rodrigues, Edrich; Salvaris, Patrick; Smith, Karen; Bernard, Stephen; Stephenson, Michael; Churilov, Leonid; Yassi, Nawaf; Davis, Stephen M; Campbell, Bruce C V

2018-04-01

Clinical triage scales for prehospital recognition of large vessel occlusion (LVO) are limited by low specificity when applied by paramedics. We created the 3-step ambulance clinical triage for acute stroke treatment (ACT-FAST) as the first algorithmic LVO identification tool, designed to improve specificity by recognizing only severe clinical syndromes and optimizing paramedic usability and reliability. The ACT-FAST algorithm consists of (1) unilateral arm drift to stretcher <10 seconds, (2) severe language deficit (if right arm is weak) or gaze deviation/hemineglect assessed by simple shoulder tap test (if left arm is weak), and (3) eligibility and stroke mimic screen. ACT-FAST examination steps were retrospectively validated, and then prospectively validated by paramedics transporting culturally and linguistically diverse patients with suspected stroke in the emergency department, for the identification of internal carotid or proximal middle cerebral artery occlusion. The diagnostic performance of the full ACT-FAST algorithm was then validated for patients accepted for thrombectomy. In retrospective (n=565) and prospective paramedic (n=104) validation, ACT-FAST displayed higher overall accuracy and specificity, when compared with existing LVO triage scales. Agreement of ACT-FAST between paramedics and doctors was excellent (κ=0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.79-1.0). The full ACT-FAST algorithm (n=60) assessed by paramedics showed high overall accuracy (91.7%), sensitivity (85.7%), specificity (93.5%), and positive predictive value (80%) for recognition of endovascular-eligible LVO. The 3-step ACT-FAST algorithm shows higher specificity and reliability than existing scales for clinical LVO recognition, despite requiring just 2 examination steps. The inclusion of an eligibility step allowed recognition of endovascular-eligible patients with high accuracy. Using a sequential algorithmic approach eliminates scoring confusion and reduces assessment time. Future

Downtime after Critical Incidents in Emergency Medical Technicians/Paramedics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janice Halpern

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Effective workplace-based interventions after critical incidents (CIs are needed for emergency medical technicians (EMT/paramedics. The evidence for a period out of service post-CI (downtime is sparse; however it may prevent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD and burnout symptoms. We examined the hypothesis that downtime post-CI is associated with fewer symptoms of four long-term emotional sequelae in EMT/paramedics: depression, PTSD, burnout, and stress-related emotional symptoms (accepted cut-offs defined high scores. Two hundred and one paramedics completed questionnaires concerning an index CI including downtime experience, acute distress, and current emotional symptoms. Nearly 75% received downtime; 59% found it helpful; 84% spent it with peers. Downtime was associated only with lower depression symptoms, not with other outcomes. The optimal period for downtime was between 1 day being less effective. Planned testing of mediation of the association between downtime and depression by either calming acute post-CI distress or feeling helped by others was not performed because post-CI distress was not associated with downtime and perceived helpfulness was not associated with depression. These results suggest that outcomes of CIs follow different pathways and may require different interventions. A brief downtime is a relatively simple and effective strategy in preventing later depression symptoms.

Paramedic self-reported exposure to violence in the emergency medical services (EMS) workplace: a mixed-methods cross-sectional survey.

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Bigham, Blair L; Jensen, Jan L; Tavares, Walter; Drennan, Ian R; Saleem, Humaira; Dainty, Katie N; Munro, Glenn

2014-01-01

Studies from Australia, Sweden, the United States, and elsewhere have found that paramedics experience violence in the emergency medical services (EMS) workplace. The objective of this study was to describe and explore violence experienced by paramedics in the ground ambulance setting, including types of violence experienced, by whom the violence was perpetrated, actions taken by paramedics, and effects of these episodes. A cross-sectional study utilizing a mixed-methods paper survey was provided to a convenience sample of rural, suburban, and urban-based ground ambulance paramedics in two Canadian provinces. Paramedics were asked to describe episodes of verbal assault, intimidation, physical assault, sexual harassment, and sexual assault they were exposed to during the past 12 months. Qualitative questions inquired about the impact of these experiences. Response selections were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis, and qualitative data was analyzed using descriptive content analysis. A total of 1,884 paramedics were invited to participate and 1,676 responded (89.0%). Most participants (75%) reported experiencing violence in the past 12 months. The most common form of violence reported was verbal assault (67%), followed by intimidation (41%), physical assault (26%), sexual harassment (14%), and sexual assault (3%). Patients were identified as the most common perpetrators of violence. Serious sequellae were qualitatively reported. The majority of Canadian paramedics surveyed experience violence in the workplace, which can lead to serious personal and professional sequellae. Strategies should be devised and studied to reduce violent events toward paramedics and to mitigate the impact such events have on the wellbeing of paramedics.

Identifying the critical physical demanding tasks of paramedic work: Towards the development of a physical employment standard.

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Fischer, Steven L; Sinden, Kathryn E; MacPhee, Renee S

2017-11-01

Public safety related occupations including police, fire and military commonly apply physical employment standard (PES) to facilitate job matching, an approach to evaluate if candidates demonstrate acceptable physical capabilities as required to perform the job safely and effectively. In Canada, paramedics remain as one of the few public safety occupations without an evidence-based, validated PES. The purpose of this study was to document and describe the physical demands of paramedic work and to identify the most physically demanding tasks. These outcomes are essential to inform the design and development of an evidence-based PES for the paramedic sector. Physical demands of paramedic work were documented and described using a direct observation-based task analysis technique. Five paramedic's were trained to document the physical demands of their work, then applied their training to observe more than 90 calls over the course of 20 full 12-h work shifts. Physical demands data were then listed in a survey, administered service-wide, where 155 frontline paramedics identified critically demanding tasks and rank-ordered physical demands from not physically demanding to very strongly demanding. Critically important and physically demanding tasks were identified such as: transferring a patient; loading or unloading a stretcher in to or out of the ambulance; performing CPR; and, raising and lowering a stretcher. It is important that a paramedic-based PES evaluate a candidate's physical capabilities to perform the critical and physically demanding tasks identified in this study. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improved auscultation skills in paramedic students using a modified stethoscope.

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Simon, Erin L; Lecat, Paul J; Haller, Nairmeen A; Williams, Carolyn J; Martin, Scott W; Carney, John A; Pakiela, John A

2012-12-01

The Ventriloscope® (Lecat's SimplySim, Tallmadge, OH) is a modified stethoscope used as a simulation training device for auscultation. To test the effectiveness of the Ventriloscope as a training device in teaching heart and lung auscultatory findings to paramedic students. A prospective, single-hospital study conducted in a paramedic-teaching program. The standard teaching group learned heart and lung sounds via audiocassette recordings and lecture, whereas the intervention group utilized the modified stethoscope in conjunction with patient volunteers. Study subjects took a pre-test, post-test, and a follow-up test to measure recognition of heart and lung sounds. The intervention group included 22 paramedic students and the standard group included 18 paramedic students. Pre-test scores did not differ using two-sample t-tests (standard group: t [16]=-1.63, p=0.12) and (intervention group: t [20]=-1.17, p=0.26). Improvement in pre-test to post-test scores was noted within each group (standard: t [17]=2.43, p=0.03; intervention: t [21]=4.81, p<0.0001). Follow-up scores for the standard group were not different from pre-test scores of 16.06 (t [17]=0.94, p=0.36). However, follow-up scores for the intervention group significantly improved from their respective pre-test score of 16.05 (t [21]=2.63, p=0.02). Simulation training using a modified stethoscope in conjunction with standardized patients allows for realistic learning of heart and lung sounds. This technique of simulation training achieved proficiency and better retention of heart and lung sounds in a safe teaching environment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Paramedic knowledge, attitudes, and training in end-of-life care.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Susan C; Abbott, Jean; McClung, Christian D; Colwell, Chris B; Eckstein, Marc; Lowenstein, Steven R

2009-01-01

Paramedics often are asked to care for patients at the end of life. To do this, they must communicate effectively with family and caregivers, understand their legal obligations, and know when to withhold unwanted interventions. The objectives of this study were to ascertain paramedics' attitudes toward end-of-life (EOL) situations and the frequency with which they encounter them; and to compare paramedics' preparation during training for a variety of EOL care skills. A written survey was administered to a convenience sample of paramedics in two cities: Denver, Colorado and Los Angeles, California. Questions addressed: (1) attitudes toward EOL decision-making in prehospital settings; (2) experience (number of EOL situations experienced in the past two years); (3) importance of various EOL tasks in clinical practice (pronouncing and communicating death, ending resuscitation, honoring advance directives (ADs)); and (4) self-assessed preparation for these EOL tasks. For each task, importance and preparation were measured using a four-point Likert scale. Proportions were compared using McNemar chi-square statistics to identify areas of under- or over-preparation. Two hundred thirty-six paramedics completed the survey. The mean age was 39 years (range 22-59 years), and 222 (94%) were male. Twenty percent had >20 years of experience. Almost all participants (95%; 95% CI = 91-97%) agreed that prehospital providers should honor field ADs, and more than half (59%; 95% CI = 52-65%) felt that providers should honor verbal wishes to limit resuscitation at the scene. Ninety-eight percent of the participants (95% CI = 96-100%) had questioned whether specific life support interventions were appropriate for patients who appeared to have a terminal disease. Twenty-six percent (95% CI = 20-32%) reported to have used their own judgment during the past two years to withhold or end resuscitation in a patient who appeared to have a terminal disease. Significant discrepancies between the

Pediatric Intubation by Paramedics in a Large Emergency Medical Services System: Process, Challenges, and Outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Prekker, Matthew E; Delgado, Fernanda; Shin, Jenny; Kwok, Heemun; Johnson, Nicholas J; Carlbom, David; Grabinsky, Andreas; Brogan, Thomas V; King, Mary A; Rea, Thomas D

2016-01-01

Pediatric intubation is a core paramedic skill in some emergency medical services (EMS) systems. The literature lacks a detailed examination of the challenges and subsequent adjustments made by paramedics when intubating children in the out-of-hospital setting. We undertake a descriptive evaluation of the process of out-of-hospital pediatric intubation, focusing on challenges, adjustments, and outcomes. We performed a retrospective analysis of EMS responses between 2006 and 2012 that involved attempted intubation of children younger than 13 years by paramedics in a large, metropolitan EMS system. We calculated the incidence rate of attempted pediatric intubation with EMS and county census data. To summarize the intubation process, we linked a detailed out-of-hospital airway registry with clinical records from EMS, hospital, or autopsy encounters for each child. The main outcome measures were procedural challenges, procedural success, complications, and patient disposition. Paramedics attempted intubation in 299 cases during 6.3 years, with an incidence of 1 pediatric intubation per 2,198 EMS responses. Less than half of intubations (44%) were for patients in cardiac arrest. Two thirds of patients were intubated on the first attempt (66%), and overall success was 97%. The most prevalent challenge was body fluids obscuring the laryngeal view (33%). After a failed first intubation attempt, corrective actions taken by paramedics included changing equipment (33%), suctioning (32%), and repositioning the patient (27%). Six patients (2%) experienced peri-intubation cardiac arrest and 1 patient had an iatrogenic tracheal injury. No esophageal intubations were observed. Of patients transported to the hospital, 86% were admitted to intensive care and hospital mortality was 27%. Pediatric intubation by paramedics was performed infrequently in this EMS system. Although overall intubation success was high, a detailed evaluation of the process of intubation revealed specific

Paramedics' experiences of financial medicine practices in the pre ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Craig Vincent-Lambert

African Paramedics with regard to the practicing of financial medicine in the local pre- hospital emergency .... These are Basic Life Support (BLS), Intermediate life Support. (ILS) or ... reports by members of the profession have highlighted cir-.

On the Assessment of Paramedic Competence: A Narrative Review with Practice Implications.

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Tavares, W; Boet, S

2016-02-01

Paramedicine is experiencing significant growth in scope of practice, autonomy, and role in the health care system. Despite clinical governance models, the degree to which paramedicine ultimately can be safe and effective will be dependent on the individuals the profession deems suited to practice. This creates an imperative for those responsible for these decisions to ensure that assessments of paramedic competence are indeed accurate, trustworthy, and defensible. The purpose of this study was to explore and synthesize relevant theoretical foundations and literature informing best practices in performance-based assessment (PBA) of competence, as it might be applied to paramedicine, for design or evaluation of assessment programs. A narrative review methodology was applied to focus intentionally, but broadly, on purpose relevant, theoretically derived research that could inform assessment protocols in paramedicine. Primary and secondary studies from a number of health professions that contributed to and informed best practices related to the assessment of paramedic clinical competence were included and synthesized. Multiple conceptual frameworks, psychometric requirements, and emerging lines of research are forwarded. Seventeen practice implications are derived to promote understanding as well as best practices and evaluation criteria for educators, employers, and/or licensing/certifying bodies when considering the assessment of paramedic competence. The assessment of paramedic competence is a complex process requiring an understanding, appreciation for, and integration of conceptual and psychometric principles. The field of PBA is advancing rapidly with numerous opportunities for research.

Beliefs and attitudes of paramedical college staff towards ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Beliefs and attitudes of paramedical college staff towards complementary and alternate medicine. ... As the use of healing practices outside of CM rise among patients, ignorance of CAM by future medical practitioners can cause a communication gap between people and the profession that serves them. It is encouraging ...

Work-Related Accidents and Sharp Injuries in Paramedics-Illustrated with an Example of a Multi-Specialist Hospital, Located in Central Poland.

Science.gov (United States)

Garus-Pakowska, Anna; Szatko, Franciszek; Ulrichs, Magdalena

2017-08-10

(1) Background: An analysis of work-related accidents in paramedics in Poland by presenting the model and trend of accidents, accident rates and by identifying causes and results of accidents; (2) Methods: A retrospective analysis of medical documentation regarding work-related accidents in a multi-specialist hospital, located in central Poland, in the period 2005-2015. The study group included paramedics who had an accident while being on duty; (3) Results: According to hospital records, 88 paramedics were involved in 390 accidents and 265 injuries caused by sharp instruments. The annual accident rate was 5.34/100 employed paramedics. Most of the accidents occurred at night. The most common reason for the accident was careless behaviour of the paramedic, which resulted in joint sprains and dislocations. Injuries accounted for a huge portion of the total number of events. As many as 45% of injuries were not officially recorded; (4) Conclusion: High rates of work-related accidents and injuries caused by sharp instruments in paramedics are a serious public health problem. Further studies should be conducted in order to identify risk factors of accidents, particularly injuries, and to implement preventative programmes, aiming to minimise rates of occupational hazards for paramedics.

What influences pre-hospital cannulation intentions in paramedics? An application of the theory of reasoned action.

Science.gov (United States)

Banerjee, Smita C; Siriwardena, A Niroshan; Iqbal, Mohammad

2011-02-01

Intravenous cannulation is a common and important intervention undertaken by paramedics for administration of fluids and drugs in the pre-hospital setting. This study was a partial application of the theory of reasoned action to the prediction of pre-hospital cannulation intentions as part of an evaluation of an educational intervention to change cannulation behaviour in paramedics in line with national guidance. In 2008 a self-completion questionnaire was sent to paramedics from Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire divisions of East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust, UK. This included measures of prior behaviour related to cannulation, attitude towards cannulation, normative influence related to cannulation and intention to cannulate as well as demographic information. Of the 323 paramedics sent questionnaires 137 (42.2%) responded. Attitude towards cannulation (but not normative or peer influence) was a necessary factor for prediction of intention to cannulate in respondents. Past cannulation behaviour was indirectly related to intention to cannulate through the mediation of attitude towards cannulation. The theory of reasoned action provides a parsimonious way to predict intentions to cannulate. This study suggests that design and evaluation of interventions to reduce inappropriate cannulation should be targeted towards changing attitudes of paramedics, rather than towards addressing behavioural norms. Future research could utilize social-psychological theories to better understand clinical behaviour prior to implementation of complex educational or organizational interventions. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Current status of clinical education in paramedic programs: a descriptive research project.

Science.gov (United States)

Grubbs, K C

1997-01-01

Development of competence in exercising therapeutic judgment skills represents the goal of clinical education. Time (clock hours) is not a valid predictor of attainment of competence in paramedic clinical education. Quantity of patient contact experiences facilitates development of judgment skills, and offers a valid measure of progress toward competence. This project uses national survey data from accredited programs to describe the availability and accessibility of patient contact experiences within paramedic clinical education. Data from this local program supplements the national survey results. The components of clinical judgment are enumerated, and strategies to teach and evaluate clinical judgment skills are discussed.

Simulation Use in Paramedic Education Research (SUPER): A Descriptive Study.

Science.gov (United States)

McKenna, Kim D; Carhart, Elliot; Bercher, Daniel; Spain, Andrew; Todaro, John; Freel, Joann

2015-01-01

The purpose of this research was to characterize the use of simulation in initial paramedic education programs in order assist stakeholders' efforts to target educational initiatives and resources. This group sought to provide a snapshot of what simulation resources programs have or have access to and how they are used; faculty perceptions about simulation; whether program characteristics, resources, or faculty training influence simulation use; and if simulation resources are uniform for patients of all ages. This was a cross-sectional census survey of paramedic programs that were accredited or had a Letter of Review from the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the EMS Professions at the time of the study. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square analyses. Of the 638 surveys sent, 389 valid responses (61%) were analyzed. Paramedic programs reported they have or have access to a wide range of simulation resources (task trainers [100%], simple manikins [100%], intermediate manikins [99%], advanced/fully programmable manikins [91%], live simulated patients [83%], computer-based [71%], and virtual reality [19%]); however, they do not consistently use them, particularly advanced (71%), live simulated patients (66%), computer-based (games, scenarios) (31%), and virtual reality (4%). Simulation equipment (of any type) reportedly sits idle and unused in (31%) of programs. Lack of training was cited as the most common reason. Personnel support specific to simulation was available in 44% of programs. Programs reported using simulation to replace skills more frequently than to replace field or clinical hours. Simulation goals included assessment, critical thinking, and problem-solving most frequently, and patient and crew safety least often. Programs using advanced manikins report manufacturers as their primary means of training (87%) and that 19% of faculty had no training specific to those manikins. Many (78%) respondents felt

Paramedic rapid sequence induction (RSI) in a South African ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Methods. We undertook a retrospective observational study of paramedic RSI performed by an emergency medical service, between 12 December 2009 and 12 December 2011. Results. Eighty-six RSIs were performed during the study period. No failed intubations were reported. Heart rate was significantly reduced from a ...

A cross-sectional study of paramedics' readiness for interprofessional learning and cooperation: results from five universities.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Brett; Boyle, Malcolm; Brightwell, Richard; McCall, Michael; McMullen, Paula; Munro, Graham; O'Meara, Peter; Webb, Vanessa

2013-11-01

Healthcare systems are evolving to feature the promotion of interprofessional practice more prominently. The development of successful and functional interprofessional practice is best achieved through interprofessional learning. Given that most paramedic programmes take an isolative uni-professional educational approach to their healthcare undergraduate courses, serious questions must be raised as to whether students are being adequately prepared for the interprofessional healthcare workplace. The objective of this study was to assess the attitudes of paramedic students towards interprofessional learning across five Australian universities. Using a convenience sample of paramedic student attitudes towards interprofessional learning and cooperation were measured using two standardised self-reporting instruments: Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) and Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS). Students' readiness for interprofessional learning did not appear to be significantly influenced by their gender nor the type of paramedic degree they were undertaking. As students progressed through their degrees their appreciation for collaborative teamwork and their understanding of paramedic identity grew, however this appeared to negatively affect their willingness to engage in interprofessional learning with other healthcare students. The tertiary institute attended also appeared to influence students' preparedness and attitudes to shared learning. This study has found no compelling evidence that students' readiness for interprofessional learning is significantly affected by either their gender or the type of degree undertaken. By contrast it was seen that the tertiary institutions involved in this study produced students at different levels of preparedness for IPL and cooperation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Support and Assessment for Fall Emergency Referrals (SAFER 1: cluster randomised trial of computerised clinical decision support for paramedics.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helen Anne Snooks

Full Text Available To evaluate effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of Computerised Clinical Decision Support (CCDS for paramedics attending older people who fall.Cluster trial randomised by paramedic; modelling.13 ambulance stations in two UK emergency ambulance services.42 of 409 eligible paramedics, who attended 779 older patients for a reported fall.Intervention paramedics received CCDS on Tablet computers to guide patient care. Control paramedics provided care as usual. One service had already installed electronic data capture.Effectiveness: patients referred to falls service, patient reported quality of life and satisfaction, processes of care.Further emergency contacts or death within one month.Costs and quality of life. We used findings from published Community Falls Prevention Trial to model cost-effectiveness.17 intervention paramedics used CCDS for 54 (12.4% of 436 participants. They referred 42 (9.6% to falls services, compared with 17 (5.0% of 343 participants seen by 19 control paramedics [Odds ratio (OR 2.04, 95% CI 1.12 to 3.72]. No adverse events were related to the intervention. Non-significant differences between groups included: subsequent emergency contacts (34.6% versus 29.1%; OR 1.27, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.72; quality of life (mean SF12 differences: MCS -0.74, 95% CI -2.83 to +1.28; PCS -0.13, 95% CI -1.65 to +1.39 and non-conveyance (42.0% versus 36.7%; OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.52. However ambulance job cycle time was 8.9 minutes longer for intervention patients (95% CI 2.3 to 15.3. Average net cost of implementing CCDS was £208 per patient with existing electronic data capture, and £308 without. Modelling estimated cost per quality-adjusted life-year at £15,000 with existing electronic data capture; and £22,200 without.Intervention paramedics referred twice as many participants to falls services with no difference in safety. CCDS is potentially cost-effective, especially with existing electronic data capture.ISRCTN Register ISRCTN

A qualitative study of systemic influences on paramedic decision making: care transitions and patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Hara, Rachel; Johnson, Maxine; Siriwardena, A Niroshan; Weyman, Andrew; Turner, Janette; Shaw, Deborah; Mortimer, Peter; Newman, Chris; Hirst, Enid; Storey, Matthew; Mason, Suzanne; Quinn, Tom; Shewan, Jane

2015-01-01

Paramedics routinely make critical decisions about the most appropriate care to deliver in a complex system characterized by significant variation in patient case-mix, care pathways and linked service providers. There has been little research carried out in the ambulance service to identify areas of risk associated with decisions about patient care. The aim of this study was to explore systemic influences on decision making by paramedics relating to care transitions to identify potential risk factors. An exploratory multi-method qualitative study was conducted in three English National Health Service (NHS) Ambulance Service Trusts, focusing on decision making by paramedic and specialist paramedic staff. Researchers observed 57 staff across 34 shifts. Ten staff completed digital diaries and three focus groups were conducted with 21 staff. Nine types of decision were identified, ranging from emergency department conveyance and specialist emergency pathways to non-conveyance. Seven overarching systemic influences and risk factors potentially influencing decision making were identified: demand; performance priorities; access to care options; risk tolerance; training and development; communication and feedback and resources. Use of multiple methods provided a consistent picture of key systemic influences and potential risk factors. The study highlighted the increased complexity of paramedic decisions and multi-level system influences that may exacerbate risk. The findings have implications at the level of individual NHS Ambulance Service Trusts (e.g. ensuring an appropriately skilled workforce to manage diverse patient needs and reduce emergency department conveyance) and at the wider prehospital emergency care system level (e.g. ensuring access to appropriate patient care options as alternatives to the emergency department). © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Analysis the relationship between psychological contract and organisational justice perception of paramedical personnel

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Necmettin Cihangiroglu

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This study was conducted to find out if the psychological contract and organizational justice perceptions of paramedical personnel were affected by their socio-demographic factors and to determine whether there is a significant relation between their psychological contract and organizational justice perceptions. The study has been sectionally contucted in July-August 2010, to a 1200 bed education and research hospital in Ankara. We aimed at reaching all of the paramedical personnel without any sampling. Of 600 questionnaires distributed, we collected 458 (76,3%. The questionnaire used for collecting data consists of three parts. The first part concentrates on the individual characteristics of health workers while the second part contains the 17 item Psychological Contract Scale developed by Millward and Hopkins (1998 that is based on the quantitative approach of psychological contract. ln the third part, we used the and ldquo;Organisational Justice Measurement'' with 17 statements developed by Colquitt (2001. One of the statements refers to the study of Iscan and Naktiyok (2004. The results of the study showed that the psychological contract and organizational justice perceptions of paramedical personnel were very low. Also, their psychological contract and organizational justice perceptions were significantly affected by gender (p0,05. In addition, it was seen that there was a significant but weak relationshlp between health workers' psychological contract and organizational justice perceptions. The results of this study can provide signiflcant information to the health care management to understand psychological contract and organisational justice perception of their paramedical personnel. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2015; 14(4.000: 293-299

[The incidence of accidents at work among paramedics in the years 2001-2013 based on the register of one selected hospital].

Science.gov (United States)

Garus-Pakowska, Anna; Gaszyńska, Ewelina; Szatko, Franciszek

Paramedics are exposed to a number of factors that may have a direct or indirect impact on the risk of an accident at work. The aim of the study was to analyze the incidence of accidents at work among paramedics as well as to discuss risk factors and measures to prevent such cases. The data on accidents at work were obtained from unpublished internal hospital documentation. The results were subjected to statistical analysis. In the years 2001-2013 there were 40 events, including 6 collective accidents, in which 41 paramedics of the emergency department were injured. On average, around 3 accidents involving paramedics occurred each year. The accidents happened most frequently in the evening and at night and in the winter months (statistically insignificant relationship). Incorrect behavior of the paramedics was the most common cause of an accident (75.6%) and musculoskeletal injuries (75%) most frequently of upper and lower limbs (55%) were the most common effects of an accident. In none of the cases safety regulations were breached by employees or employer. Accidents among paramedics can be prevented by changing the interior design of and the medical equipment installation in the rear cabin of the ambulance, conducting regular training to upgrade the skills of paramedics and enriching their knowledge about health and safety in their widest meaning. Med Pr 2016;67(2):213-221. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Measuring workplace trauma response in Australian paramedics: an investigation into the psychometric properties of the Impact of Event Scale

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Hogan N

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Nicola Hogan,1 Shane Costello,1 Malcolm Boyle,2 Brett Williams2 1Faculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia; 2Department of Community Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice, Monash University, Frankston, VIC, Australia Introduction: Investigation into the psychological effects of violence toward health care workers and its associated trauma is increasing. The Impact of Event Scale (IES provides a measure of current, subjective, emotional distress symptomatic of a specific traumatic event. However, its validity among paramedics is largely unknown. Problem: The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties and factor structure of the IES with a sample of Australian paramedics. Methods: The study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties and factor structure of the 15-item IES with a sample of Australian paramedics using Exploratory Factor Analysis with model fit statistics as found in confirmatory analysis. Results: Maximum Likelihood Factor Analysis with Varimax rotation supported the hypothesis that a two-factor solution would provide the best fit of the data. Procrustes rotation provided further support for this hypothesis indicating that the factors, labeled “Intrusion” and “Avoidance”, as well as the individual items of the 12-item final model, were a good fit to an ideal solution. Conclusion: The revision of the scale has improved its validity for use in the general population of paramedics, improving the potential for its use in trauma-related research. Keywords: impact of event scale, psychometrics, paramedics, occupational violence, PTSD

Paramedic and midwifery student exposure to workplace violence during clinical placements in Australia - A pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyle, Malcolm; McKenna, Lisa

2016-12-11

  The objective of this pilot study was to identify the type of workplace violence experienced by undergraduate paramedic and midwifery students. The study used a cross-sectional methodology with the self-administered paper-based Paramedic Workplace Violence Exposure Questionnaire to elicit undergraduate paramedic and midwife responses to workplace violence whilst on clinical placements. There were 393 students eligible for inclusion in the study. A convenience sample was used. The anonymous questionnaire took 10 to 20 minutes to complete. Descriptive statistics are used to summarise the data with a two-tailed t-test used to compare groups. The main form of workplace violence was verbal abuse 18% and intimidation 17%.  There was a statistically significant difference between midwifery and paramedic students for intimidation (t (134) =-3.143, CI: -0.367 to -0.082, p=0.002) and between females and males for sexual harassment (t (134) =2.029, CI: 0.001 to 0.074, p=0.045), all other results were not statistically different. This pilot study is the first of its kind in Australia and internationally to identify exposure rates of workplace violence by undergraduate paramedic students during clinical placements and one of very few to identify midwifery students' exposure rates of workplace violence. The study identified that students were exposed to a range of workplace violence acts from verbal abuse through to sexual harassment. These findings highlight a need for investigation of workplace violence exposure of medical, nursing and allied health students during the clinical phase of their studies.

Quality of Basic Life Support - A Comparison between Medical Students and Paramedics.

Science.gov (United States)

Körber, Maria Isabel; Köhler, Thomas; Weiss, Verena; Pfister, Roman; Michels, Guido

2016-07-01

Poor survival rates after cardiac arrest can partly be explained by poor basic life support skills in medical professionals. This study aimed to assess quality of basic life support in medical students and paramedics. We conducted a prospective observational study with 100 early medical students (group A), 100 late medical students (group B) and 100 paramedics (group C), performing a 20-minute basic life support simulation in teams of two. Average frequency and absolute number of chest compressions per minute (mean (±SD)), chest decompression (millimetres of compression remaining, mean (±SD)), hands-off-time (seconds/minute, mean (±SD)), frequency of switching positions between ventilation and chest compression (per 20 minutes) and rate of sufficient compressions (depth ≥50mm) were assessed as quality parameters of CPR. In groups A, B and C the rates of sufficiently deep chest compressions were 56%, 42% and 52%, respectively, without significant differences. Male gender and real-life CPR experience were significantly associated with deeper chest compression. Frequency and number of chest compressions were within recommended goals in at least 96% of all groups. Remaining chest compressions were 6 mm (±2), 6 mm (±2) and 5 mm (±2) with a significant difference between group A and C (p=0.017). Hands-off times were 6s/min (±1), 5s/min (±1) and 4s/min (±1), which was significantly different across all three groups. Overall, paramedics tended to show better quality of CPR compared to medical students. Though, chest compression depth as an important quality characteristic of CPR was insufficient in almost 50% of participants, even in well trained paramedics. Therefore, we suggest that an effort should be made to find better ways to educate health care professionals in BLS.

Do clinical safety charts improve paramedic key performance indicator results? (A clinical improvement programme evaluation).

Science.gov (United States)

Ebbs, Phillip; Middleton, Paul M; Bonner, Ann; Loudfoot, Allan; Elliott, Peter

2012-07-01

Is the Clinical Safety Chart clinical improvement programme (CIP) effective at improving paramedic key performance indicator (KPI) results within the Ambulance Service of New South Wales? The CIP intervention area was compared with the non-intervention area in order to determine whether there was a statistically significant improvement in KPI results. The CIP was associated with a statistically significant improvement in paramedic KPI results within the intervention area. The strategies used within this CIP are recommended for further consideration.

Pre-employment physical capacity testing as a predictor for musculoskeletal injury in paramedics: A review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkins, Natasha; Smith, Gavin; Stewart, Scott; Kamphuis, Catherine

2016-11-22

Workplace injuries place a significant physical, social and financial burden on organisations globally. Paramedics provide emergency management of workplace injuries, and are subjected to heightened injury risk as a direct consequence of providing such care. This review aims to identify the current evidence reporting workplace musculoskeletal injury generally, and to relate this to pre-employment physical capacity testing within the paramedic industry specifically. A search of the electronic databases (Ovid Medline, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, NIOSHTIC-2, RILOSH, CISDOC and HSELINE) was completed using the keywords musculoskeletal, workplace, injury, industrial, accident, pre-employment physical capacity testing, paramedic, emergency service employee, firefighter, and police. Articles were excluded if they did not describe pre-employment physical capacity testing, musculoskeletal injuries, or were not available in English. The electronic literature search identified 765 articles, following application of exclusion criteria: based on title/abstract of article (669); no relevance (62) or unavailable in English (4), 30 articles were included in this review.The review identified that physical fitness, gender, age, equipment and demographic variables were key factors in the current high rate of paramedic workplace injury. However, there is little evidence available to quantify the relationship between pre-employment physical capacity testing and subsequent injury amongst the paramedic cohort. Despite evidence suggesting that pre-employment physical capacity testing scores may be predictive of subsequent musculoskeletal injury in paramedics, there are currently no studies in this area. Quantifying the potential association between factors affecting the conduct of paramedic work and the type of injuries that result requires examination through future research.

Investigation of paramedics' compliance with clinical practice guidelines for the management of chest pain.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Figgis, Ken

2012-01-31

BACKGROUND: Acute coronary syndromes remain a leading cause of preventable early deaths. However, previous studies have indicated that paramedics\\' compliance with chest pain protocols is suboptimal and that many patients do not receive the benefits of appropriate prehospital treatment. AIMS: To evaluate paramedics\\' level of compliance with national clinical practice guidelines and to investigate why, in certain circumstances, they may deviate from the clinical guidelines. SETTING: The Health Service Executive Mid-Western Regional Ambulance Service which serves a mixed urban and rural population across three counties in the west of Ireland. METHOD: A retrospective review of completed ambulance Patient Care Report Forms was conducted for all adult patients with non-traumatic chest pain treated between 1 December 2007 and 31 March 2008. During the same study period, paramedics were asked to complete a prospective questionnaire survey investigating the rationale behind their treatment decisions, their estimation of patient risk and their attitudes towards the clinical practice guidelines and training. RESULTS: 382 completed Patient Care Report Forms were identified for patients with chest pain, of whom 84.8% received ECG monitoring, 75.9% were given oxygen, 44.8% were treated with sublingual glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) and 50.8% were treated with aspirin. Only 20.4% of patients had a prehospital 12-lead ECG recorded. 58 completed questionnaires were returned (response rate 15%); 64% of respondents said they had received insufficient training to identify ECG abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: Prehospital treatment with oxygen, aspirin, sublingual GTN and ECG monitoring remains underused by paramedics, even though only a small number of patients had documented contraindications to their use. The small number of patients who received a prehospital 12-lead ECG is a cause of particular concern and suggests that incomplete patient assessment may contribute to undertreatment

The relationship between empathy and burnout – lessons for paramedics: a scoping review

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Brett; Lau, Rosalind; Thornton, Emma; Olney, Lauren S

2017-01-01

Background The concepts of empathy and burnout are critical for practicing paramedics and the profession. While there has been an increasing body of research on the relationship between empathy and burnout with physicians and nurses, surprisingly, no research has been undertaken with paramedics. The aim of this scoping review was to explore the relationship between empathy and burnout. Method A scoping review was performed based on Arskey and O’Malley’s framework. Five databases were searched: CINAHL plus, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Scopus. Google Scholar was searched for gray literature. Two reviewers independently assessed eligibility and extracted the data. Results The initial search produced a yield of 1270 articles after removal of duplicates. All abstracts were screened for relevance, and 30 articles were selected for further screening. Twenty six articles were deemed relevant, of which there were 23 cross-sectional studies, two editorials, and one description article on the multidimensional aspect of burnout and empathy. The studies were conducted in Europe, USA, North America, and Asia. In most studies, there was an inverse correlation between empathy and emotional exhaustion and depersonalization but a positive correlation with personal accomplishment. Conclusion Although there seems to be a real relationship between empathy and burnout in physicians and nurses, the strength of the relationship differs to some extent depending on the samples and settings. Due to similarities between health professions, the relationship between empathy and burnout may also be relevant to the paramedic profession. Future paramedic research should focus on longitudinal studies to determine the factors that might influence empathy and burnout levels to provide a better understanding of these two key factors. PMID:29225482

The incidence of accidents at work among paramedics in the years 2001–2013 based on the register of one selected hospital

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Garus-Pakowska

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Paramedics are exposed to a number of factors that may have a direct or indirect impact on the risk of an accident at work. The aim of the study was to analyze the incidence of accidents at work among paramedics as well as to discuss risk factors and measures to prevent such cases. Material and Methods: The data on accidents at work were obtained from unpublished internal hospital documentation. The results were subjected to statistical analysis. Results: In the years 2001–2013 there were 40 events, including 6 collective accidents, in which 41 paramedics of the emergency department were injured. On average, around 3 accidents involving paramedics occurred each year. The accidents happened most frequently in the evening and at night and in the winter months (statistically insignificant relationship. Incorrect behavior of the paramedics was the most common cause of an accident (75.6% and musculoskeletal injuries (75% most frequently of upper and lower limbs (55% were the most common effects of an accident. In none of the cases safety regulations were breached by employees or employer. Conclusions: Accidents among paramedics can be prevented by changing the interior design of and the medical equipment installation in the rear cabin of the ambulance, conducting regular training to upgrade the skills of paramedics and enriching their knowledge about health and safety in their widest meaning. Med Pr 2016;67(2:213–221

Paramedic and midwifery student exposure to workplace violence during clinical placements in Australia – A pilot study

Science.gov (United States)

McKenna, Lisa

2016-01-01

Objectives The objective of this pilot study was to identify the type of workplace violence experienced by undergraduate paramedic and midwifery students. Methods The study used a cross-sectional methodology with the self-administered paper-based Paramedic Workplace Violence Exposure Questionnaire to elicit undergraduate paramedic and midwife responses to workplace violence whilst on clinical placements. There were 393 students eligible for inclusion in the study. A convenience sample was used. The anonymous questionnaire took 10 to 20 minutes to complete. Descriptive statistics are used to summarise the data with a two-tailed t-test used to compare groups. Results The main form of workplace violence was verbal abuse 18% and intimidation 17%. There was a statistically significant difference between midwifery and paramedic students for intimidation (t(134)=-3.143, CI: -0.367 to -0.082, p=0.002) and between females and males for sexual harassment (t(134)=2.029, CI: 0.001 to 0.074, p=0.045), all other results were not statistically different. Conclusions This pilot study is the first of its kind in Australia and internationally to identify exposure rates of workplace violence by undergraduate paramedic students during clinical placements and one of very few to identify midwifery students’ exposure rates of workplace violence. The study identified that students were exposed to a range of workplace violence acts from verbal abuse through to sexual harassment. These findings highlight a need for investigation of workplace violence exposure of medical, nursing and allied health students during the clinical phase of their studies. PMID:27941182

Composition of emergency medical services teams and the problem of specialisation of emergency medical services physicians in the opinions of occupationally active paramedics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorota Rębak

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Emergency medicine includes prevention, prehospital care, specialised treatment, rehabilitation, and education. Aim of the research: The objective of the analysis was to determine the opinions of paramedics concerning the problem of the composition of emergency medical services (EMS teams and specialisation of EMS system physicians according to their education level and sense of coherence. Material and methods: The study was conducted among 336 occupationally active paramedics working in EMS teams delivering prehospital care in selected units in Poland. The study was conducted at Ambulance Stations and in Hospital Emergency Departments, which within their structure had an out-of-hospital EMS team. The study was conducted by the method of a diagnostic survey, and the research instrument was the Orientation to Life Questionnaire SOC-29 and a questionnaire designed by the author. Results: The respondents who had licentiate education relatively more frequently indicated paramedics with licentiate education level as persons most suitable to undertake medical actions (26.32% rather than physicians (21.05%. Paramedics with 2-year post-secondary school education relatively more often mentioned physicians (33.07% than those with licentiate education (17.32%. As many as 89.58% of the paramedics reported the need for a physician in the composition of the EMS team delivering prehospital care, while only 10.42% of them expressed an opinion that there should be teams composed of paramedics only. According to 30.65% of respondents, EMS team delivering prehospital care should include a physician with the specialty in emergency medicine, whereas 8.04% of respondents reported the need for a physician, irrespective of specialisation. However, 42.56% of the paramedics expressed an opinion that a physician is needed only in a specialist team with a specialisation in emergency medicine. The opinions of the paramedics concerning the need for a

Influence of clinical experience of the Macintosh laryngoscope on performance with the Pentax-AWS Airway Scope(®), a rigid video-laryngoscope, by paramedics in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Ota, Kohei; Sadamori, Takuma; Kusunoki, Shinji; Otani, Tadatsugu; Tamura, Tomoko; Une, Kazunobu; Kida, Yoshiko; Itai, Junji; Iwasaki, Yasumasa; Hirohashi, Nobuyuki; Nakao, Masakazu; Tanigawa, Koichi

2015-10-01

We sought to establish the clinical utility of the Pentax-AWS Airway Scope(®) (AWS) when used by paramedics to intubate the trachea, and to evaluate whether their performance was influenced by previous clinical experience with the Macintosh laryngoscope (ML). Twenty paramedics attempted tracheal intubation using the AWS in five patients each in the operating room. We recorded the success rate, the number of intubation attempts, and the time for intubation and adverse events, and compared these based on the paramedics' previous clinical experience with the ML. Ten paramedics had no prior clinical experience of the ML (group A) and 10 had used it on more than 30 occasions (group B). The intubation success rate was 99 % (99/100). Notably, 96 % (47/49) of intubations were achieved on the first attempt by the inexperienced paramedics in group A, compared with 64 % (32/50) by the experienced paramedics in group B (p = 0.0001). The time to intubation (mean ± SD) was significantly shorter in group A than in group B (37 ± 24 vs. 48 ± 21 s, p = 0.002). There were marked variations in the times taken to intubate, but no apparent improvement as the intubators gained experience between their first and fifth cases. No complications were encountered in either group. We found that paramedics could achieve a high tracheal intubation success rate using the AWS independent of previous airway management experience. Better intubation performance with the AWS was observed in paramedics without clinical experience with the ML.

Interprofessional education of medical students and paramedics in emergency medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallikainen, J; Väisänen, O; Rosenberg, P H; Silfvast, T; Niemi-Murola, L

2007-03-01

Emergency medicine is team work from the field to the hospital and therefore it is also important for physicians to understand the work of paramedics, and vice versa. Interprofessional emergency medicine education for medical and paramedic students in Helsinki was started in 2001. It consisted of a 15 European credit transfer system (ECTS) credits programme combining 22 students in 2001. In 2005, the number of students had increased to 25. The programme consisted of three parts: acute illness in childhood and adults (AI), advanced life support (ALS) and trauma life support (TLS). In this paper, we describe the concept of interprofessional education of medical students and paramedics in emergency medicine. After finishing the programmes in 2001 and in 2005, the students' opinions regarding the education were collected using a standardized questionnaire. There were good ratings for the courses in AI (2001 vs. 2005, whole group; 4.3 +/- 0.7 vs. 4.2 +/- 0.4, P = 0.44) ALS (4.7 +/- 0.5 vs. 4.4 +/- 0.5, P = 0.06) and TLS (3.9 +/- 0.7 vs. 4.4 +/- 0.5, P = 0.01) in both years. Most of the medical students considered that this kind of co-education should be arranged for all medical students (2001 vs. 2005; 4.8 +/- 0.6 vs. 4.4 +/- 0.5, P = 0.02) and should be obligatory (3.5 +/- 1.5 vs. 3.1 +/- 1.3, P = 0.35). Co-education was well received and determined by the students as an effective way of improving their knowledge of emergency medicine and medical skills. The programme was rated as very useful and it should be included in the educational curriculum of both student groups.

Situational awareness and information flow in prehospital emergency medical care from the perspective of paramedic field supervisors: a scenario-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Norri-Sederholm, Teija; Paakkonen, Heikki; Kurola, Jouni; Saranto, Kaija

2015-01-16

In prehospital emergency medical services, one of the key factors in the successful delivery of appropriate care is the efficient management and supervision of the area's emergency medical services units. Paramedic field supervisors have an important role in this task. One of the key factors in the daily work of paramedic field supervisors is ensuring that they have enough of the right type of information when co-operating with other authorities and making decisions. However, a gap in information sharing still exists especially due to information overload. The aim of this study was to find out what type of critical information paramedic field supervisors need during multi-authority missions in order to manage their emergency medical services area successfully. The study also investigated both the flow of information, and interactions with the paramedic field supervisors and the differences that occur depending on the incident type. Ten paramedic field supervisors from four Finnish rescue departments participated in the study in January-March 2012. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews based on three progressive real-life scenarios and a questionnaire. Data were analysed using deductive content analysis. Data management and analysis were performed using Atlas.ti 7 software. Five critical information categories were formulated: Incident data, Mission status, Area status, Safety at work, and Tactics. Each category's importance varied depending on the incident and on whether it was about information needed or information delivered by the paramedic field supervisors. The main communication equipment used to receive information was the authority radio network (TETRA). However, when delivering information, mobile phones and TETRA were of equal importance. Paramedic field supervisors needed more information relating to area status. Paramedic field supervisors communicate actively with EMS units and other authorities such as Emergency Medical Dispatch

Leading change: introducing an electronic medical record system to a paramedic service.

Science.gov (United States)

Baird, Shawn; Boak, George

2016-05-03

Purpose Leaders in health-care organizations introducing electronic medical records (EMRs) face implementation challenges. The adoption of EMR by the emergency medical and ambulance setting is expected to provide wide-ranging benefits, but there is little research into the processes of adoption in this sector. The purpose of this study is to examine the introduction of EMR in a small emergency care organization and identify factors that aided adoption. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews with selected paramedics were followed up with a survey issued to all paramedics in the company. Findings The user interfaces with the EMR, and perceived ease of use, were important factors affecting adoption. Individual paramedics were found to have strong and varied preferences about how and when they integrated the EMR into their practice. As company leadership introduced flexibility of use, this enhanced both individual and collective ability to make sense of the change and removed barriers to acceptance. Research limitations/implications This is a case study of one small organization. However, there may be useful lessons for other emergency care organizations adopting EMR. Practical implications Leaders introducing EMR in similar situations may benefit from considering a sense-making perspective and responding promptly to feedback. Originality/value The study contributes to a wider understanding of issues faced by leaders who seek to implement EMRs in emergency medical services, a sector in which there has been to date very little research on this issue.

Work-related injuries sustained by emergency medical technicians and paramedics in Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Gülen, Bedia; Serinken, Mustafa; Hatipoğlu, Celile; Özaşır, Derya; Sönmez, Ertan; Kaya, Gökhan; Akpınar, Güleser

2016-03-01

Evaluated in the present study were locations, descriptions, and results of work-related injuries (WRIs) sustained by emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics in Turkey's most crowded city, İstanbul. After the present study had been accepted by the urban health authority, a questionnaire was emailed to the healthcare personnel of İstanbul's 195 ambulance stations. Included in the present study were the responses of 901 members of staff (660 EMTs and 241 paramedics), with a mean age of 29.5±6.1 (min: 18; max: 61). The majority of participants (94.9%) had encountered verbal abuse from the public, and 39.8% had encountered physical violence from patients' relatives. Levels of satisfaction with work in emergency medical services (EMS) was also evaluated, and 510 participants (57.6%) were unhappy. Regarding gender, female employees were more likely to be verbally attacked (p=0.01), while males were more likely to be physically attacked (p=0.001). It was reported that motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) were the most common cause of WRIs (81.4%), followed by needle-stick injuries (52.2%), ocular exposure to blood and other fluids (30.9%), and sharp injuries (22.5%). Only 10.5% (n=95) of WRIs were reported to authorities; 488 (54.2%) of participants just attended to the practice to prevent possible WRIs. For paramedics and EMTs, risk of WRI is obviously high. Strategies to decrease and prevent verbal and physical violence should be developed.

Self-Reported Behaviour about Internet Addiction among Medical and Paramedical Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akila Ganesh

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Internet has become an essential tool in day to day life. It has become an important and convenient mode for networking and information exchange. Excessive use of internet adversely affects an individual’s physical, mental and social health along with academic performance. Aim: The present study aimed at determining the prevalence of internet addiction among undergraduate and postgraduate medical and paramedical students and also the effect of internet on gender. Materials and Methods: This was a questionnaire based, cross-sectional study carried out among 1011 medical and paramedical undergraduate and postgraduate students of Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai. A questionnaire consisting of two components; basic demographic information of the participants and Modified Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT was used to gather data. The normal users were categorized as non-addicts and mild, moderate and severe users were categorized as addicts. Descriptive statistics was calculated in terms of frequency and percentage. Inferential statistics was calculated using Chi-Square test. Results: According to the findings, most of the students were mild internet addicts 590 (58.40% followed by moderate addicts 239 (23.60%, normal users 171 (16.90% and severe addicts 11 (1.10%. Prevalence of internet addiction was outnumbered by medical 112 (91.10% students among all the other medical and paramedical specialties. Conclusion: Internet addiction has become an emerging problem among the professional students, which has educational, physical and mental impact on student’s life. So, it is necessary to understand the importance of prevention of internet addiction, which is essential for promoting safe and healthy use of the internet.

Paramedical staffs knowledge and attitudes towards antimicrobial resistance in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia: a cross sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tafa, Belay; Endale, Adugna; Bekele, Desalegn

2017-09-19

The continuing emergence, development and spread of pathogenic organisms that are resistant to antimicrobials are a cause of increasing concern. The control of antimicrobial resistance requires knowledge of factors causing antimicrobial resistance, good attitudes towards the intervention strategies as well as changes in antibiotic prescribing behavior of health workers. Hence, this study was aimed to assess paramedical staffs' knowledge and attitudes towards antimicrobial resistance and their antibiotics prescription practices in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among paramedical staffs working in hospitals and health centers. A total of 218 paramedical staffs were participated and a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Chi square/Fisher's exact tests were used for comparison of data and a p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Out of the total, 137 (62.8%) of paramedical staffs had good knowledge on the factors causing antimicrobial resistance. The most common causes of antimicrobial resistance reported were patients' poor adherence (96.5%), self prescription (95%), and empiric choice of antibiotics (94.5%). In general, more than 80% of the respondents had positive attitudes towards the antimicrobials resistance intervention strategies. Relatively less proportion of participants recognized that antimicrobial resistance as a problem in their local institutions. The most perceived driving forces for unnecessary antibiotics prescriptions were treatment failure (67.7%) and patient push (53.3%). The majority, 76.9% of the prescribers mentioned that standard treatment guidelines were available in their institutions though only 15.7% of them reported referring the guidelines on the daily basis. Among the prescribers, 85.8% never attended formal trainings on antibiotics prescriptions. As this study generated important information on knowledge and attitudes

Training in radiation hygiene for the medical and paramedical professions in The Netherlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broerse, J.J.; Beekman, Z.M.; Dullemen, S. van

1991-01-01

In view of the implementation of the Council Directive 84/466/EURATOM (CEC, 1984) laying down basic measures for the radiation protection of persons undergoing medical examination or treatment, it was necessary to obtain information on the level of training and related expertise of the medical and paramedical professions in The Netherlands. With the objective in mind a meeting of representatives of the professional groups involved was organized in Leiden in November 1988 at the initiative of the Dutch Ministry of Health and the Interuniversity Research Institute for Radiopathology and Radiation Protection, IRS (de Geus, 1989). The present paper is based on the discussions held at this meeting. Education in the areas of radiation physics, radiobiology and radiation hygiene will be summarized separately for the medical and the paramedical professions. (author)

Paramedic-Initiated Home Care Referrals and Use of Home Care and Emergency Medical Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Verma, Amol A; Klich, John; Thurston, Adam; Scantlebury, Jordan; Kiss, Alex; Seddon, Gayle; Sinha, Samir K

2018-01-01

We examined the association between paramedic-initiated home care referrals and utilization of home care, 9-1-1, and Emergency Department (ED) services. This was a retrospective cohort study of individuals who received a paramedic-initiated home care referral after a 9-1-1 call between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Home care, 9-1-1, and ED utilization were compared in the 6 months before and after home care referral. Nonparametric longitudinal regression was performed to assess changes in hours of home care service use and zero-inflated Poisson regression was performed to assess changes in the number of 9-1-1 calls and ambulance transports to ED. During the 24-month study period, 2,382 individuals received a paramedic-initiated home care referral. After excluding individuals who died, were hospitalized, or were admitted to a nursing home, the final study cohort was 1,851. The proportion of the study population receiving home care services increased from 18.2% to 42.5% after referral, representing 450 additional people receiving services. In longitudinal regression analysis, there was an increase of 17.4 hours in total services per person in the six months after referral (95% CI: 1.7-33.1, p = 0.03). The mean number of 9-1-1 calls per person was 1.44 (SD 9.58) before home care referral and 1.20 (SD 7.04) after home care referral in the overall study cohort. This represented a 10% reduction in 9-1-1 calls (95% CI: 7-13%, p home care referral and 0.79 (SD 6.27) after home care referral, representing a 7% reduction (95% CI: 3-11%, p home care records were included in the analysis, the reductions in 9-1-1 calls and ambulance transports to ED were attenuated but remained statistically significant. Paramedic-initiated home care referrals in Toronto were associated with improved access to and use of home care services and may have been associated with reduced 9-1-1 calls and ambulance transports to ED.

Can eye-tracking technology improve situational awareness in paramedic clinical education?

OpenAIRE

Williams, Brett; Cooper,Simon; Quested,Andrew

2013-01-01

Brett Williams,1 Andrew Quested,1 Simon Cooper21Department of Community Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice, 2School of Nursing and Midwifery, Berwick, Monash University, Frankston, VIC, AustraliaAbstract: Human factors play a significant part in clinical error. Situational awareness (SA) means being aware of one's surroundings, comprehending the present situation, and being able to predict outcomes. It is a key human skill that, when properly applied, is associated with reducing ...

Pre-Hospital Fast Positive Cases Identified by DFB Ambulance Paramedics – Final Clinical Diagnosis

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Feeney, A

2016-04-01

Ischaemic stroke clinical outcomes are improved by earlier treatment with intravenous thrombolysis. An existing pathway at the Mater University Hospital for assessment of suspected acute stroke in the Emergency Department was updated, aiming to shorten ‘door to needle time’. This study examines the final clinical diagnosis of Dublin Fire Brigade Ambulance Paramedic identified Face Arm Speech Test (FAST) positive patients presenting to the Emergency Department over a 7 month period. A retrospective analysis was carried out of 177 consecutive FAST positive patients presenting between March and November 2014. The final clinical diagnosis was acute stroke in 57.1% (n=101) of patients. Of these, 76 were ischaemic strokes of whom 56.5% (n=43) were thrombolysed. In the pre-hospital setting Ambulance Paramedics can identify, with reasonable accuracy, acute stroke using the FAST test. Over half of the ischaemic stroke patients presenting via this pathway can be treated with intravenous thrombolysis

Paramedic-Initiated CMS Sepsis Core Measure Bundle Prior to Hospital Arrival: A Stepwise Approach.

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Walchok, Jason G; Pirrallo, Ronald G; Furmanek, Douglas; Lutz, Martin; Shope, Colt; Giles, Brandi; Gue, Greta; Dix, Aaron

2017-01-01

To improve patient outcomes, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented core measures that outline the initial treatment of the septic patient. These measures include initial blood culture collection prior to antibiotics, adequate intravenous fluid resuscitation, and early administration of broad spectrum antibiotics. We sought to determine if Paramedics can initiate the CMS sepsis core measure bundle in the prehospital field reliably. This is a retrospective, case series from a 3rd service EMS system model in Greenville, South Carolina between November 17, 2014 and February 20, 2016. An adult Prehospital Sepsis Assessment Tool was created using the 2012 Surviving Sepsis guidelines: 2 of 3 signs of systemic inflammatory response (heart rate, respiratory rate, oral temperature) and a known or suspected source of infection. A "Sepsis Alert" was called by paramedics and upon IV access a set of blood cultures and blood for lactate analysis was collected prior to field antibiotic administration. The Sepsis Alert was compared to serum lactate levels and ICD 9 or 10 admitting diagnosis of Sepsis, Severe Sepsis, or Septic Shock. Blood culture contamination, serum lactate, and antibiotic match were determined by in-hospital laboratory analysis. A total of 120 trained paramedics called 1,185 "Sepsis Alerts" on 56,643 patients (50.3% Male, mean age 70). Patients with missing discharge diagnosis were eliminated (n = 31). The admitting diagnosis of sepsis overall was 73.5% (848/1154): Sepsis 50% (578/1154), Severe Sepsis 14.6% (169/1154), Septic Shock 8.9% (101/1154). A total of 946 blood cultures were collected in the prehospital setting, with a 95.04% (899/946) no contamination rate. Contamination was found in 4.96% (47/946). A total of 179 (18.9%) of the uncontaminated blood cultures were found to have positive growth with 720 (76.1%) having no growth. EMS administered antibiotics matched blood culture positive growth in 72% of patients. The lactate

The Relationship between Paramedic Competency, Teamwork and Career Development with Quality of Service at Mengwi I Community Health Centre

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Alit Naya

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Background and objective: Recent survey indicated that patient opinion of services at Mengwi I Community Health Centre was low and there was noticeable decline in patient visits. This study aimed to investigate the issues related to the quality of health services given by the paramedics. Methods: A crosssectional study was conducted with 38 paramedics on duty at the outpatient unit. They were interviewed to obtain the data on their opinions about the quality of their service, competence, teamwork and career development opportunities. Chi square test was used for bivariate analysis and logistic regression for multivariate analysis. Results: The results of bivariate analysis indicated there was significant association between the paramedics’quality of service with the competence, teamwork and career development (p<0,001. Multivariate analysis indicated that the paramedics’competence (OR=43,1; 95%CI: 1,3-1422,5 and development of career (OR=31,7; 95%CI: 1,1-829,7 were related to the paramedics’ quality of service. Conclusion: The quality of service of paramedics at Mengwi I Community Health Centre were significantly associated with the paramedics’competence and development of career. Keywords: competency, teamwork, career development, quality of service

Virtual patients in a virtual world: Training paramedic students for practice.

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Conradi, Emily; Kavia, Sheetal; Burden, David; Rice, Alan; Woodham, Luke; Beaumont, Chris; Savin-Baden, Maggi; Poulton, Terry

2009-08-01

Collaborative learning through case-based or problem-based learning (PBL) scenarios is an excellent way for students to acquire knowledge and develop decision-making skills. However, the process is threatened by the movement towards more self-directed learning and the migration of students from campus-based to workplace-based learning. Paper-based PBL cases can only proceed in a single direction which can prevent learners from exploring the impact of their decisions. The PREVIEW project, outlined in this article, trialled a replacement to traditional paper PBL with virtual patients (VPs) delivered through a virtual world platform. The idea was that an immersive 3D environment could provide (a) greater realism (b) active decision-making and (c) a suitable environment for collaboration amongst work-based learners meeting remotely. Five VP scenarios were designed for learners on a Paramedic Foundation Degree within the virtual world second life (SL). A player using the MedBiquitous VP international standard allowed cases to be played both within SL and on the web. Three testing days were run to evaluate the scenarios with paramedic students and tutors. Students unfamiliar with the SL environment worked through five PBL scenarios in small groups, shadowed by 'in-world' facilitators. Feedback indicated that the SL environment engages students effectively in learning, despite some technology barriers. Students believed SL could provide a more authentic learner environment than classroom-based PBL.

Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders among Paramedics Working in a Large Hospital in Ahwaz, Southwestern Iran in 2010

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KR Shafizadeh

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Background: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs are common among employees throughout the world, particularly in high risk groups such as nurses. Objective: To determine the prevalence of MSDs among nurses in a large hospital in Ahwaz, southwestern Iran, and to examine its correlation with gender, age, shift working, years at service and smoking. Methods: Using a self-reported questionnaire-based cross-sectional study, Nordic questionnaire for MSDs was disseminated to all inpatient hospital paramedics (n=195 in a large hospital in Ahwaz. Results: Questionnaires of 161 participants were completed and returned back for analysis (response rate of 83%. The reported prevalence of MSDs was very high in the studied paramedics so that more than 90% of them reported at least one MSD in last week. The most prevalent site affected was that of neck (64% followed by head (62.1%, knees (54.7% and wrists/hands (49.7%; the least frequent disorder was that of elbows (14.3%. MSD was more common in females and increased with age and years of service. Non-shift workers reported more neck and elbows MSDs than shift workers. Conclusion: Considering the very high prevalence of MSDs among paramedics, it is suggested that they engage in an exercise program at their work place to lower the risk of MSDs and promote working efficiency.

Comparison of Knowledge of Medical and Paramedical Intern about of CPR, 2015

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Nastoor Bekhradian

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Every day a number of people from the heart stops beating for most of them that this early cessation of heartbeat. With operations of CPR in 4 to 6 minutes of cardiopulmonary arrest and before the onset of brain death can be established circulation and survival for patients with the death of 2 to 4 folds. The aim of this study was to Comparison of knowledge of medical and paramedical intern about of CPCR, 2015. This descriptive analytical and sampling method was census. Restore their data using a standard questionnaire with Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.82 .Spss20 data using statistical software analysis and descriptive statistics and Chi-square test was used. The mean score of 3/6 students that showed poor knowledge of students participating in the study. The lowest score of zero and the highest score was 12. Was found between gender and level of knowledge (p=0/05. Between education and the knowledge of the relationship was not statistically significant (p=0/764. The knowledge of medical and paramedical students groups scheduled for next semester as part of the treatment system personnel are working poor and require special attention in order to provide guidelines for planning authorities to increase the awareness of students.

Paramedics' experiences of financial medicine practices in the pre-hospital environment. A pilot study

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Craig Vincent-Lambert

2016-10-01

Objectives: This qualitative pilot study explored and described the experiences of South African Paramedics with regard to the practicing of financial medicine in the local pre-hospital emergency care environment. Method: A sample of South African Paramedics were interviewed either face-to-face or telephonically. The interviews were audio recorded and transcripts produced. Content analysis was conducted to explore, document and describe the participants' experiences with regard to financial medicine practices in the local pre-hospital environment. Results: It emerged that all of the participants had experienced a number of financial medicine practices and associated unethical conduct. Examples included Over-servicing, Selective Patient Treatment, Fraudulent Billing Practices, Eliciting of kickbacks, incentives or benefits and Deliberate Time Wasting. Conclusion: The results of this study are concerning as the actions of service providers described by the participants constitute gross violations of the ethical and professional guidelines for health care professionals. The authors recommend additional studies be conducted to further explore these findings and to establish the reasons for, and ways of, limiting financial medicine practices in the South African emergency care environment.

Peace-time radiological training for fire fighting and paramedic staff

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The shipment of radioactive materials over commercial highways has had a proven record of safety for many years. Accidents involving radioactive material have been rare. However, good emergency planning requires that fire protection agencies be prepared for such an incident. In an effort to provide this preparedness, the Benton County Department of Emergency Services, with the cooperation of the Washington Public Power Supply System and US Department of Energy, Richland Office, has prepared this manual for local fire fighting and paramedic staff. This manual provides a basic understanding of radioactivity and the role of these teams during an emergency involving radioactive material

A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF THREE DAY TRAINING PROGRAMME ON KNOWLEDGE REGARDING BIOMEDICAL WASTE AMONG PARAMEDICAL STAFF OF DISTRICT HOSPITAL ETAWAH (UP

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Dhiraj Kumar Srivastava

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Biomedical waste by definition means “Any waste which is generated during the process of diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human or animal or in research activities pertaining there to in the production or testing of biological”Objectives:•    The level of awareness about various aspect of Bio Medical Waste management among the paramedical staff.•    To study the impact of three day training programme on knowledge of Bio Medical Waste management. Material & Methods: The present study  is a Cross sectional Study carried out to assess the impact of three day training programme on knowledge of Paramedical staff posted at District Hospital, Etawah. The change in knowledge was assessed using pre- test and post- test questionnaire.Result: A total of 72 paramedical staff participated in the study. Majority of the participants were unaware about the hazards associated with the improper handing f Biomedical wastes. The knowledge about the different color codes used for the segregation of biomedical waste was also very low. Similarly, the awareness about the vehicle used for the transportation of biomedical waste was also poor.Conclusion: The present study concludes that there is an urgent need for regular training for paramedical staff posted at District Hospital and other government hospital located in small District & town as awareness about the Biomedical waste among them is very low.

A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF THREE DAY TRAINING PROGRAMME ON KNOWLEDGE REGARDING BIOMEDICAL WASTE AMONG PARAMEDICAL STAFF OF DISTRICT HOSPITAL ETAWAH (UP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dhiraj Kumar Srivastava

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Biomedical waste by definition means “Any waste which is generated during the process of diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human or animal or in research activities pertaining there to in the production or testing of biological”Objectives:•    The level of awareness about various aspect of Bio Medical Waste management among the paramedical staff.•    To study the impact of three day training programme on knowledge of Bio Medical Waste management. Material & Methods: The present study  is a Cross sectional Study carried out to assess the impact of three day training programme on knowledge of Paramedical staff posted at District Hospital, Etawah. The change in knowledge was assessed using pre- test and post- test questionnaire.Result: A total of 72 paramedical staff participated in the study. Majority of the participants were unaware about the hazards associated with the improper handing f Biomedical wastes. The knowledge about the different color codes used for the segregation of biomedical waste was also very low. Similarly, the awareness about the vehicle used for the transportation of biomedical waste was also poor.Conclusion: The present study concludes that there is an urgent need for regular training for paramedical staff posted at District Hospital and other government hospital located in small District & town as awareness about the Biomedical waste among them is very low.

Design of the RINSE Trial: The Rapid Infusion of cold Normal Saline by paramedics during CPR

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Jacobs Ian

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR now recommends therapeutic hypothermia (TH (33°C for 12-24 hours as soon as possible for patients who remain comatose after resuscitation from shockable rhythm in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and that it be considered for non shockable rhythms. The optimal timing of TH is still uncertain. Laboratory data have suggested that there is significantly decreased neurological injury if cooling is initiated during CPR. In addition, peri-arrest cooling may increase the rate of successful defibrillation. This study aims to determine whether paramedic cooling during CPR improves outcome compared standard treatment in patients who are being resuscitated from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Methods/Design This paper describes the methodology for a definitive multi-centre, randomised, controlled trial of paramedic cooling during CPR compared with standard treatment. Paramedic cooling during CPR will be achieved using a rapid infusion of large volume (20-40 mL/kg to a maximum of 2 litres ice-cold (4°C normal saline. The primary outcome measure is survival at hospital discharge. Secondary outcome measures are rates of return of spontaneous circulation, rate of survival to hospital admission, temperature on arrival at hospital, and 12 month quality of life of survivors. Discussion This trial will test the effect of the administration of ice cold saline during CPR on survival outcomes. If this simple treatment is found to improve outcomes, it will have generalisability to prehospital services globally. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01172678

The Impact of Wireless Keypads in an Interprofessional Education Context with Health Science Students

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Williams, Brett; Lewis, Belinda; Boyle, Malcolm; Brown, Ted

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to identify if wireless keypads could facilitate interprofessional interaction among undergraduate paramedic, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, health science, social work and midwifery students. Secondary research aims included the examination of students' perceptions of interprofessional education and how…

Awareness about HIV infection among the paramedical staff in a tertiary care hospital in Delhi, India

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Nikhil Gupta

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In India, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS is a growing epidemic involving all sections of the society. Health care personnel are at increased risk of acquiring blood borne diseases like AIDS, hepatitis, etc. We aimed to assess the level of awareness of HIV infection among the paramedical staff working in a tertiary care hospital. A total number of 207 paramedical staff were asked to complete a questionnaire covering the various aspects of HIV and AIDS which was then critically reviewed. We observed that 57.54% of the staff was aware of the different aspects of HIV infection. Our results highlighted that awareness regarding the different facets of HIV varied among the nurses, lab technicians and support staff. Transmission of blood borne infections through needle stick injury is a harsh reality involving health care personnel. There is an urgent need to teach basic knowledge about HIV infection among high-risk populations.

Experimental comparison of 2D and 3D technology mediated paramedic-physician collaboration in remote emergency medical situations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sonnenwald, Diane H.; Maurin, Hanna; Cairns, Bruce

2006-01-01

techniques. This may be of benefit in diagnosing and treating patients in emergency situations where specialized medical expertise is not locally available. We conducted an experimental evaluation, simulating an emergency medical situation and examining the interaction between the attending paramedic...

Relationship between Family-Work and Work-Family Conflict with Organizational Commitment and Desertion Intention among Nurses and Paramedical Staff at Hospitals.

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Hatam, Nahid; Jalali, Marzie Tajik; Askarian, Mehrdad; Kharazmi, Erfan

2016-04-01

High turnover intention rate is one of the most common problems in healthcare organizations throughout the world. There are several factors that can potentially affect the individuals' turnover intention; they include factors such as work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and organizational commitment. The aim of this research was to determine the relationship between family-work and work-family conflicts and organizational commitment and turnover intention among nurses and paramedical staff at hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS) and present a model using SEM. This is a questionnaire based cross-sectional study among 400 nurses and paramedical staff of hospitals affiliated to SUMS using a random-proportional (quota) sampling method. Data collection was performed using four standard questionnaires. SPSS software was used for data analysis and SmartPLS software for modeling variables. Mean scores of work-family conflict and desertion intention were 2.6 and 2.77, respectively. There was a significant relationship between gender and family-work conflict (P=0.02). Family-work conflict was significantly higher in married participants (P=0.001). Based on the findings of this study, there was a significant positive relationship between work-family and family-work conflict (P=0.001). Also, work-family conflict had a significant inverse relationship with organizational commitment (P=0.001). An inverse relationship was seen between organizational commitment and turnover intentions (P=0.001). Thus, regarding the prominent and preventative role of organizational commitment in employees' desertion intentions, in order to prevent negative effects of staff desertion in health sector, attempts to make policies to increase people's organizational commitment must be considered by health system managers more than ever.

The impact of post-resuscitation feedback for paramedics on the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

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Bleijenberg, Eduard; Koster, Rudolph W; de Vries, Hendrik; Beesems, Stefanie G

2017-01-01

The Guidelines place emphasis on high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This study aims to measure the impact of post-resuscitation feedback on the quality of CPR as performed by ambulance personnel. Two ambulances are dispatched for suspected cardiac arrest. The crew (driver and paramedic) of the first arriving ambulance is responsible for the quality of CPR. The crew of the second ambulance establishes an intravenous access and supports the first crew. All resuscitation attempts led by the ambulance crew of the study region were reviewed by two research paramedics and structured feedback was given based on defibrillator recording with impedance signal. A 12-months period before introduction of post-resuscitation feedback was compared with a 19-months period after introduction of feedback, excluding a six months run-in interval. Quality parameters were chest compression fraction (CCF), chest compression rate, longest peri-shock pause and longest non-shock pause. In the pre-feedback period 55 cases were analyzed and 69 cases in the feedback period. Median CCF improved significantly in the feedback period (79% vs 86%, presuscitation feedback improves the quality of resuscitation, significantly increasing CCF and decreasing the duration of longest non-shock pauses. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Do Undergraduate Paramedic Students Embrace Case Based Learning Using a Blended Teaching Approach? A 3-Year Review

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Williams, Brett

2009-01-01

This paper presents the results of a descriptive longitudinal study which aimed to identify student paramedic perceptions of case based learning used in the clinical curriculum of the Bachelor of Emergency Health (BEH) degree at Monash University, Victoria, Australia. Case based learning and its integration within clinical curriculum is an…

Procedural skills practice and training needs of doctors, nurses, midwives and paramedics in rural Victoria

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, David; Shepherd, Irwyn; McGrail, Matthew; Kassell, Lisa; Connolly, Marnie; Williams, Brett; Nestel, Debra

2015-01-01

Introduction Procedural skills are a significant component of clinical practice. Doctors, nurses, midwives and paramedics are trained to use a variety of procedural skills. Rural clinicians in particular are often required to maintain competence in some procedural skills that are used infrequently, and which may require regular and repeated rehearsal. This paper reports on a research project conducted in Gippsland, Victoria, to ascertain the frequency of use, and relevance to clinical practice, of a range of skills in the fields of medicine, nursing, midwifery, and paramedic practice. The project also gathered data on the attitudes of clinicians regarding how frequently and by what means they thought they needed to practice these skills with a particular focus on the use of simulation as an educational method. Methods The research was conducted following identification of a specific set of procedural skills for each professional group. Skills were identified by an expert steering committee. We developed online questionnaires that consisted of two parts: 1) demographic and professional characteristics, and 2) experience of procedural skills and perceived training needs. We sought to invite all practicing clinicians (doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics) working in Gippsland. Online surveys were distributed between November 2011 and April 2012 with three follow-up attempts. The Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee approved the study. Results Valid responses were received from 58 doctors, 94 nurses, 46 midwives, and 30 paramedics, whom we estimate to represent not more than 20% of current clinicians within these professions. This response rate reflected some of the difficulties experienced in the conduct of the research. Results were tabulated for each professional group across the range of skills. There was significant correlation between the frequency of certain skills and confidence with maintenance of these skills. This did not necessarily correlate

Procedural skills practice and training needs of doctors, nurses, midwives and paramedics in rural Victoria.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, David; Shepherd, Irwyn; McGrail, Matthew; Kassell, Lisa; Connolly, Marnie; Williams, Brett; Nestel, Debra

2015-01-01

Procedural skills are a significant component of clinical practice. Doctors, nurses, midwives and paramedics are trained to use a variety of procedural skills. Rural clinicians in particular are often required to maintain competence in some procedural skills that are used infrequently, and which may require regular and repeated rehearsal. This paper reports on a research project conducted in Gippsland, Victoria, to ascertain the frequency of use, and relevance to clinical practice, of a range of skills in the fields of medicine, nursing, midwifery, and paramedic practice. The project also gathered data on the attitudes of clinicians regarding how frequently and by what means they thought they needed to practice these skills with a particular focus on the use of simulation as an educational method. The research was conducted following identification of a specific set of procedural skills for each professional group. Skills were identified by an expert steering committee. We developed online questionnaires that consisted of two parts: 1) demographic and professional characteristics, and 2) experience of procedural skills and perceived training needs. We sought to invite all practicing clinicians (doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics) working in Gippsland. Online surveys were distributed between November 2011 and April 2012 with three follow-up attempts. The Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee approved the study. Valid responses were received from 58 doctors, 94 nurses, 46 midwives, and 30 paramedics, whom we estimate to represent not more than 20% of current clinicians within these professions. This response rate reflected some of the difficulties experienced in the conduct of the research. Results were tabulated for each professional group across the range of skills. There was significant correlation between the frequency of certain skills and confidence with maintenance of these skills. This did not necessarily correlate with perceptions of

National Training Course. Emergency Medical Technician. Paramedic. Instructor's Lesson Plans. Module II. Human Systems and Patient Assessment.

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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (DOT), Washington, DC.

This instructor's lesson plan guide on human systems and patient assessment is one of fifteen modules designed for use in the training of emergency medical technicians (paramedics). Four units are presented: (1) medical terminology, which covers some common prefixes and suffixes and the use of the medical dictionary; (2) an overview of the…

Does social support buffer the effects of occupational stress on sleep quality among paramedics? A daily diary study.

Science.gov (United States)

Pow, Jessie; King, David B; Stephenson, Ellen; DeLongis, Anita

2017-01-01

Given evidence suggesting a detrimental effect of occupational stress on sleep, it is important to identify protective factors that may ameliorate this effect. We followed 87 paramedics upon waking and after work over 1 week using a daily diary methodology. Multilevel modeling was used to examine whether the detrimental effects of daily occupational stress on sleep quality were buffered by perceived social support availability. Paramedics who reported more support availability tended to report better quality sleep over the week. Additionally, perceived support availability buffered postworkday sleep from average occupational stress and days of especially high occupational stress. Perceived support availability also buffered off-workday sleep from the cumulative amount of occupational stress experienced over the previous workweek. Those with low levels of support displayed poor sleep quality in the face of high occupational stress; those high in support did not show significant effects of occupational stress on sleep. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Supervisors' experiences of workplace supervision of nursing and paramedic students in rural settings: a scoping review.

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Trede, Franziska; McEwen, Celina; Kenny, Amanda; O'Meara, Peter

2014-05-01

We present our findings from a scoping review that sought to identify what is known about nursing and paramedic clinical supervisors' experiences of their supervision practices in rural settings. Our interest in these two groups is based on the central role that nurses and paramedics play in rural health care. Scoping reviews support identification of a broad range of literature, including all types of study designs. We adopted Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage approach: identifying the research question; identifying relevant studies; study selection; charting the data; and collating, summarising and reporting results. Databases searched included Academic Search Complete, Springer, Factiva, ProQuest, Ebsco, Informit, VOCEDplus and Scopus. Based on our research question and inclusion and exclusion criteria we selected relevant literature and summarised and reported it using Arksey and O'Malley's framework. The review yielded five articles from four countries: Sweden, Belgium, Malaysia and Australia. From this scoping review, we identified key themes related to supervisors' experiences, including clarification of expectations, support from managers and colleagues, the need for shared understanding between university, students and supervisors and required skills and competence in supervising students. © 2013.

Relationship between Family-Work and Work-Family Conflict with Organizational Commitment and Desertion Intention among Nurses and Paramedical Staff at Hospitals

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Nahid Hatam

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Background: High turnover intention rate is one of the most common problems in healthcare organizations throughout the world. There are several factors that can potentially affect the individuals’ turnover intention; they include factors such as work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and organizational commitment. The aim of this research was to determine the relationship between family-work and work-family conflicts and organizational commitment and turnover intention among nurses and paramedical staff at hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS and present a model using SEM. Methods: This is a questionnaire based cross-sectional study among 400 nurses and paramedical staff of hospitals affiliated to SUMS using a random-proportional (quota sampling method. Data collection was performed using four standard questionnaires. SPSS software was used for data analysis and SmartPLS software for modeling variables. Results: Mean scores of work-family conflict and desertion intention were 2.6 and 2.77, respectively. There was a significant relationship between gender and family-work conflict (P=0.02. Family-work conflict was significantly higher in married participants (P=0.001. Based on the findings of this study, there was a significant positive relationship between work-family and family-work conflict (P=0.001. Also, work-family conflict had a significant inverse relationship with organizational commitment (P=0.001. An inverse relationship was seen between organizational commitment and turnover intentions (P=0.001. Conclusion: Thus, regarding the prominent and preventative role of organizational commitment in employees’ desertion intentions, in order to prevent negative effects of staff desertion in health sector, attempts to make policies to increase people’s organizational commitment must be considered by health system managers more than ever.

Paramedic versus emergency physician emergency medical service: role of the anaesthesiologist and the European versus the Anglo-American concept

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Timmermann, Arnd; Russo, Sebastian G.; Hollmann, Markus W.

2008-01-01

Purpose of review Much controversy exists about who can provide the best medical care for critically ill patients in the prehospital setting. The Anglo-American concept is on the whole to provide well trained paramedics to fulfil this task, whereas in some European countries emergency medical

Basic radiation protection training for nurses and paramedical personnel: Belgian experience and future perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clarijs, T.; Coeck, M.; Van Bladel, Lodewijk; Fremout, An

2015-01-01

When using ionising radiation for medical diagnosis or treatment of patients, understanding of relevant radiation protection principles and issues is indispensable. In Belgium, nurses and paramedical staff are required to acquire knowledge for protecting the patient against the detrimental effects of ionising radiation by means of a vocational training course. The experience with and challenges for this training course are presented here from a lecturer's point of view, together with a proposal for a future approach that harmonises the training content, its level and quality, according to European recommended standards. (authors)

Burnout among paramedic students at a university in Johannesburg South Africa

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C Stein

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Background. Burnout has been studied in several emergency medical services contexts and has been found to be high compared with that found in other health professions. Although burnout among students has been described in several healthcare disciplines, this has not been done in the field of prehospital emergency care.Objectives. To determine the prevalence of burnout among students in a 4-year university paramedic degree programme and to assess whether there was any significant difference in the prevalence of burnout among students during the 4 years of study.Methods. In this cross-sectional survey all students enrolled in a 4-year university paramedic degree programme were invited to participate. The questionnaire consisted of 19 questions from the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI, combined with distractor questions. Responses were analysed descriptively and one-way analysis of variance was used to compare CBI scores across the 4 academic years of study.Results. An 85% (n=93 response rate was obtained. The overall prevalence of burnout was 31%. Mean CBI scores across all academic years of study were highest for personal burnout, followed by work-related burnout and patient care-related burnout. The highest prevalence of students with burnout was in the 4th year, as was the highest prevalence of work-related and personal burnout. The second highest prevalence of students with burnout was in the 1st year, as was the highest prevalence of patient care-related burnout. No significant difference was found in CBI total burnout scores across the 4 years of study.Conclusion. Although there are no directly comparable data, the prevalence of burnout in this group of students appears to be high, particularly in the 1st and 4th years of study. Steps should be taken to ensure access to social and psychological support to avoid a negative impact on academic success and student wellbeing.

Developing retention and return strategies for South African advanced life support paramedics: A qualitative study

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Kevin Govender

2013-06-01

Results and discussion: Findings suggest that the success of retention and return strategies depends on the degree of collaborative stewardship that must exist between the SA National and Provincial Department of Health, the Emergency Medical Service/s (EMS statutory governing body, training institutions, and private and public EMS providers. In addition, the constructs of return and retention strategies have to extend as far as revising both acceptance criteria and candidate recruitment policies. Furthermore, while particular attention must be placed on improving working conditions, security, and remuneration of ALS paramedics, return and retention strategies have to be continuously monitored, and updated.

Comparison of traditional advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) course instruction vs. a scenario-based, performance oriented team instruction (SPOTI) method for Korean paramedic students.

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Lee, Christopher C; Im, Mark; Kim, Tae Min; Stapleton, Edward R; Kim, Kyuseok; Suh, Gil Joon; Singer, Adam J; Henry, Mark C

2010-01-01

Current Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) course instruction involves a 2-day course with traditional lectures and limited team interaction. We wish to explore the advantages of a scenario-based performance-oriented team instruction (SPOTI) method to implement core ACLS skills for non-English-speaking international paramedic students. The objective of this study was to determine if scenario-based, performance-oriented team instruction (SPOTI) improves educational outcomes for the ACLS instruction of Korean paramedic students. Thirty Korean paramedic students were randomly selected into two groups. One group of 15 students was taught the traditional ACLS course. The other 15 students were instructed using a SPOTI method. Each group was tested using ACLS megacode examinations endorsed by the American Heart Association. All 30 students passed the ACLS megacode examination. In the traditional ACLS study group an average of 85% of the core skills were met. In the SPOTI study group an average of 93% of the core skills were met. In particular, the SPOTI study group excelled at physical examination skills such as airway opening, assessment of breathing, signs of circulation, and compression rates. In addition, the SPOTI group performed with higher marks on rhythm recognition compared to the traditional group. The traditional group performed with higher marks at providing proper drug dosages compared to the SPOTI students. However, the students enrolled in the SPOTI method resulted in higher megacode core compliance scores compared to students trained in traditional ACLS course instruction. These differences did not achieve statistical significance due to the small sample size. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Learning style preferences of Australian health science students.

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Zoghi, Maryam; Brown, Ted; Williams, Brett; Roller, Louis; Jaberzadeh, Shapour; Palermo, Claire; McKenna, Lisa; Wright, Caroline; Baird, Marilyn; Schneider-Kolsky, Michal; Hewitt, Lesley; Sim, Jenny; Holt, Tangerine-Ann

2010-01-01

It has been identified that health science student groups may have distinctive learning needs. By university educators' and professional fieldwork supervisors' being aware of the unique learning style preferences of health science students, they have the capacity to adjust their teaching approaches to best fit with their students' learning preferences. The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning style preferences of a group of Australian health science students enrolled in 10 different disciplines. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory was distributed to 2,885 students enrolled in dietetics and nutrition, midwifery, nursing, occupational therapy, paramedics, pharmacy, physiotherapy, radiation therapy, radiography, and social work at one Australian university. A total of 752 usable survey forms were returned (response rate 26%). The results indicated the converger learning style to be most frequently preferred by health science students and that the diverger and accommodator learning styles were the least preferred. It is recommended that educators take learning style preferences of health science students into consideration when planning, implementing, and evaluating teaching activities, such as including more problem-solving activities that fit within the converger learning style.

Comparison of the Airtraq and Truview laryngoscopes to the Macintosh laryngoscope for use by Advanced Paramedics in easy and simulated difficult intubation in manikins.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Nasim, Sajid

2009-01-01

Paramedics are frequently required to perform tracheal intubation, a potentially life-saving manoeuvre in severely ill patients, in the prehospital setting. However, direct laryngoscopy is often more difficult in this environment, and failed tracheal intubation constitutes an important cause of morbidity. Novel indirect laryngoscopes, such as the Airtraq and Truview laryngoscopes may reduce this risk.

ParaMED Home: A protocol for a randomised controlled trial of paramedic assessment and referral to access medical care at home

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Johnston Steven

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In Australia approximately 25% of Emergency Department (ED attendances are via ambulance. ED overcrowding in Australia, as in many countries, is common. Measures to reduce overcrowding include the provision of enhanced timely primary care in the community for appropriate low risk injury and illness. Therefore paramedic assessment and referral to a community home hospital service, in preference to transfer to ED, may confer clinical and cost benefit. Methods/Design A randomised controlled trial. Consenting adult patients that call an ambulance and are assessed by paramedics as having an eligible low risk problem will be randomised to referral to ED via ambulance transfer or referral to a rapid response service that will assess and treat the patient in their own residence. The primary outcome measure is requirement for unplanned medical attention (in or out of hospital in the first 48 hours. Secondary outcomes will include a number of other clinical endpoints. A cost effectiveness analysis will be conducted. Discussion If this trial demonstrates clinical non-inferiority and cost savings associated with the primary assessment service, it will provide one means to safely address ED overcrowding. Trial Registration Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry Number 12610001064099

Stres i wypalenie zawodowe w pracy ratowników medycznych = Stress and a burn-out syndrome at work among paramedics

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Magdalena Żurowska-Wolak

2015-06-01

4.      Zakład Zdrowia Publicznego, Warszawski Uniwersytet Medyczny, Warszawa     Adres do korespondencji: Magdalena Żurowska-Wolak tel: 503 196 836;  e- mail: m_zurowska@vp.pl   Streszczenie: Zawód ratownika medycznego jest jednym zawodów, w których narażenie na stres jest wysokie oraz istnieje ryzyko wystąpienia zespołu wypalenia zawodowego. Celem badania było poznanie sposobów radzenia sobie ze stresem, stosowanych przez ratowników medycznych oraz występowania wśród nich objawów wypalenia zawodowego. Najczęstszym z nich było występowanie dużego zmęczenia po pracy. Większość badanych (64%  potwierdziła wykorzystywanie konstruktywnych sposobów radzenia sobie ze stresem, jak również niekonstruktywne stosowanie używek, w szczególności kofeiny i nikotyny, których spożycie wzrastało w sytuacjach trudnych. Na podstawie badań można wnioskować, że wśród ratowników medycznych, pracujących w Krakowie i okolicach, występuje niebezpiecznie dużo objawów wypalenia zawodowego. Świadczy to o potrzebie stworzenia i realizacji przez ich pracodawców działań, obniżających poziom stresu wśród pracowników oraz zapobiegających wystąpieniu wypalenia zawodowego – jak debriefing, trenieng technik radzenia sobie ze stresem czy wspierania aktywności fizycznej. Jest to o tyle istotne, iż skutki stresu oraz wypalenia odczuwają nie tylko sami ratownicy. Skutki te są dolegliwe także dla pracodawców, którzy zatrudniają gorzej funkcjonujących pracowników oraz pacjentów, otrzymujących usługi o niższej jakości.   Abstract: Paramedics are one of the professions where the risk of exposure to stress is high as well as the risk of occurrence of the burnout syndrome. The aim of the study was to analyze methods of stress reduction and symptoms of the burnout syndrome among 122 paramedics from Kraków and surrounding area. The most prevalent symptom was severe tiredness after working hours. The majority of respondents

Viewpoints of nursing and para-medical students about the features of a good university lecturer

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Raheb Ghorbani

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Since teachers play an important role in education, thus, the higher educationorganizations have items to evaluate their performance to promote the quality of education todetermine the characteristics of a good teacher. This study was performed to evaluate the opinions ofstudents in Semnan university of medical sciences about the features of a good academic lecturer.Materials and Methods: This analytical-descriptive study was performed on 133 para-medical andnursing students. A two-part questionnaire containing 24 features of a good educator was given tostudents. In this questionnaire, reliability and validity was considered and the students’ view wasasked in the scale of Likert measuring attitude in the form of without importance, low importance,nearly important, important, and too important. Then, these features were categorized in the fields ofresearch, methodology of teaching, in dividable character, and communication ability.Results: 76% of students were females and 53.4% were studying for B.S. degree. The mostimportant features obtained in this study were proficiency on the course, fluency in speech, organizingthe contents and having interest to teaching. On the other hand, decisiveness of teacher, having interestto research and the teaching experience were those items that had the least important for students. Inaddition, the results showed that there was a significant relation between the gender and the teacher’spersonality features (P=0.025.Conclusion: According to the results, proficiency on the course, fluency in speech and havinginterest in teaching are the items that in selecting the teachers should be considered. Therefore, itseems some workshops are necessary for university lecturers about how to organize the contents,teaching methodology, and how to communicate with others in order to improve the quality ofteaching and learning.

[Prevalence of smoking among doctors and paramedical staff in Hospital University Center Mohammed VI, Marrakech].

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Badri, Farid; Sajiai, Hafsa; Amro, Lamyae

2017-01-01

Smoking is a major public health problem. Doctors and paramedical staff are not excluded from this plague. Smoking ban in hospitals originated from government effort to reduce passive smoking. The objectives were to evaluate smoking habits among doctors and paramedical staff in order to implement tobacco control strategy in this study population and to refer them to the smoking-cessation counselling. We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study of the entire staff of the Hospital University Center Mohammed VI, Marrakech based on the distribution of anonymous questionnaires. A total of 530 questionnaires were distributed, and 380 were returned, a response rate of 71.7%. The study population consisted of 58.2% women (n=221) and 41.8% men (n=159). Doctors (n=220) were the most represented occupational category (57.9%) followed by nurses (31.8%). Smokers (n=62) accounted for 16.3% of our study population; the ex-smokers (n=31) accounted for 8.1% and the non-smokers (n=287) 75.5%. The average age of smokers was 31.1 years, ranging from 22 to 56 years. The prevalence of smoking was 16.3% (n=62) of study population, of whom 32.7% (n=52) among men compared to 4.5% (n=10) among women. The average age of smoking onset was 19 years with a range from 11 to 29 years and with a mean consumption of 9 cigarettes/day. 13% (n=50) of people even smoked narguilé, 9% (n=34) consumed alcohol, and 3% (n=21) cannabis. 67.7% of smokers (n=42) were planning to quit, of whom 30.9% (n=13) in the next 3 months, 52.4% (n=22) in the next 6 months and 16, 7% (n=16) were planning to quit in the year. Several activities encouraged smoking, including night shift, coffee breaks and meals in 90.3% (n=56), 64.3% (n=40) and 61.3% (n=38) of cases respectively. This survey highlights the need to carry out awareness-raising actions to strengthen people motivation to quit smoking and help them during their withdrawal.

Comparison of the Glidescope and Pentax AWS laryngoscopes to the Macintosh laryngoscope for use by advanced paramedics in easy and simulated difficult intubation.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Nasim, Sajid

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: Intubation of the trachea in the pre-hospital setting may be lifesaving in severely ill and injured patients. However, tracheal intubation is frequently difficult to perform in this challenging environment, is associated with a lower success rate, and failed tracheal intubation constitutes an important cause of morbidity. Novel indirect laryngoscopes, such as the Glidescope and the AWS laryngoscopes may reduce this risk. METHODS: We compared the efficacy of these devices to the Macintosh laryngoscope when used by 25 Advanced Paramedics proficient in direct laryngoscopy, in a randomized, controlled, manikin study. Following brief didactic instruction with the Glidescope and the AWS laryngoscopes, each participant took turns performing laryngoscopy and intubation with each device, in an easy intubation scenario and following placement of a hard cervical collar, in a SimMan manikin. RESULTS: Both the Glidescope and the AWS performed better than the Macintosh, and demonstrate considerable promise in this context. The AWS had the least number of dental compressions in all three scenarios, and in the cervical spine immobilization scenario it required fewer maneuvers to optimize the view of the glottis. CONCLUSION: The Glidescope and AWS devices possess advantages over the conventional Macintosh laryngoscope when used by Advanced Paramedics in normal and simulated difficult intubation scenarios in this manikin study. Further studies are required to extend these findings to the clinical setting.

A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF THREE DAY TRAINING PROGRAMME ON KNOWLEDGE REGARDING BIOMEDICAL WASTE AMONG PARAMEDICAL STAFF OF DISTRICT HOSPITAL ETAWAH (UP)

OpenAIRE

Dhiraj Kumar Srivastava; Manoj ansal; Neeraj Gour; Pooja Chaduary; Pankaj Kumar Jain; Mahendra Chouksey; Pawan pathak

2013-01-01

Introduction: Biomedical waste by definition means “Any waste which is generated during the process of diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human or animal or in research activities pertaining there to in the production or testing of biological”Objectives:•    The level of awareness about various aspect of Bio Medical Waste management among the paramedical staff.•    To study the impact of three day training programme on knowledge of Bio Medical Waste management. Material & Methods: The pr...

A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF THREE DAY TRAINING PROGRAMME ON KNOWLEDGE REGARDING BIOMEDICAL WASTE AMONG PARAMEDICAL STAFF OF DISTRICT HOSPITAL ETAWAH (UP)

OpenAIRE

Dhiraj Kumar Srivastava; Manoj ansal; Neeraj Gour; Pooja Chaduary; Pankaj Kumar Jain; Mahendra Chouksey; Pawan pathak

2013-01-01

Introduction: Biomedical waste by definition means “Any waste which is generated during the process of diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human or animal or in research activities pertaining there to in the production or testing of biological”Objectives:•    The level of awareness about various aspect of Bio Medical Waste management among the paramedical staff.•    To study the impact of three day training programme on knowledge of Bio Medical Waste management. Material & Methods: Th...

Ability of paramedics to perform endotracheal intubation during continuous chest compressions: a randomized cadaver study comparing Pentax AWS and Macintosh laryngoscopes.

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Truszewski, Zenon; Czyzewski, Lukasz; Smereka, Jacek; Krajewski, Paweł; Fudalej, Marcin; Madziala, Marcin; Szarpak, Lukasz

2016-09-01

The aim of the trial was to compare the time parameters for intubation with the use of the Macintosh (MAC) laryngoscope and Pentax AWS-S100 videolaryngoscope (AWS; Pentax Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) with and without chest compression (CC) by paramedics during simulated cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a cadaver model. This was a randomized crossover cadaver trial. Thirty-five paramedics with no experience in videolaryngoscopy participated in the study. They performed intubation in two emergency scenarios: scenario A, normal airway without CC; scenario B, normal airway with continuous CC. The median time to first ventilation with the use of the AWS and the MAC was similar in scenario A: 25 (IQR, 22-27) seconds vs. 24 (IQR, 22.5-26) seconds (P=.072). A statistically significant difference in TTFV between AWS and MAC was noticed in scenario B (P=.011). In scenario A, the first endotracheal intubation (ETI) attempt success rate was achieved in 97.1% with AWS compared with 94.3% with MAC (P=.43). In scenario B, the success rate after the first ETI attempt with the use of the different intubation methods varied and amounted to 88.6% vs. 77.1% for AWS and MAC, respectively (P=.002). The Pentax AWS offered a superior glottic view as compared with the MAC laryngoscope, which was associated with a higher intubation rate and a shorter intubation time during an uninterrupted CC scenario. However, in the scenario without CC, the results for AWS and MAC were comparable. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of the Glidescope® and Pentax AWS® laryngoscopes to the Macintosh laryngoscope for use by Advanced Paramedics in easy and simulated difficult intubation

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O' Donnell John

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Intubation of the trachea in the pre-hospital setting may be lifesaving in severely ill and injured patients. However, tracheal intubation is frequently difficult to perform in this challenging environment, is associated with a lower success rate, and failed tracheal intubation constitutes an important cause of morbidity. Novel indirect laryngoscopes, such as the Glidescope® and the AWS® laryngoscopes may reduce this risk. Methods We compared the efficacy of these devices to the Macintosh laryngoscope when used by 25 Advanced Paramedics proficient in direct laryngoscopy, in a randomized, controlled, manikin study. Following brief didactic instruction with the Glidescope® and the AWS® laryngoscopes, each participant took turns performing laryngoscopy and intubation with each device, in an easy intubation scenario and following placement of a hard cervical collar, in a SimMan® manikin. Results Both the Glidescope® and the AWS® performed better than the Macintosh, and demonstrate considerable promise in this context. The AWS® had the least number of dental compressions in all three scenarios, and in the cervical spine immobilization scenario it required fewer maneuvers to optimize the view of the glottis. Conclusion The Glidescope® and AWS® devices possess advantages over the conventional Macintosh laryngoscope when used by Advanced Paramedics in normal and simulated difficult intubation scenarios in this manikin study. Further studies are required to extend these findings to the clinical setting.

A Randomized Cadaver Study Comparing First-Attempt Success Between Tibial and Humeral Intraosseous Insertions Using NIO Device by Paramedics: A Preliminary Investigation.

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Szarpak, Lukasz; Truszewski, Zenon; Smereka, Jacek; Krajewski, Paweł; Fudalej, Marcin; Adamczyk, Piotr; Czyzewski, Lukasz

2016-05-01

Medical personnel may encounter difficulties in obtaining intravenous (IV) access during cardiac arrest. The 2015 American Heart Association guidelines and the 2015 European Resuscitation Council guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) suggest that rescuers establish intraosseous (IO) access if an IV line is not easily obtainable.The aim of the study was to compare the success rates of the IO proximal tibia and proximal humerus head access performed by paramedics using the New Intraosseous access device (NIO; Persys Medical, Houston, TX, USA) in an adult cadaver model during simulated CPR.In an interventional, randomized, crossover, single-center cadaver study, a semi-automatic spring-load driven NIO access device was investigated. In total, 84 paramedics with less than 5-year experience in Emergency Medical Service participated in the study. The trial was performed on 42 adult cadavers. In each cadaver, 2 IO accesses to the humerus head, and 2 IO accesses to the proximal tibia were obtained.The success rate of the first IO attempt was 89.3% (75/84) for tibial access, and 73.8% (62/84) for humeral access (P = 0.017). The procedure times were significantly faster for tibial access [16.8 (interquartile range, IQR, 15.1-19.9] s] than humeral access [26.7 (IQR, 22.1-30.9) s] (P < 0.001).Tibial IO access is easier and faster to put in place than humeral IO access. Humeral IO access can be an alternative method to tibial IO access. clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02700867.

Determining the Relation between General Health and Educational Progress among Paramedical Faculty’s Students of Tehran Medical University

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Hossein Dargahi

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Considering the fact that students studying various fields of Study will have the responsibility to create, maintain and improve society’s level of health, they should be cared for with precision so they can perform and play their role as an educated and expert work force. this is due to the fact that getting accepted in university is a very sensitive period in lives of efficient workforce and active youth in each country, therefore, present study determines the relation between general health and educational progress among paramedical faculty’s Students of Tehran Medical University. Method: present research has a descriptive-analytic nature and was executed in a time period during winter of 2016. the target society included all students of paramedical faculty and required data was gathered by an adults’ health function literacy questionnaire and general health was also gathered by means of general health questionnaire. in order to present descriptive results of percentage and median and to study and analyses quantitative data, parametric statistical tests was used for normal data and in case there were not normal, unparametric tests were applied. Findings: Results of present study showed that there is a positive significant relation between general health and educational progress (r=01 / 0 p <،28 / 0. Still, no significant relation was observed between general health and health literacy (r= 0.038, p=0.569. Conclusion: In studying general health aspects with health literacy and educational health motivation, all aspects of general health (physical aspect, anxiety aspect, social function aspect, depression aspect showed a direct and significant relation with educational progress but presented no significant relation with health literacy. Still, we could observe a positive effect on educational progress and health literacy by trying to improve any of general health factors. In other words, we could use organizational capitals to improve

Can paramedics use FRAX (the WHO Fracture Risk Assessment Tool) to help GPs improve future fracture risk in patients who fall? Protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility study.

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Clarke, Shane; Bradley, Rachel; Simmonds, Bethany; Salisbury, Chris; Benger, Jonathan; Marques, Elsa; Greenwood, Rosemary; Shepstone, Lee; Robinson, Maria; Appleby-Fleming, John; Gooberman-Hill, Rachael

2014-09-03

Currently identification, and therefore, management of patients at risk of osteoporotic fracture in the UK is suboptimal. As the majority of patients who fracture have fallen, it follows that people who fall can usefully be targeted in any programme that aims to reduce osteoporotic fracture. Targeting vulnerable patients who are likely to benefit from intervention may help shift the management of fracture prevention into primary care, away from emergency departments. Paramedics who attend to patients who have fallen may be well placed to assess future fracture risk, using the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) and communicate that information directly to general practitioners (GPs). This feasibility study takes the form of a pragmatic, randomised controlled trial aimed at exploring and refining issues of study design, recruitment, retention, sample size and acceptability preceding a large-scale study with fracture as the end point. Patients (aged >50) who fall, call an ambulance, are attended by a study paramedic and give verbal consent will be asked FRAX and fall questions. Patients who subsequently formally consent to participation will be randomised to control (usual care) or intervention groups. Intervention will constitute transmission of calculated future fracture risk to the patients' GP with suitable, evidence-based recommendations for investigation or treatment. 3 months after the index fall, data (proportion of patients in each group undergoing investigation or starting new treatment, quality of life and health economic) will be collected and analysed using descriptive statistics. A nested qualitative study will explore issues of acceptability and study design with patients, paramedics and GPs. This protocol was approved by NRES Committee South Central Oxford C in October 2012. Research Ethics Committee ref.12/SC/0604. The study findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations and local public events. A publication

Paramedic Initiation of Neuroprotective Agent Infusions: Successful Achievement of Target Blood Levels and Attained Level Effect on Clinical Outcomes in the FAST-MAG Pivotal Trial (Field Administration of Stroke Therapy - Magnesium).

Science.gov (United States)

Shkirkova, Kristina; Starkman, Sidney; Sanossian, Nerses; Eckstein, Marc; Stratton, Samuel; Pratt, Frank; Conwit, Robin; Hamilton, Scott; Sharma, Latisha; Liebeskind, David; Restrepo, Lucas; Valdes-Sueiras, Miguel; Saver, Jeffrey L

2017-07-01

Paramedic use of fixed-size lumen, gravity-controlled tubing to initiate intravenous infusions in the field may allow rapid start of neuroprotective therapy for acute stroke. In a large, multicenter trial, we evaluated its efficacy in attaining target serum levels of candidate neuroprotective agent magnesium sulfate and the relation of achieved magnesium levels to outcome. The FAST-MAG phase 3 trial (Field Administration of Stroke Therapy - Magnesium) randomized 1700 patients within 2 hours of onset to paramedic-initiated, a 15-minute loading intravenous infusion of magnesium or placebo followed by a 24-hour maintenance dose. The drug delivery strategy included fixed-size lumen, gravity-controlled tubing for field drug administration, and a shrink-wrapped ambulance kit containing both the randomized field loading and hospital maintenance doses for seamless continuation. Among patient randomized to active treatment, magnesium levels in the first 72 hours were assessed 987 times in 572 patients. Mean patient age was 70 years (SD±14 years), and 45% were women. During the 24-hour period of active infusion, mean achieved serum level was 3.91 (±0.8), consistent with trial target. Mg levels were increased by older age, female sex, lower weight, height, body mass index, and estimated glomerular filtration rate, and higher blood urea nitrogen, hemoglobin, and higher hematocrit. Adjusted odds for clinical outcomes did not differ by achieved Mg level, including disability at 90 days, symptomatic hemorrhage, or death. Paramedic infusion initiation using gravity-controlled tubing permits rapid achievement of target serum levels of potential neuroprotective agents. The absence of association of clinical outcomes with achieved magnesium levels provides further evidence that magnesium is not biologically neuroprotective in acute stroke. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

Comparison of 4 supraglotttic devices used by paramedics during simulated CPR : a randomized controlled crossover trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Szarpak, Łukasz; Kurowski, Andrzej; Truszewski, Zenon; Robak, Oliver; Frass, Michael

2015-08-01

Ensuring an open airway during cardiopulmonary resuscitation is fundamental. The aim of this study was to determine the success rate of blind intubation during simulated cardiopulmonary resuscitation by untrained personnel. Four devices were compared in a simulated resuscitation scenario: ILMA (Intavent Direct Ltd, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom), Cobra PLA (Engineered Medical Systems Inc, Indianapolis, IN), Supraglottic Airway Laryngopharyngeal Tube (SALT) (ECOLAB, St. Paul, MN), and Air-Q (Mercury Medical, Clearwater, FL). A group of 210 paramedics intubated a manikin with continuous chest compressions. The mean times to intubation were 40.46 ± 4.64, 33.96 ± 6.23, 17.2 ± 4.63, and 49.23 ± 13.19 seconds (SALT vs ILMA, Cobra PLA, and Air-Q; P blind intubation for the devices were 86.7%, 85.7%, 100%, and 71.4% (SALT vs ILMA, Cobra PLA, and Air-Q; P blind intubation time was the SALT device. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The reliability and validity of multiple mini interviews (MMIs) in values based recruitment to nursing, midwifery and paramedic practice programmes: Findings from an evaluation study.

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Callwood, Alison; Cooke, Debbie; Bolger, Sarah; Lemanska, Agnieszka; Allan, Helen

2018-01-01

Universities in the United Kingdom (UK) are required to incorporate values based recruitment (VBR) into their healthcare student selection processes. This reflects an international drive to strengthen the quality of healthcare service provision. This paper presents novel findings in relation to the reliability and predictive validity of multiple mini interviews (MMIs); one approach to VBR widely being employed by universities. To examine the reliability (internal consistency) and predictive validity of MMIs using end of Year One practice outcomes of under-graduate pre-registration adult, child, mental health nursing, midwifery and paramedic practice students. Cross-discipline evaluation study. One university in the United Kingdom. Data were collected in two streams: applicants to A) The September 2014 and 2015 Midwifery Studies programmes; B) September 2015 adult; Child and Mental Health Nursing and Paramedic Practice programmes. Fifty-seven midwifery students commenced their programme in 2014 and 69 in 2015; 47 and 54 agreed to participate and completed Year One respectively. 333 healthcare students commenced their programmes in September 2015. Of these, 281 agreed to participate and completed their first year (180 adult, 33 child and 34 mental health nursing and 34 paramedic practice students). Stream A featured a seven station four-minute model with one interviewer at each station and in Stream B a six station model was employed. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess MMI station internal consistency and Pearson's moment correlation co-efficient to explore associations between participants' admission MMI score and end of Year one clinical practice outcomes (OSCE and mentor grading). Stream A: Significant correlations are reported between midwifery applicant's MMI scores and end of Year One practice outcomes. A multivariate linear regression model demonstrated that MMI score significantly predicted end of Year One practice outcomes controlling for age and academic

Barriers in Implementing E-Learning in Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Lakbala, Parvin

2016-01-01

Background: E-learning provides an alternative way for higher educational institutes to deliver knowledge to learners at a distance, rather than the traditional way. The aim of this study is to identify the barrier factors of e-learning programs in Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences (HUMS) in respect of the students and lecturers’ point of view. Methods: A cross-sectional study based on a questionnaire was conducted among 286 of students and lecturers in the nursing, midwifery and paramedic schools of HUMS. Two hundred and eighty-six participants filled in the questionnaire: 256 students, and 30 lecturers. Results: Results of the study showed a lack of proper training in e-learning courses of the university 182 (69.1%), limited communication with the instructor 174 (68%) and the learners dominance of English language 174 (68%) showed the greatest importance for the students. The awareness about e-learning program was 80% and 43% among lecturers and students respectively. The dominance of English language 26 (86.7%) and lack of research grants for e-learning 23 (76.6%) and lack of proper training on e-learning courses from the university 20 (66.7 %) were the most important barrier factors of implementing e-learning for lecturers. E-learning courses to supplement classroom teaching was a solution that mentioned by the majority of students 240 (93.8%) and lecturers 29 (96.7%) in this study. Conclusions: The positive perception of e-learning is an important consequence effect in the future, educational development of nursing, midwifery and paramedic schools. PMID:26925885

Barriers in Implementing E-Learning in Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences.

Science.gov (United States)

Lakbala, Parvin

2015-11-03

E-learning provides an alternative way for higher educational institutes to deliver knowledge to learners at a distance, rather than the traditional way. The aim of this study is to identify the barrier factors of e-learning programs in Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences (HUMS) in respect of the students and lecturers' point of view. A cross-sectional study based on a questionnaire was conducted among 286 of students and lecturers in the nursing, midwifery and paramedic schools of HUMS. Two hundred and eighty-six participants filled in the questionnaire: 256 students, and 30 lecturers. Results of the study showed a lack of proper training in e-learning courses of the university 182 (69.1%), limited communication with the instructor 174 (68%) and the learners dominance of English language 174 (68%) showed the greatest importance for the students. The awareness about e-learning program was 80% and 43% among lecturers and students respectively.The dominance of English language 26 (86.7%) and lack of research grants for e-learning 23 (76.6%) and lack of proper training on e-learning courses from the university 20 (66.7 %) were the most important barrier factors of implementing e-learning for lecturers. E-learning courses to supplement classroom teaching was a solution that mentioned by the majority of students 240 (93.8%) and lecturers 29 (96.7%) in this study. The positive perception of e-learning is an important consequence effect in the future, educational development of nursing, midwifery and paramedic schools.

Basic cardiopulmonary life support (BCLS for cardiopulmonary resuscitation by trained paramedics and medics outside the hospital

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Rakesh Garg

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The cardiopulmonary resuscitation guideline of Basic Cardiopulmonary Life Support (BCLS for management of adult victims with cardiopulmonary arrest outside the hospital provides an algorithmic stepwise approach for optimal outcome of the victims by trained medics and paramedics. This guideline has been developed considering the need to have a universally acceptable practice guideline for India and keeping in mind the infrastructural limitations of some areas of the country. This guideline is based on evidence elicited in the international and national literature. In the absence of data from Indian population, the excerpts have been taken from international data, discussed with Indian experts and thereafter modified to make them practically applicable across India. The optimal outcome for a victim with cardiopulmonary arrest would depend on core links of early recognition and activation; early high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation, early defibrillation and early transfer to medical facility. These links are elaborated in a stepwise manner in the BCLS algorithm. The BCLS also emphasise on quality check for various steps of resuscitation.

Can advanced paramedics in the field diagnose patients and predict hospital admission?

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Cummins, Niamh Maria

2013-02-13

BACKGROUND: Accurate patient diagnosis in the prehospital environment is essential to initiate suitable care pathways. The advanced paramedic (AP) is a relatively recent role in Ireland, and refers to a prehospital practitioner with advanced life-support skills and training. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to compare the diagnostic decisions of APs with emergency medicine (EM) physicians, and to investigate if APs, as currently trained, can predict the requirement for hospital admission. METHODS: A prospective study was initiated, whereby each emergency ambulance call received via the statutory 999 system was recorded by the attending AP. The AP was asked to provide a clinical diagnosis for each patient, and to predict if hospital admission was required. The data was then cross-referenced with the working diagnosis of the receiving emergency physician and the hospital admission records. RESULTS: A total of 17 APs participated in the study, and 1369 emergency calls were recorded over a 6-month period. Cases where a general practitioner attended the scene were excluded from the concordance analysis. Concordance with the receiving emergency physician represents 70% (525\\/748) for all cases of AP diagnosis, and is mirrored with 70% (604\\/859) correct hospital admission predictions. CONCLUSIONS: AP diagnosis and admission prediction for emergency calls is similar to other emergency medical services systems despite the relative recency of the AP programme in Ireland. Recognition of non-concordance case types may identify priorities for AP education, and drive future AP practice in areas such as \\'treat and refer\\'.

Emergency Medical Services Professionals’ Attitudes About Community Paramedic Programs

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Robert J. Steeps

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The number of community paramedic (CP programs has expanded to mitigate the impact of increased patient usage on emergency services. However, it has not been determined to what extent emergency medical services (EMS professionals would be willing to participate in this model of care. With this project, we sought to evaluate the perceptions of EMS professionals toward the concept of a CP program. Methods: We used a cross-sectional study method to evaluate the perceptions of participating EMS professionals with regard to their understanding of and willingness to participate in a CP program. Approximately 350 licensed EMS professionals currently working for an EMS service that provides coverage to four states (Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma were invited to participate in an electronic survey regarding their perceptions toward a CP program. We analyzed interval data using the Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation as appropriate. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to examine the impact of participant characteristics on their willingness to perform CP duties. Statistical significance was established at p ≤ 0.05. Results: Of the 350 EMS professionals receiving an invitation, 283 (81% participated. Of those participants, 165 (70% indicated that they understood what a CP program entails. One hundred thirty-five (58% stated they were likely to attend additional education in order to become a CP, 152 (66% were willing to perform CP duties, and 175 (75% felt that their respective communities would be in favor of a local CP program. Using logistic regression with regard to willingness to perform CP duties, we found that females were more willing than males (OR = 4.65; p = 0.03 and that those participants without any perceived time on shift to commit to CP duties were less willing than those who believed their work shifts could accommodate additional duties (OR = 0.20; p

Comprehensive cardiopulmonary life support (CCLS for cardiopulmonary resuscitation by trained paramedics and medics inside the hospital

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Rakesh Garg

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR guideline of comprehensive cardiopulmonary life support (CCLS for management of the patient with cardiopulmonary arrest in adults provides an algorithmic step-wise approach for optimal outcome of the patient inside the hospital by trained medics and paramedics. This guideline has been developed considering the infrastructure of healthcare delivery system in India. This is based on evidence in the international and national literature. In the absence of data from the Indian population, the extrapolation has been made from international data, discussed with Indian experts and modified accordingly to ensure their applicability in India. The CCLS guideline emphasise the need to recognise patients at risk for cardiac arrest and their timely management before a cardiac arrest occurs. The basic components of CPR include chest compressions for blood circulation; airway maintenance to ensure airway patency; lung ventilation to enable oxygenation and defibrillation to convert a pathologic 'shockable' cardiac rhythm to one capable to maintaining effective blood circulation. CCLS emphasises incorporation of airway management, drugs, and identification of the cause of arrest and its correction, while chest compression and ventilation are ongoing. It also emphasises the value of organised team approach and optimal post-resuscitation care.

Mobile Mixed Reality for Experiential Learning and Simulation in Medical and Health Sciences Education

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James Birt

2018-01-01

Full Text Available New accessible learning methods delivered through mobile mixed reality are becoming possible in education, shifting pedagogy from the use of two dimensional images and videos to facilitating learning via interactive mobile environments. This is especially important in medical and health education, where the required knowledge acquisition is typically much more experiential, self-directed, and hands-on than in many other disciplines. Presented are insights obtained from the implementation and testing of two mobile mixed reality interventions across two Australian higher education classrooms in medicine and health sciences, concentrating on student perceptions of mobile mixed reality for learning physiology and anatomy in a face-to-face medical and health science classroom and skills acquisition in airways management focusing on direct laryngoscopy with foreign body removal in a distance paramedic science classroom. This is unique because most studies focus on a single discipline, focusing on either skills or the learner experience and a single delivery modality rather than linking cross-discipline knowledge acquisition and the development of a student’s tangible skills across multimodal classrooms. Outcomes are presented from post-intervention student interviews and discipline academic observation, which highlight improvements in learner motivation and skills, but also demonstrated pedagogical challenges to overcome with mobile mixed reality learning.

Web-based multimedia courseware for emergency cardiac patient management simulations.

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Ambrosiadou, V; Compton, T; Panchal, T; Polovina, S

2000-01-01

This is a multidisciplinary inter-departmental/faculty project between the departments of computer science, electronic, communications and electrical engineering and nursing and paramedic sciences. The objective is to develop a web based multimedia front end to existing simulations of cardiac emergency scenaria. It will be used firstly in the teaching of nurses. The University of Hertfordshire is the only University in Britain using simulations of cardiac emergency scenaria for nurse and paramedic science education and therefore this project will add the multimedia dimension in distributed courses over the web and will assess the improvement in the educational process. The use of network and multimedia technologies, provide interactive learning, immediate feedback to students' responses, individually tailored instructions, objective testing and entertaining delivery. The end product of this project will serve as interactive material to enhance experiential learning for nursing students using the simulations of cardiac emergency scenaria. The emergency treatment simulations have been developed using VisSim and may be compiled as C code. The objective of the project is to provide a web based user friendly multimedia interface in order to demonstrate the way in which patients may be managed in critical situations by applying advanced technological equipment and drug administration. Then the user will be able to better appreciate the concepts involved by running the VisSim simulations. The evaluation group for the proposed software will be the Department of Nursing and Paramedic Sciences About 200 nurses use simulations every year for training purposes as part of their course requirements.

Pedagogy before Technology: A Design-Based Research Approach to Enhancing Skills Development in Paramedic Science Using Mixed Reality

OpenAIRE

Michael Cowling; James Birt

2018-01-01

In health sciences education, there is growing evidence that simulation improves learners’ safety, competence, and skills, especially when compared to traditional didactic methods or no simulation training. However, this approach to simulation becomes difficult when students are studying at a distance, leading to the need to develop simulations that suit this pedagogical problem and the logistics of this intervention method. This paper describes the use of a design-based research (DBR) method...

Treatment of chemical warfare agent casualties: retention of knowledge and self-perceived competency among military physicians and paramedics.

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Shiyovich, Arthur; Statlender, Liran; Abu-Tailakh, Muhammad; Plakht, Ygal; Shrot, Shai; Kassirer, Michael

2015-06-01

Specialized training of medical teams for chemical warfare agent (CWA) events is important to save lives. We aimed to evaluate the retention of knowledge (ROK) and self-perceived competency (SPC) of military medical personnel in delivering treatment during CWA events. A questionnaire and a multiple-choice examination were sent to military physicians and paramedics, evaluating their CWA, ROK, and SPC (study group [SG]). Their assessment was compared to medical personnel immediately post training (reference group [RG]). SG was subdivided into two groups: G1 ≤ 1 year and G2 > 1 year, past training. Overall, 135 participants responded (35-RG, 65% physicians). Self-reported ROK and SPC were significantly higher in RG compared to SG and in G1 compared to G2. Test scores were higher in RG compared to SG, but similar in G1 and G2 groups. SPC was lower compared to ROK in the entire cohort and subgroups. A moderate correlation was found between the self-and test-assessed scores (Pearson correlation coefficient 0.45, p ROK. Thus, we recommend CWA refresher training at least every year. Reprint & Copyright © 2015 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

The Head Injury Retrieval Trial (HIRT): a single-centre randomised controlled trial of physician prehospital management of severe blunt head injury compared with management by paramedics only.

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Garner, Alan A; Mann, Kristy P; Fearnside, Michael; Poynter, Elwyn; Gebski, Val

2015-11-01

Advanced prehospital interventions for severe brain injury remains controversial. No previous randomised trial has been conducted to evaluate additional physician intervention compared with paramedic only care. Participants in this prospective, randomised controlled trial were adult patients with blunt trauma with either a scene GCS score definition), or GCSdefinition). Patients were randomised to either standard ground paramedic treatment or standard treatment plus a physician arriving by helicopter. Patients were evaluated by 30-day mortality and 6-month Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) scores. Due to high non-compliance rates, both intention-to-treat and as-treated analyses were preplanned. 375 patients met the original definition, of which 197 was allocated to physician care. Differences in the 6-month GOS scores were not significant on intention-to-treat analysis (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.66, p=0.62) nor was the 30-day mortality (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.60 to 1.38, p=0.66). As-treated analysis showed a 16% reduction in 30-day mortality in those receiving additional physician care; 60/195 (29%) versus 81/180 (45%), pdefinition, of which 182 were allocated to physician care. The 6-month GOS scores were not significantly different on intention-to-treat analysis (OR 1.14, 95% CI 0.73 to 1.75, p=0.56) nor was the 30-day mortality (OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.66 to 1.66, p=0.84). As-treated analyses were also not significantly different. This trial suggests a potential mortality reduction in patients with blunt trauma with GCSdefinition only). Confirmatory studies which also address non-compliance issues are needed. NCT00112398. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Impact of Video Laryngoscopy on Advanced Airway Management by Critical Care Transport Paramedics and Nurses Using the CMAC Pocket Monitor.

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Boehringer, Bradley; Choate, Michael; Hurwitz, Shelley; Tilney, Peter V R; Judge, Thomas

2015-01-01

Accurate endotracheal intubation for patients in extremis or at risk of physiologic decompensation is the gold standard for emergency medicine. Field intubation is a complex process and time to intubation, number of attempts, and hypoxia have all been shown to correlate with increases in morbidity and mortality. Expanding laryngoscope technology which incorporates active video, in addition to direct laryngoscopy, offers providers improved and varied tools to employ in management of the advanced airway. Over a nine-year period a helicopter emergency medical services team, comprised of a flight paramedic and flight nurse, intended to intubate 790 patients. Comparative data analysis was performed and demonstrated that the introduction of the CMAC video laryngoscope improved nearly every measure of success in airway management. Overall intubation success increased from 94.9% to 99.0%, first pass success rates increased from 75.4% to 94.9%, combined first and second pass success rates increased from 89.2% to 97.4%, and mean number of intubation attempts decreased from 1.33 to 1.08.

The Head Injury Retrieval Trial (HIRT): a single-centre randomised controlled trial of physician prehospital management of severe blunt head injury compared with management by paramedics only

Science.gov (United States)

Garner, Alan A; Mann, Kristy P; Fearnside, Michael; Poynter, Elwyn; Gebski, Val

2015-01-01

Background Advanced prehospital interventions for severe brain injury remains controversial. No previous randomised trial has been conducted to evaluate additional physician intervention compared with paramedic only care. Methods Participants in this prospective, randomised controlled trial were adult patients with blunt trauma with either a scene GCS score <9 (original definition), or GCS<13 and an Abbreviated Injury Scale score for the head region ≥3 (modified definition). Patients were randomised to either standard ground paramedic treatment or standard treatment plus a physician arriving by helicopter. Patients were evaluated by 30-day mortality and 6-month Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) scores. Due to high non-compliance rates, both intention-to-treat and as-treated analyses were preplanned. Results 375 patients met the original definition, of which 197 was allocated to physician care. Differences in the 6-month GOS scores were not significant on intention-to-treat analysis (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.66, p=0.62) nor was the 30-day mortality (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.60 to 1.38, p=0.66). As-treated analysis showed a 16% reduction in 30-day mortality in those receiving additional physician care; 60/195 (29%) versus 81/180 (45%), p<0.01, Number needed to treat =6. 338 patients met the modified definition, of which 182 were allocated to physician care. The 6-month GOS scores were not significantly different on intention-to-treat analysis (OR 1.14, 95% CI 0.73 to 1.75, p=0.56) nor was the 30-day mortality (OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.66 to 1.66, p=0.84). As-treated analyses were also not significantly different. Conclusions This trial suggests a potential mortality reduction in patients with blunt trauma with GCS<9 receiving additional physician care (original definition only). Confirmatory studies which also address non-compliance issues are needed. Trial registration number NCT00112398. PMID:25795741

A Paramedic-staffed Helicopter Emergency Medical Service's Response to Winch Missions in Victoria, Australia.

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Meadley, Ben; Heschl, Stefan; Andrew, Emily; de Wit, Anthony; Bernard, Stephen A; Smith, Karen

2016-01-01

Winching emergency medical care providers from a helicopter to the scene enables treatment of patients in otherwise inaccessible locations, but is not without risks. The objective of this study was to define characteristics of winch missions undertaken by Intensive Care Flight Paramedics (ICFP) in Victoria, Australia with a focus on extraction methods and clinical care delivered at the scene. A retrospective data analysis was performed to identify all winch missions between November 2010 and March 2014. Demographic data, winch characteristics, physiological parameters, and interventions undertaken on scene by the ICFP were extracted. Out of 5,003 missions in the study period, 125 were identified as winch operations. Winter missions were significantly less frequent than those of any other season. Patients were predominantly male (78.4%) and had a mean age of 38 years (±17.6). A total of 109 (87.2%) patients were identified as experiencing trauma with a mean Revised Trauma Score of 7.5288, and isolated limb fractures were the most frequently encountered injury. Falls and vehicle-related trauma were the most common mechanisms of injury. The total median scene duration was 49 minutes (IQR 23-91). Sixty-three patients (50.4%) were extracted using a stretcher, 45 (36.0%) using a hypothermic strop, and 6 (4.8%) via normal rescue strop. Eleven patients (8.8%) were not winched to the helicopter. Vascular access (38.4%), analgesia (44.0%), and anti-emetic administration (28.8%) were the most frequent clinical interventions. Forty-nine patients (39.2%) did not receive any clinical intervention prior to winch extraction. Winch operations in Victoria, Australia consisted predominantly of patients with minor to moderate traumatic injuries. A significant proportion of patients did not require any clinical treatment prior to winching, and among those who did, analgesia was the most frequent intervention. Advanced medical procedures were rarely required prior to winch extraction.

The relationship between emotional intelligence and academic stress in students of medical sciences.

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Miri, Mohammad Reza; Kermani, Tayyebe; Khoshbakht, Hoda; Moodi, Mitra

2013-01-01

Emotional intelligence (EI) theory provides a view about predicting effective factors in people's lives whether in education or profession. According to earlier studies, people who have higher emotional skills are more successful in many of life aspects :e.g., reaction to stress and controlling stress situations. Since students are the future of society, this study was carried out to evaluate the relationship between EI and education stress in the students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences (BUMS). In this cross-sectional study, 260 students were selected by proportional sampling in four faculties: Medicine, Nursing and Midwifery, Paramedical Sciences, and Health. Data were collected using two questionnaires: The standardized EI Shering's (33 questions, five domains) and the Student-Life Stress Inventory (57 questions, nine domains). The obtained data were analyzed by independent t-test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and linear regression at the significant level of α = 0.05. Totally, 65.8% of participants were females and 31.1% were males. The educational level of the participants included Associate's degree (44.6%) Bachelor's degree in science (31.2%), and medical science (23.1%). There was no significant correlation between EI scores and educational stress in students. But there was a significant relationship between EI with sex (P = 0.02) and mean of EI scores with three domains of academic stress: Personal favorites (P = 0.004), reaction to stressors (P = 0.002), and performance in stressful situations (P = 0.001). Although EI growth in different individuals can promote their success, it cannot decrease academic stress by itself which was particularly significant in females. Therefore, other causes of stress such as individual differences must be taken into consideration.

Development of new core competencies for Taiwanese Emergency Medical Technicians

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Chang YT

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Yu-Tung Chang,1,2 Kuang-Chau Tsai,2 Brett Williams1,3 1Department of Community Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Frankston, VIC, Australia; 2Department of Emergency Medicine, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan; 3Division of Paramedicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia Objectives: Core competencies are considered the foundation for establishing Emergency Medical Technician (EMT and paramedic curricula, and for ensuring performance standards in the delivery of prehospital care. This study surveyed EMT instructors and medical directors to identify the most desirable core competencies for all levels of EMTs in Taiwan. Methods: A principal components analysis with Varimax rotation was conducted. An online questionnaire was distributed to obtain perspectives of EMT instructors and medical directors on the most desirable core competencies for EMTs. The target population was EMT training-course instructors and medical directors of fire departments in Taiwan. The questionnaire comprised 61 competency items, and multiple-choice and open-ended questions were used to obtain respondents’ perspectives of the Taiwanese EMT training and education system. Results: The results identified three factors at EMT-1 and EMT-2 levels and five factors at the EMT-Paramedic level. The factors for EMT-1 and EMT-2 were similar, and those for EMT-Paramedics identified further comprehensive competence perspectives. The key factors that appear to influence the development of the Taiwanese Emergency Medical Services (EMS education system are the attitude of authorities, the licensure system, and legislation. Conclusion: The findings present new core competencies for the Taiwanese EMT system and provide capacity to redesign curricula and reconsider roles for EMT-1 and EMT-2 technicians. At the EMT-Paramedic level, the findings demonstrate the importance of

Compliance to Occupational Safety Measures among the Paramedical Workers in a Tertiary Hospital in Karnataka, South India

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P Phukan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background: The guidelines for minimizing occupational health risk from exposure to highly infectious diseases is already established but little information exists on the compliance of these measures among paramedical workers in India. Objective: To study the awareness of occupational safety measures such as universal precautions, biomedical waste handling, disposal and its compliance in their daily practice. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was undertaken in a tertiary private hospital in Karnataka, Bangalore, India. Data was collected using a pretested and predesigned proforma from 120 respondents: 85 nurses and 35 laboratory technicians. Results: 27 (32% nurses and 20 (57% laboratory technicians could relate universal precautions to infection prevention. Only 6 (7% nurses and 2 (6% technicians had knowledge about proper hospital waste segregation. 45 (52.9% nurses and 15 (42.8% technicians had knowledge about post-exposure prophylaxis. 3 (4% nurses and 9 (26% technicians were formally trained in following universal precautions. Adequate hand washing was practiced among 17 (20% nurses and none of the technicians. Faulty practice such as recapping of needle was prevalent among 57 (67% nurses and 29 (83% technicians. 32 (38% nurses and 10 (29% technicians received hepatitis B vaccine. Conclusion: As knowledge and practice regarding different aspects of universal precautions was not satisfactory, training was warranted urgently in the study population. Also, suggestions were made to develop and implement institutional policies on the universal precautions and ensuring supply of personal protection equipment.

Thinking about Non-Traditional Careers. An Exploratory Workshop for Teenagers. Final Report from July 1, 1986 to June 30, 1987.

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Sarasota County Vocational-Technical Center, Sarasota, FL.

A two-week workshop was organized at which 10th- and 11th-grade girls actively explored for one full day six different nontraditional careers. The careers were auto mechanics, law enforcement, emergency medical technician/paramedic, livestock production, fire science, and hotel management. Shorter sessions were conducted in broadcasting and…

Cigarette smoking and health care professionals at Mayo Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malik, A.K.; Chaudhry, A.; Karamat, A.; Arif, N.; Cheema, M.A.; Rauf, A.

2010-01-01

Objectives: To observe the frequency of cigarette smoking in doctors and paramedics and study various variables associated with it. Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was given to randomly selected 250 Doctors and 250 Paramedics at Mayo Hospital in 2009. Information about demographic characteristics, smoking status in family, number of cigarettes smoked per day, influence for starting smoking, reason for continuation of smoking and use of nicotine replacement therapy was obtained. Results: A total of 234 questionnaires from doctors and 207 from paramedics were received back (88.2% response rate). There were 280 males (163 Doctors; 117 Paramedics) and 161 females (71 Doctors; 90 Paramedics). Eighty seven (37.18%) Doctors and 74 (35.74%) Paramedics were smokers with 82 (50.31%) male doctors and 5 (7.04%) females. Similar results were obtained in Paramedics 72 (61.53%) males and 2 (2.22%) females. Of the smokers, majority started smoking between 11-20 years age with 39 (44.83%) Doctors and 48 (64.86%) Paramedics. Twenty three (26.44%) Doctors and 31 (41.89%) Paramedics smoked 11-20 cigarettes per day. Smoking was initiated due to the influence of friends by 48 (55.17%) Doctors and 56 (75.68%) Paramedics. Most smokers, 29 (33.33%) Doctors and 33 (44.59%) Paramedics found use of cigarette smoking as 'Relaxing'. Addiction was the main reason for difficulty in quitting cigarette smoking as reported by 33 (37.93%) Doctors and 31 (41.89%) Paramedics. Of the smokers, 61(70.11%) doctors and 50 (32.43%) paramedics had no intention to quit smoking in the next 6 months. Conclusion: A significant number of doctors and paramedics, especially males, in Pakistan smoke cigarettes, which requires proper attention. (author)

Assessing critical thinking in medical sciences students in two sequential semesters: Does it improve?

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Athari, Zeinab-Sadat; Sharif, Sayyed-Mostafa; Nasr, Ahmad Reza; Nematbakhsh, Mehdi

2013-01-01

Critical thinking is an important outcome criterion of higher education in any discipline. Medical and paramedical students always encounter with many new problems in clinical settings and medicinal laboratory, and critical thinking is an essential skill in obtaining a better approach for problem solving. We performed a pre-and post-test to evaluate the change of critical thinking skills in medical sciences students who enrolled in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Iran during the academic years 2008-2010. In a longitudinal design study, the critical thinking skills were compared in medical sciences students in two sequential semesters using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test. The test is divided into two parts (parts 1 and 2), including 17 items in each part. Based on proportional stratified sampling, a groups of students (group 1, n=159) were selected from the university population, who enrolled in medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and rehabilitation colleges. The students in group 1 were asked to complete the part 1 of the test (phase I). After one semester, another group (group 2, n=138) from the same population was randomly selected, and they were asked to complete the part two (phase II). The students' demographic data also were recorded. The California critical thinking skills test was translated and it validity and reliability were approved before. No significant difference was observed between the two groups in the demographic data. The students critical thinking scores in phase II significantly reduced in comparison with phase 1 (pstudents' critical thinking.

The use of the laryngeal tube disposable (LT-D) by paramedics during out-of-hospital resuscitation-an observational study concerning ERC guidelines 2005.

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Wiese, C H R; Semmel, T; Müller, J U; Bahr, J; Ocker, H; Graf, B M

2009-02-01

In the current guidelines of the European Resuscitation Council (ERC), tracheal intubation, as an instrument for securing the airway during resuscitation, has become less important for persons not trained in this method. For those persons, different supraglottic airway devices are recommended by the ERC. The present investigation deals with the application of the laryngeal tube disposable (LT-D) during pre-hospital resuscitation by paramedics. During a period of 2 years (2006-2008), we registered all cardiac arrest situations in which the LT-D had been applied according to the ERC guidelines 2005. Therefore, we investigated one emergency medical system in Germany. During the defined period, 92 resuscitation attempts, recorded on standardised data sheets, were included. The LT-D was used in 46% of all cardiac arrest situations. Overall, the LT-D was successfully inserted in more than 90% of all cases on first attempt. In 95% of all cases, no problems concerning ventilation of the patient were described. As an alternative airway device recommended by the ERC in 2005, the LT-D may enable airway control rapidly and effectively. Additionally, by using the LT-D, a reduced "no-flow-time" and a better outcome may be possible.

Improving Paramedic Distance Education through Mobile Mixed Reality Simulation

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Birt, James; Moore, Emma; Cowling, Michael

2017-01-01

There is growing evidence that the use of simulation in teaching is a key means of improving learning, skills, and outcomes, particularly for practical skills. In the health sciences, the use of high-fidelity task trainers has been shown to be ideal for reducing cognitive load and leading to enhanced learning outcomes. However, how do we make…

Pre-hospital Assessment of the Role of Adrenaline: Measuring the Effectiveness of Drug administration In Cardiac arrest (PARAMEDIC-2): Trial protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Perkins, Gavin D; Quinn, Tom; Deakin, Charles D; Nolan, Jerry P; Lall, Ranjit; Slowther, Anne-Marie; Cooke, Matthew; Lamb, Sarah E; Petrou, Stavros; Achana, Felix; Finn, Judith; Jacobs, Ian G; Carson, Andrew; Smyth, Mike; Han, Kyee; Byers, Sonia; Rees, Nigel; Whitfield, Richard; Moore, Fionna; Fothergill, Rachael; Stallard, Nigel; Long, John; Hennings, Susie; Horton, Jessica; Kaye, Charlotte; Gates, Simon

2016-11-01

Despite its use since the 1960s, the safety or effectiveness of adrenaline as a treatment for cardiac arrest has never been comprehensively evaluated in a clinical trial. Although most studies have found that adrenaline increases the chance of return of spontaneous circulation for short periods, many studies found harmful effects on the brain and raise concern that adrenaline may reduce overall survival and/or good neurological outcome. The PARAMEDIC-2 trial seeks to determine if adrenaline is safe and effective in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. This is a pragmatic, individually randomised, double blind, controlled trial with a parallel economic evaluation. Participants will be eligible if they are in cardiac arrest in the out-of-hospital environment and advanced life support is initiated. Exclusions are cardiac arrest as a result of anaphylaxis or life threatening asthma, and patient known or appearing to be under 16 or pregnant. 8000 participants treated by 5 UK ambulance services will be randomised between December 2014 and August 2017 to adrenaline (intervention) or placebo (control) through opening pre-randomised drug packs. Clinical outcomes are survival to 30 days (primary outcome), hospital discharge, 3, 6 and 12 months, health related quality of life, and neurological and cognitive outcomes (secondary outcomes). Trial registration (ISRCTN73485024). Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Comparison between current and ideal condition of educational justice from the students' viewpoints at Jahrom Nursing and Paramedical School.

Science.gov (United States)

Montaseri, Mohammad Ali; Hojat, Mohsen; Karimyar Jahromi, Mahdi

2014-01-01

Educational justice is a process by which all those involved in education are pondering and seeking to establish it in their regulatory environments. This study aimed to investigate effective factors in an ideal educational justice and the current condition of educational justice from the students' viewpoint and ultimately increase the awareness and understanding of authorities and educational planners of the existing shortcomings.  This is a descriptive-analytical study. Samples include all nursing, operating room, and anesthesia students of nursing and paramedical college who had passed at least 5 semesters. Data collection was carried out through a scholar questionnaire. Validity was assessed through content validity and reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated using a pilot study.  In order to determine the status of the scores, 5 points (very high), 4 (often), 3 (moderate), 2 (low) and 1 (very low) were assigned, respectively. To determine the justice level, a 35 score interval was considered as very low, low, medium, high and very high. SPSS software, descriptive statistics, independent t-test and ANOVA were used to analyze the data.  There was a significant difference between the ideal and the current conditions in all items (p≤0.001) and also in the total mean score of ideal condition  and mean score of current condition (p=0.010). In an educational system, educational methods and aims should be regulated in a way that principles and components of justice are attainable and distribution and allocation of educational facilities of justice are considered thoroughly.

Happiness Among College Students: A Cross-Sectional Web-Based Study Among Iranian Medical Students

OpenAIRE

Lesani; Mohammadpoorasl; Javadi; Ansari; Fakhari

2016-01-01

Background During the recent decades, happiness and psychological wellbeing have been among the most attractive issues for researchers in the fields of social sciences and health. Medical and paramedical students in comparison with other college students are less happy due to work circumstance in hospital and special education. Objectives The aim of the present study was to evaluate happiness among college students of Qazvin Unive...

Qualitative Evaluation of the Coach Training within a Community Paramedicine Care Transitions Intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Hunter Singh; Hollander, Matthew M; Cushman, Jeremy T; DuGoff, Eva H; Jones, Courtney M C; Kind, Amy J H; Lohmeier, Michael T; Coleman, Eric A; Shah, Manish N

2018-02-12

The Care Transitions Intervention (CTI) has potential to improve the emergency department (ED)-to-home transition for older adults. Community paramedics may function as the CTI coaches; however, this requires the appropriate knowledge, skills, and attitudes, which they do not receive in traditional emergency medical services (EMS) education. This study aimed to define community paramedics' perceptions regarding their training needs to serve as CTI coaches supporting the ED-to-home transition. This study forms part of an ongoing randomized controlled trial evaluating a community paramedic-implemented CTI to enhance the ED-to-home transition. The community paramedics' training covered the following domains: the CTI program, geriatrics, effective coaching, ED discharge processes, and community paramedicine. Sixteen months after starting the study, we conducted audio-recorded semi-structured interviews with community paramedics at both study sites. After transcribing the interviews, team members independently coded the transcripts. Ensuing group analysis sessions led to the development of final codes and identifying common themes. Finally, we conducted member checking to confirm our interpretations of the interview data. We interviewed all 8 participating community paramedics. Participants consisted solely of non-Hispanic whites, included 5 women, and had a mean age of 43. Participants had extensive backgrounds in healthcare, primarily as EMS providers, but minimal experience with community paramedicine. All reported some prior geriatrics training. Four themes emerged from the interviews: (1) paramedics with positive attitudes and willingness to acquire the needed knowledge and skills will succeed as CTI coaches; (2) active rather than passive learning is preferred by paramedics; (3) the existing training could benefit from adjustments such as added content on mental health, dementia, and substance abuse issues, as well as content on coaching subjects with a range of

Prioritization of the Effective Teaching Parameters Comparing the Viewpoints of Students and Teachers of Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tofoghiyan T

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Aims: To determine the effective teaching factors managers, colleagues, teachers’ self-assessment and students' opinions can be used. The purpose of this study was to compare and prioritizing the effective teaching indicators from teachers and students’ view point.  Instrument & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 60 faculty members and 385 students from Nursing, Midwifery, Health and Paramedical, and Medical Sciences Schools of Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences were entered in the study using simple random sampling in 2012-13. Data gathered by bipartite questionnaire containing demographic and prioritizing the most important indicators of effective teaching in four areas of scholarship, teaching methods, the power of communication and personality. Data were collected by SPSS 15 software using descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square test.  Findings: From teachers and students’ view point scholarship in the area of science and technology features, clear transmission of the content in teaching method, justice in evaluating in the area of relationship power and clear and simple expression in the area of personality traits had the highest priority. In the characteristics of knowledge (p=0.0004, teaching design (p=0.0001, easy access to the teacher (p=0.003, generating motivation (p=0.0001 and re-explanation of the content (p=0.003 there was no significant difference between teachers and students.  Conclusion: From the viewpoint of teachers and students, knowledge characteristics, clear transferring of the contents, justice in evaluating, clear and simple explanation have the highest priority to the of effective teaching aspects. Comparing the priorities in each areas, there are some differences among students and teachers’ view point.

The potential impact of 3D telepresence technology on task performance in emergency trauma care

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Söderholm, Hanna M.; Sonnenwald, Diane H.; Cairns, Bruce

2007-01-01

a simulated emergency situation 60 paramedics diagnosed and treated a trauma victim while working alone or in collaboration with a physician via 2D video or a 3D proxy. Analysis of paramedics' task performance shows that the fewest harmful procedures occurred in the 3D proxy condition. Paramedics in the 3D...... proxy condition also reported higher levels of self-efficacy. These results indicate 3D telepresence technology has potential to improve paramedics' performance of complex emergency medical tasks and improve emergency trauma health care when designed appropriately....

Work-Related Accidents and Sharp Injuries in Paramedics—Illustrated with an Example of a Multi-Specialist Hospital, Located in Central Poland

Science.gov (United States)

Szatko, Franciszek; Ulrichs, Magdalena

2017-01-01

(1) Background: An analysis of work-related accidents in paramedics in Poland by presenting the model and trend of accidents, accident rates and by identifying causes and results of accidents; (2) Methods: A retrospective analysis of medical documentation regarding work-related accidents in a multi-specialist hospital, located in central Poland, in the period 2005–2015. The study group included paramedics who had an accident while being on duty; (3) Results: According to hospital records, 88 paramedics were involved in 390 accidents and 265 injuries caused by sharp instruments. The annual accident rate was 5.34/100 employed paramedics. Most of the accidents occurred at night. The most common reason for the accident was careless behaviour of the paramedic, which resulted in joint sprains and dislocations. Injuries accounted for a huge portion of the total number of events. As many as 45% of injuries were not officially recorded; (4) Conclusion: High rates of work-related accidents and injuries caused by sharp instruments in paramedics are a serious public health problem. Further studies should be conducted in order to identify risk factors of accidents, particularly injuries, and to implement preventative programmes, aiming to minimise rates of occupational hazards for paramedics. PMID:28796193

The 'Magic Light': A Discussion on Laser Ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Stylianou, Andreas; Talias, Michael A

2015-08-01

Innovations in technology and science form novel fields that, although beneficial, introduce new bio-ethical issues. In their short history, lasers have greatly influenced our everyday lives, especially in medicine. This paper focuses particularly on medical and para-medical laser ethics and their origins, and presents the complex relationships within laser ethics through a three-dimensional matrix model. The term 'laser' and the myth of the 'magic light' can be identified as landmarks for laser related ethical issues. These ethical issues are divided into five major groups: (1) media, marketing, and advertising; (2) economic outcomes; (3) user training; (4) the user-patient/client relationship; and (5) other issues. In addition, issues arising from two of the most common applications of lasers, laser eye surgery and laser tattoo removal, are discussed. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the use of medical and para-medical lasers has so greatly influenced our lives that the scientific community must initiate an earnest discussion of medical laser ethics.

UTILIZATION OF FORMALIN EMBALMED SPECIMENS UNDER ECO-FRIENDLY CONDITIONS BY ADVANCED PLASTINATION TECHNIQUE

OpenAIRE

R. Menaka; S. Chaurasia

2015-01-01

Preparation of anatomical models and teaching aids is a challenging task in the medical, veterinary and paramedical sciences as like as life form. The successful preservation of conventional methods by embalmed cadavers/ corpse’s are routinely practiced for educational/research purposes. The existing form of preservation technique is not promising to meet the current challenges in the teaching and learning of human/veterinary anatomy. The embalming fluid causes potential health hazards with c...

The Salient Map Analysis for Research and Teaching (SMART) method: Powerful potential as a formative assessment in the biomedical sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Cathcart, Laura Anne

This dissertation consists of two studies: 1) development and characterization of the Salient Map Analysis for Research and Teaching (SMART) method as a formative assessment tool and 2) a case study exploring how a paramedic instructor's beliefs about learners affect her utilization of the SMART method and vice versa. The first study explored: How can a novel concept map analysis method be designed as an effective formative assessment tool? The SMART method improves upon existing concept map analysis methods because it does not require hierarchically structured concept maps and it preserves the rich content of the maps instead of reducing each map down to a numerical score. The SMART method is performed by comparing a set of students' maps to each other and to an instructor's map. The resulting composite map depicts, in percentages and highlighted colors, the similarities and differences between all of the maps. Some advantages of the SMART method as a formative assessment tool include its ability to highlight changes across time, problematic or alternative conceptions, and patterns of student responses at a glance. Study two explored: How do a paramedic instructor's beliefs about students and learning affect---and become affected by---her use of the SMART method as a formative assessment tool? This case study of Angel, an expert paramedic instructor, begins to address a gap in the emergency medical services (EMS) education literature, which contains almost no research on teachers or pedagogy. Angel and I worked together as participant co-researchers (Heron & Reason, 1997) exploring the affordances of the SMART method. This study, based on those interactions with Angel, involved using open coding to identify themes (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) from Angel's views of students and use of the SMART method. Angel views learning as a sense-making process. She has a multi-faceted view of her students as novices and invests substantial time trying to understand their concept

Prehospital rapid sequence intubation improves functional outcome for patients with severe traumatic brain injury: a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernard, Stephen A; Nguyen, Vina; Cameron, Peter; Masci, Kevin; Fitzgerald, Mark; Cooper, David J; Walker, Tony; Std, B Paramed; Myles, Paul; Murray, Lynne; David; Taylor; Smith, Karen; Patrick, Ian; Edington, John; Bacon, Andrew; Rosenfeld, Jeffrey V; Judson, Rodney

2010-12-01

To determine whether paramedic rapid sequence intubation in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) improves neurologic outcomes at 6 months compared with intubation in the hospital. Severe TBI is associated with a high rate of mortality and long-term morbidity. Comatose patients with TBI routinely undergo endo-tracheal intubation to protect the airway, prevent hypoxia, and control ventilation. In many places, paramedics perform intubation prior to hospital arrival. However, it is unknown whether this approach improves outcomes. In a prospective, randomized, controlled trial, we assigned adults with severe TBI in an urban setting to either prehospital rapid sequence intubation by paramedics or transport to a hospital emergency department for intubation by physicians. The primary outcome measure was the median extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOSe) score at 6 months. Secondary end-points were favorable versus unfavorable outcome at 6 months, length of intensive care and hospital stay, and survival to hospital discharge. A total of 312 patients with severe TBI were randomly assigned to paramedic rapid sequence intubation or hospital intubation. The success rate for paramedic intubation was 97%. At 6 months, the median GOSe score was 5 (interquartile range, 1-6) in patients intubated by paramedics compared with 3 (interquartile range, 1-6) in the patients intubated at hospital (P = 0.28).The proportion of patients with favorable outcome (GOSe, 5-8) was 80 of 157 patients (51%) in the paramedic intubation group compared with 56 of 142 patients (39%) in the hospital intubation group (risk ratio, 1.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-1.64; P = 0.046). There were no differences in intensive care or hospital length of stay, or in survival to hospital discharge. In adults with severe TBI, prehospital rapid sequence intubation by paramedics increases the rate of favorable neurologic outcome at 6 months compared with intubation in the hospital.

Out-of-Hospital Surgical Airway Management: Does Scope of Practice Equal Actual Practice?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Molly Furin

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Pennsylvania, among other states, includes surgical airway management, or cricothyrotomy, within the paramedic scope of practice. However, there is scant literature that evaluates paramedic perception of clinical competency in cricothyrotomy. The goal of this project is to assess clinical exposure, education and self-perceived competency of ground paramedics in cricothyrotomy. Methods: Eighty-six paramedics employed by four ground emergency medical services agencies completed a 22-question written survey that assessed surgical airway attempts, training, skills verification, and perceptions about procedural competency. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate responses. Results: Only 20% (17/86, 95% CI [11-28%] of paramedics had attempted cricothyrotomy, most (13/17 or 76%, 95% CI [53-90%] of whom had greater than 10 years experience. Most subjects (63/86 or 73%, 95% CI [64-82%] did not reply that they are well-trained to perform cricothyrotomy and less than half (34/86 or 40%, 95% CI [30-50%] felt they could correctly perform cricothyrotomy on their first attempt. Among subjects with five or more years of experience, 39/70 (56%, 95% CI [44-68%] reported 0-1 hours per year of practical cricothyrotomy training within the last five years. Half of the subjects who were able to recall (40/80, 50% 95% CI [39-61%] reported having proficiency verification for cricothyrotomy within the past five years. Conclusion: Paramedics surveyed indicated that cricothyrotomy is rarely performed, even among those with years of experience. Many paramedics felt that their training in this area is inadequate and did not feel confident to perform the procedure. Further study to determine whether to modify paramedic scope of practice and/or to develop improved educational and testing methods is warranted.

Students at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences: Academic Year 2015-2016

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Khadijeh Jamshidi

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Academic satisfaction is considered one of the most important factors affecting academic achievement among students. The purpose of the present study was to determine the relationship between academic satisfaction and academic achievement among students at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in Iran. Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted with 346 student participants using stratified random sampling. The research instrument included the Student Academic Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Academic Performance Rating Scale, and student grade point average (GPA. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. A 0.05 significance level was used for statistical tests. Results: The mean score of academic satisfaction among students was 50.7 ± 9.8 and the academic satisfaction level was moderate in 46.2% of the students. Comparing the academic satisfaction level in different fields of study, students in health (58.5%, nursing (67.5%, and paramedics (51.1% reported a moderate satisfaction level and students in midwifery (84.2%, pharmacology (53.5%, medicine (69.3%, and dentistry (55.5% recorded a high satisfaction level (P < 0.05. There was also a significant and positive correlation between academic satisfaction and academic achievement (P = 0.001, r = 0.02. Conclusion: Academic satisfaction among the 46.2% students that reported a moderate level was far from the ideal level. The relationship between academic satisfaction and academic achievement also indicated that creating motivation among students and increasing their levels of satisfaction could provide the grounds for academic achievement among them as much as possible.

Total quality management (TQM) in diagnostic radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rehani, M.M.

1995-01-01

The branch of quality assurance is now taking a new direction towards total quality management (TQM). Being of industrial origin, the concepts and terminologies in TQM are alien to medical and paramedical professionals. However, the impetus it has already made in other areas of health sciences makes medical physicists left out when diagnostic radiology does not encompass TQM. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the terms used in TQM and some aspects of its application to diagnostic radiology. (author). 12 refs., 1 tab

Improving the coding and classification of ambulance data through the application of International Classification of Disease 10th revision.

Science.gov (United States)

Cantwell, Kate; Morgans, Amee; Smith, Karen; Livingston, Michael; Dietze, Paul

2014-02-01

This paper aims to examine whether an adaptation of the International Classification of Disease (ICD) coding system can be applied retrospectively to final paramedic assessment data in an ambulance dataset with a view to developing more fine-grained, clinically relevant case definitions than are available through point-of-call data. Over 1.2 million case records were extracted from the Ambulance Victoria data warehouse. Data fields included dispatch code, cause (CN) and final primary assessment (FPA). Each FPA was converted to an ICD-10-AM code using word matching or best fit. ICD-10-AM codes were then converted into Major Diagnostic Categories (MDC). CN was aligned with the ICD-10-AM codes for external cause of morbidity and mortality. The most accurate results were obtained when ICD-10-AM codes were assigned using information from both FPA and CN. Comparison of cases coded as unconscious at point-of-call with the associated paramedic assessment highlighted the extra clinical detail obtained when paramedic assessment data are used. Ambulance paramedic assessment data can be aligned with ICD-10-AM and MDC with relative ease, allowing retrospective coding of large datasets. Coding of ambulance data using ICD-10-AM allows for comparison of not only ambulance service users but also with other population groups. WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE TOPIC? There is no reliable and standard coding and categorising system for paramedic assessment data contained in ambulance service databases. WHAT DOES THIS PAPER ADD? This study demonstrates that ambulance paramedic assessment data can be aligned with ICD-10-AM and MDC with relative ease, allowing retrospective coding of large datasets. Representation of ambulance case types using ICD-10-AM-coded information obtained after paramedic assessment is more fine grained and clinically relevant than point-of-call data, which uses caller information before ambulance attendance. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTITIONERS? This paper describes

Psychologie en paramedische zorg: raakvlakken en mogelijkheden tot uitwisseling.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dekker, J.

1993-01-01

Research on health and behavior is mainly concerned with the interface between psychology and medicine. Although highly appropriate, research on psychology and paramedical care is extremely limited. The goal of the present paper is to describe the interface between psychology and paramedical care

Pengaruh Kompetensi Dan Kompensasi Terhadap Kepuasan Kerja Serta Implikasinya Pada Kinerja Paramedis Di Rumah Sakit Cibabat Kota Cimahi

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ester Manik

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This study aims to: 1. to seek the influence of competence, Compensation for Job Satisfaction in the Hospital Cibabat Cimahi; 2. to determine the influence of job satisfaction on performance within the Hospital Cibabat Cimahi.The research was conducted in the Hospital Cibabat Cimahi by sampling 158 paramedics. The method used is the descriptive analysis method by using path analysis (path analysis. And operation of calculations using SPSS Ver. 17.The results of this study are as follows: Effect on Performance Competence Paramedic total of 38.87%; Effect of total compensation to performance of 33.27% Paramedic; Effect of total competence and compensation on Job Satisfaction of 72.14%; Job Satisfaction and Influence total of 75.55% of the performance.The conclusion of this study is proven there is a significant effect of Competence, and Compensation for Job Satisfaction and Performance implications for paramedics in Hospital Cibabat Cimahi.

Does outsourcing paramedical departments of teaching hospitals affect educational status of the students?

Science.gov (United States)

Moslehi, Shandiz; Atefimanesh, Pezhman; Sarabi Asiabar, Ali; Ahmadzadeh, Nahal; Kafaeimehr, Mohamadhosein; Emamgholizadeh, Saeid

2016-01-01

There is an increasing trend of outsourcing public departments. Teaching hospitals also outsourced some of their departments to private sectors. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the educational status of students in public and outsourced departments of teaching hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences. This study was conducted in six teaching hospitals of Iran University of Medical Sciences, which had public and outsourced teaching departments in 2015. One hundred fifty students from the departments of radiology, physiotherapy and laboratory participated in this study and their perceptions about their educational status were assessed. A valid and reliable questionnaire was used; participation in the study was voluntary. Descriptive statistics such as mean (SD), t-test and Kolmogorov-Smirnov were used. No difference was detected between the educational status of students in public and outsourced departments of radiology, physiotherapy and laboratory (p>0.05). Based on the students' perception, the private sectors could maintain the educational level of the teaching departments similar to the public departments. It is recommended to involve all the stakeholders such as hospital administrators, academic staff and students in the decision- making process when changes in teaching environments are being considered.

Practice education learning environments: the mismatch between perceived and preferred expectations of undergraduate health science students.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Ted; Williams, Brett; McKenna, Lisa; Palermo, Claire; McCall, Louise; Roller, Louis; Hewitt, Lesley; Molloy, Liz; Baird, Marilyn; Aldabah, Ligal

2011-11-01

Practical hands-on learning opportunities are viewed as a vital component of the education of health science students, but there is a critical shortage of fieldwork placement experiences. It is therefore important that these clinical learning environments are well suited to students' perceptions and expectations. To investigate how undergraduate students enrolled in health-related education programs view their clinical learning environments and specifically to compare students' perception of their 'actual' clinical learning environment to that of their 'preferred/ideal' clinical learning environment. The Clinical Learning Environment Inventory (CLEI) was used to collect data from 548 undergraduate students (55% response rate) enrolled in all year levels of paramedics, midwifery, radiography and medical imaging, occupational therapy, pharmacy, nutrition and dietetics, physiotherapy and social work at Monash University via convenience sampling. Students were asked to rate their perception of the clinical learning environment at the completion of their placements using the CLEI. Satisfaction of the students enrolled in the health-related disciplines was closely linked with the five constructs measured by the CLEI: Personalization, Student Involvement, Task Orientation, Innovation, and Individualization. Significant differences were found between the student's perception of their 'actual' clinical learning environment and their 'ideal' clinical learning environment. The study highlights the importance of a supportive clinical learning environment that places emphasis on effective two-way communication. A thorough understanding of students' perceptions of their clinical learning environments is essential. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Information Science: Science or Social Science?

OpenAIRE

Sreeramana Aithal; Paul P.K.,; Bhuimali A.

2017-01-01

Collection, selection, processing, management, and dissemination of information are the main and ultimate role of Information Science and similar studies such as Information Studies, Information Management, Library Science, and Communication Science and so on. However, Information Science deals with some different characteristics than these subjects. Information Science is most interdisciplinary Science combines with so many knowledge clusters and domains. Information Science is a broad disci...

Verbal abuse and mobbing in pre-hospital care services in Chile.

Science.gov (United States)

Campo, Varinia Rodríguez; Klijn, Tatiana Paravic

2018-01-08

to determine the perception of verbal abuse and mobbing and the associated factors of paramedic technicians (nursing assistants) and professionals (nurses, midwives, kinesiologists) in the pre-hospital care areas of three regions in the south of Chile. descriptive and correlational study was performed within the professional community and a two-stage sample of the paramedic technician population in three regions. The questionnaire "workplace violence in the health sector" (spanish version) was applied after signing the informed consent. 51.4% of professionals and 46.6% of paramedic technicians consider they have been verbally abused during last year. 17.6% of paramedic technicians and 13.5% of professionals perceived mobbing. A low percentage of these events are reported. In only one case of mobbing, the aggressor was legally penalized. No significant differences were found between the job categories and the studied regions. A high percentage of participants in each group perceived verbal abuse and non-minor percentage perceived mobbing, but most of these events are not reported.

Does outsourcing paramedical departments of teaching hospitals affect educational status of the students?

Science.gov (United States)

Moslehi, Shandiz; Atefimanesh, Pezhman; Sarabi Asiabar, Ali; Ahmadzadeh, Nahal; Kafaeimehr, Mohamadhosein; Emamgholizadeh, Saeid

2016-01-01

Background: There is an increasing trend of outsourcing public departments. Teaching hospitals also outsourced some of their departments to private sectors. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the educational status of students in public and outsourced departments of teaching hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This study was conducted in six teaching hospitals of Iran University of Medical Sciences, which had public and outsourced teaching departments in 2015. One hundred fifty students from the departments of radiology, physiotherapy and laboratory participated in this study and their perceptions about their educational status were assessed. A valid and reliable questionnaire was used; participation in the study was voluntary. Descriptive statistics such as mean (SD), t-test and Kolmogorov-Smirnov were used. Results: No difference was detected between the educational status of students in public and outsourced departments of radiology, physiotherapy and laboratory (p>0.05). Conclusion: Based on the students’ perception, the private sectors could maintain the educational level of the teaching departments similar to the public departments. It is recommended to involve all the stakeholders such as hospital administrators, academic staff and students in the decision- making process when changes in teaching environments are being considered. PMID:27683645

Prehospital anaesthesia performed by physician/critical care paramedic teams in a major trauma network in the UK: a 12 month review of practice.

Science.gov (United States)

McQueen, Carl; Crombie, Nicholas; Hulme, Jonathan; Cormack, Stef; Hussain, Nageena; Ludwig, Frank; Wheaton, Steve

2015-01-01

In the West Midlands region of the UK, delivery of pre-hospital care has been remodelled through introduction of a 24 h Medical Emergency Response Incident Team (MERIT). Teams including physicians and critical care paramedics (CCP) are deployed to incidents on land-based and helicopter-based platforms. Clinical practice, including delivery of rapid sequence induction of anaesthesia (RSI), is underpinned by standard operating procedures (SOP). This study describes the first 12 months experience of prehospital RSI in the MERIT scheme in the West Midlands. Retrospective review of the MERIT clinical database for the 12 months following the launch of the scheme. Data was collected relating to the number of RSIs performed; indication for RSI; number of intubation attempts; grade of view on laryngoscopy and the base speciality/grade of the operator performing intubation. MERIT teams were activated 1619 times, attending scene in 1029 cases. RSI was performed 142 times (13.80% of scene attendances). There was one recorded case of failure to intubate requiring insertion of a supraglottic airway device (0.70%). In over a third of RSI cases, CCPs performed laryngoscopy and intubation (n=53, 37.32%). Proficiency of obtaining Grade I view at laryngoscopy was similar for physicians (74.70%) and CCPs (77.36%). Intubation was successful at the first attempt in over 90% of cases. This study demonstrates that operation within a system that provides high levels of exposure, underpinned by comprehensive and robust training and governance frameworks, promotes levels of performance in successful prehospital RSI regardless of base speciality or profession. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Developing a Sustainable Academic Workforce in Paramedicine

Science.gov (United States)

O'Meara, Peter; Maguire, Brian

2018-01-01

Paramedics are an integral part of the Australian healthcare system and are increasingly requested to provide a growing array of services in support of improved community health. Currently there are over 6,000 undergraduate paramedic students. A pressing challenge is the development and sustainability of a dedicated group of university paramedic…

Manager-employee interaction in ambulance services: an exploratory study of employee perspectives on management communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordby, Halvor

2015-01-01

Managers of ambulance stations face many communicative challenges in their interaction with employees working in prehospital first-line services. The article presents an exploratory study of how paramedics experience these challenges in communication with station leaders. On the basis of a dialogue perspective in qualitative method, 24 paramedics were interviewed in one-to-one and focus group settings. Naturalistic and phenomenological approaches were used to analyze the interviews. All the paramedics said that they wished to be more involved in decision processes and that station managers should provide better explanations of information "from above." The paramedics understood that it was difficult for the managers to find time for extensive dialogue, but many thought that the managers should give more priority to communication. The paramedics' views correspond to theoretical assumptions in human resource management. According to this model, employees should be involved in decision processes on management levels, as long as it is realistically possible to do so. Furthermore, expressing emotional support and positive attitudes does not take much time, and the study suggests that many ambulance managers should focus more on interpersonal relations to employees. It has been extensively documented that management communication affects organizational performance. The study indicates that managers of ambulance stations should be more aware of how their leadership style affects professional commitment and motivation in the first-line services.

Referral pathways for patients with TIA avoiding hospital admission: a scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Bridie Angela; Ali, Khalid; Bulger, Jenna; Ford, Gary A; Jones, Matthew; Moore, Chris; Porter, Alison; Pryce, Alan David; Quinn, Tom; Seagrove, Anne C; Snooks, Helen; Whitman, Shirley; Rees, Nigel

2017-02-14

To identify the features and effects of a pathway for emergency assessment and referral of patients with suspected transient ischaemic attack (TIA) in order to avoid admission to hospital. Scoping review. PubMed, CINAHL Web of Science, Scopus. Reports of primary research on referral of patients with suspected TIA directly to specialist outpatient services. We screened studies for eligibility and extracted data from relevant studies. Data were analysed to describe setting, assessment and referral processes, treatment, implementation and outcomes. 8 international studies were identified, mostly cohort designs. 4 pathways were used by family doctors and 3 pathways by emergency department physicians. No pathways used by paramedics were found. Referrals were made to specialist clinic either directly or via a 24-hour helpline. Practitioners identified TIA symptoms and risk of further events using a checklist including the ABCD2 tool or clinical assessment. Antiplatelet medication was often given, usually aspirin unless contraindicated. Some patients underwent tests before referral and discharge. 5 studies reported reduced incident of stroke at 90 days, from 6-10% predicted rate to 1.3-2.1% actual rate. Between 44% and 83% of suspected TIA cases in these studies were referred through the pathways. Research literature has focused on assessment and referral by family doctors and ED physicians to reduce hospitalisation of patients with TIA. No pathways for paramedical use were reported. We will use results of this scoping review to inform development of a paramedical referral pathway to be tested in a feasibility trial. ISRCTN85516498. Stage: pre-results. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Effect of socioemotional stress on the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation during advanced life support in a randomized manikin study.

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Bjørshol, Conrad Arnfinn; Myklebust, Helge; Nilsen, Kjetil Lønne; Hoff, Thomas; Bjørkli, Cato; Illguth, Eirik; Søreide, Eldar; Sunde, Kjetil

2011-02-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether socioemotional stress affects the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation during advanced life support in a simulated manikin model. A randomized crossover trial with advanced life support performed in two different conditions, with and without exposure to socioemotional stress. The study was conducted at the Stavanger Acute Medicine Foundation for Education and Research simulation center, Stavanger, Norway. Paramedic teams, each consisting of two paramedics and one assistant, employed at Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway. A total of 19 paramedic teams performed advanced life support twice in a randomized fashion, one control condition without socioemotional stress and one experimental condition with exposure to socioemotional stress. The socioemotional stress consisted of an upset friend of the simulated patient who was a physician, spoke a foreign language, was unfamiliar with current Norwegian resuscitation guidelines, supplied irrelevant clinical information, and repeatedly made doubts about the paramedics' resuscitation efforts. Aural distractions were supplied by television and cell telephone. The primary outcome was the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation: chest compression depth, chest compression rate, time without chest compressions (no-flow ratio), and ventilation rate after endotracheal intubation. As a secondary outcome, the socioemotional stress impact was evaluated through the paramedics' subjective workload, frustration, and feeling of realism. There were no significant differences in chest compression depth (39 vs. 38 mm, p = .214), compression rate (113 vs. 116 min⁻¹, p = .065), no-flow ratio (0.15 vs. 0.15, p = .618), or ventilation rate (8.2 vs. 7.7 min⁻¹, p = .120) between the two conditions. There was a significant increase in the subjective workload, frustration, and feeling of realism when the paramedics were exposed to socioemotional stress. In this advanced life

Assessment of Female Student’s Satisfaction with the Quality of Food And Environmental Health at Food Services in Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 2013

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Gholamreza Jahed Khaniki

2016-07-01

Full Text Available ensure students are satisfied with the quantity and quality of food as well as hygienic condition in the university’s food services. For this reason, the present study was conducted to investigate female student’s satisfaction with the quality of food and environmental health at food services in Tehran University of Medical Sciences. A number of one hundred of female students, studying at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, were randomly selected. All the selected students were proved to be customers of food services located in one the Medicine, Public Health, Pharmacy, paramedical Sciences, Dentistry, Rehabilitation and Nursing schools. A questioner was prepared as a tool for data collection and its validity and reliability was determined. Afterwards, data analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 23. Results showed that 22% of female students expressed their satisfaction with the quantity of food as “excellent” and 47% as “moderate”. 28% of students rated the food diversity as “moderate” ok”. Seven percent of students reported at least on a case of food poisoning caused by the consumption of food at the university. On average, the overwhelming majority of students expressed their satisfaction as “good” or “medium” with environmental health in at food services in the university, respectively. All the students were aware of the importance of the presence of insects and animals outside the food services and 95%of students reported the presence of insects like beetle, housefly and mosquito and animals like cats, outside the food services. It was concluded that the majority of female students were satisfied with the quantity of food and ranked the quality of food as “medium”. However, they reported some problems regarding hygienic condition inside and outside the dining services and personal health of staff and stated that more attention should be paid by responsible authorities of the university. The

Violence against ambulance personnel: a retrospective cohort study of national data from Safe Work Australia

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Brian J Maguire

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Objectives and importance: Paramedics have high rates of occupational injury and fatality. The objective of this study is to describe their specific risks of violence-related injury. Study type: This retrospective cohort study is an examination of retrospective data provided by Safe Work Australia (SWA. Methods: An examination of the 300 cases of serious claims of injury related to assaults, violence, harassment and bullying that occurred among individuals identified as ambulance officers and paramedics in Australia from 2001 to 2014. Paramedic risks likely vary by exposures such as hours worked and call volume. To examine how those exposures may influence risk, the available data were used to estimate rates based on hours worked and call volume. Results: The data show that, for serious injuries among paramedics in Australia between 2001 and 2014, the total number of violence-related cases increased from 5 to 40 per year; the number of cases of injury secondary to assault tripled from 10 to 30; and the rate of cases by call volume doubled from 6 to 12. The cost of these injuries was approximately AUD$250 000 for the year 2013–14. The median time at work lost per individual case of ‘work-related harassment and/or workplace bullying’ was 9.6 weeks. Although females comprised 32% of the paramedic workforce, they were the victims in 42% of cases of exposure to violence and 40% of harassment cases. Conclusions: Although anecdotal reports indicate that some interventions have been attempted, violence against paramedics continues to be a growing problem in Australia. The data presented in this study allow for a better understanding of the problem and can support efforts by ambulance service administrators, physicians, paramedics and university researchers to work together to develop and publish evidence based, cost-effective solutions to reduce the risk of workplace violence. Effective solutions will likely be multifaceted and include training

Regulation and registration as drivers of continuous professional competence for Irish pre-hospital practitioners: a discussion paper.

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Knox, S; Dunne, S S; Hughes, M; Cheeseman, S; Dunne, C P

2016-05-01

The regulatory body responsible for the registration of Irish pre-hospital practitioners, the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC), identified the need to implement a continuing professional competence (CPC) framework. The first cycle of CPC (focused on emergency medical technicians) commenced in November 2013 creating for the first time a formal relationship between continuing competence and registration to practice. To review current literature and to describe benefits and challenges relevant to CPC, regulation, registration and their respective contributions to professionalism of pre-hospital practitioners: advanced paramedics, paramedics and emergency medical technicians. Online search of cumulative index to nursing and allied health literature (CINAHL Plus with Full Text), Allied and Complementary Medicine (AMED) and 'Pubmed' databases using: 'Continuous Professional Development'; 'Continuous Professional Development'; 'emergency medical technician'; 'paramedic'; 'registration'; 'regulation'; and "profession' for relevant articles published since 2004. Additional policy documents, discussion papers, and guidance documents were identified from bibliographies of papers found. Reports, governmental policies for other healthcare professions, and professional developments internationally for allied professions (e.g., nursing, physiotherapy and medicine) link maintenance of competence with requirements for registration to practice. We suggest that evolving professionalisation of Irish paramedics should be affirmed through behaviours and competencies that incorporate adherence to professional codes of conduct, reflective practice, and commitment to continuing professional development. While the need for ambulance practitioner CPD was identified in Ireland almost a decade ago, PHECC now has the opportunity to introduce a model of CPD for paramedics linking competence and professionalism to annual registration.

Survey of keyword adjustment of published articles medical subject headings in journal of mazandaran university of medical sciences (2009-2010).

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Kabirzadeh, Azar; Siamian, Hasan; Abadi, Ebrahim Bagherian Farah; Saravi, Benyamin Mohseni

2013-01-01

NONE DECLARED. Keywords are the most important tools for Information retrieval. They are usually used for retrieval of articles based on contents of information reserved from printed and electronic resources. Retrieval of appropriate keywords from Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) can impact with exact, correctness and short time on information retrieval. Regarding the above mentioned matters, this study was done to compare the Latin keywords was in the articles published in the Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. This is a descriptive study. The data were extracted from the key words of Englsih abstracts of articles published in the years 2009-2010 in the Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences by census method. Checklist of data collection is designed, based on research objectives and literature review which has face validity. Compliance rate in this study was to determine if the keywords cited in this article as a full subject of the main subject headings in a MeSH (Bold and the selected word) is a perfect adjustment. If keywords were cited in the article but the main heading is not discussed in the following main topics to be discussed with reference to See and See related it has considered has partial adjustment. Out of 148 articles published in 12 issues in proposed time of studying, 72 research papers were analyzed. The average numbers of authors in each article were 4 ± 1. Results showed that most of specialty papers 42 (58. 4%), belonging to the (Department of Clinical Sciences) School of Medicine, 11 (15.3%) Basic Science, 6(8.4%) Pharmacy, Nursing and Midwifery 5(6.9%), 4(5.5%) Health, paramedical Sciences 3(4.2%), and non medical article 1(1.3%) school of medicine. In general, results showed that 80 (30%) of key words have been used to complete the adjustment. Also, only 1(1.4%) had complete adjustment with all the MeSH key words and in 8 articles(11.4%) key words of had no adjustment with MeSH. The results showed that only

Science and Science Fiction

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Oravetz, David

2005-01-01

This article is for teachers looking for new ways to motivate students, increase science comprehension, and understanding without using the old standard expository science textbook. This author suggests reading a science fiction novel in the science classroom as a way to engage students in learning. Using science fiction literature and language…

Welcome to the Irish Journal of Paramedicine

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Alan M Batt

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Welcome to the first issue of the Irish Journal of Paramedicine (IJP. It gives me great pleasure to launch this journal, a first for Irish paramedics, and pre-hospital care in Ireland. I am also honoured to announce that the IJP has been adopted as the official journal of the Irish College of Paramedics, the professional body for prehospital emergency care practitioners in Ireland.               A newly emerging profession, paramedicine is now poised at  a crossroads. Previously alluded to with  colleagues from around the globe, the role of the paramedic is one that is rapidly evolving, and yet paramedicine as a discipline has yet to figure out where it belongs.(1 Are we public safety professionals, first responders or healthcare professionals? Williams has previously stated that the road less travelled requires the paramedic profession to pursue identity as a healthcare profession and not as emergency responders, EMS workers, or ambulance drivers, which we are so commonly identified as.(2 Initiatives within Ireland such as the Centre for Prehospital Research national research agenda, the move to higher education for paramedics in University College Dublin and the University of Limerick, and the publication of high-quality peer-reviewed research, undertaken for paramedics, led by paramedics, and published in paramedicine journals are key components in this pursuit of professionalism. It is our hope that the Irish Journal of Paramedicine will play its part as a vehicle in this endeavour. It is important however to point out that the Irish Journal of Paramedicine is not exclusively for paramedics. Within Ireland, and around the world, there are many other prehospital care providers, including community responders, volunteer first responders, EMT practitioners, nurses, physicians and others who deliver high quality patient care and are as committed to their personal and professional development as any paramedic. This journal is for

Do Gender-Science Stereotypes Predict Science Identification and Science Career Aspirations among Undergraduate Science Majors?

Science.gov (United States)

Cundiff, Jessica L.; Vescio, Theresa K.; Loken, Eric; Lo, Lawrence

2013-01-01

The present research examined whether gender-science stereotypes were associated with science identification and, in turn, science career aspirations among women and men undergraduate science majors. More than 1,700 students enrolled in introductory science courses completed measures of gender-science stereotypes (implicit associations and…

The capabilities and scope-of-practice requirements of advanced life support practitioners undertaking critical care transfers: A Delphi study

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Monique Venter

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Background. Critical care transfers (CCT refer to the high level of care given during transport (via ambulance, helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft of patients who are of high acuity. In South Africa (SA, advanced life support (ALS paramedics undertake CCTs. The scope of ALS in SA has no extended protocol regarding procedures or medications in terms of dealing with these CCTs. Aim. The aim of this study was to obtain the opinions of several experts in fields pertaining to critical care and transport and to gain consensus on the skills and scope-of-practice requirements of paramedics undertaking CCTs in the SA setting. Methods. A modified Delphi study consisting of three rounds was undertaken using an online survey platform. A heterogeneous sample (n=7, consisting of specialists in the fields of anaesthesiology, emergency medicine, internal medicine, critical care, critical care transport and paediatrics, was asked to indicate whether, in their opinion, selected procedures and medications were needed within the scope of practice of paramedics undertaking CCTs. Results. After three rounds, consensus was obtained in 70% (57/81 of procedures and medications. Many of these items are not currently within the scope of paramedics’ training. The panel felt that paramedics undertaking these transfers should have additional postgraduate training that is specific to critical care. Conclusion. Major discrepancies exist between the current scope of paramedic practice and the suggested required scope of practice for CCTs. An extended scope of practice and additional training should be considered for these practitioners.

Science of science.

Science.gov (United States)

Fortunato, Santo; Bergstrom, Carl T; Börner, Katy; Evans, James A; Helbing, Dirk; Milojević, Staša; Petersen, Alexander M; Radicchi, Filippo; Sinatra, Roberta; Uzzi, Brian; Vespignani, Alessandro; Waltman, Ludo; Wang, Dashun; Barabási, Albert-László

2018-03-02

Identifying fundamental drivers of science and developing predictive models to capture its evolution are instrumental for the design of policies that can improve the scientific enterprise-for example, through enhanced career paths for scientists, better performance evaluation for organizations hosting research, discovery of novel effective funding vehicles, and even identification of promising regions along the scientific frontier. The science of science uses large-scale data on the production of science to search for universal and domain-specific patterns. Here, we review recent developments in this transdisciplinary field. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Science and data science.

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Blei, David M; Smyth, Padhraic

2017-08-07

Data science has attracted a lot of attention, promising to turn vast amounts of data into useful predictions and insights. In this article, we ask why scientists should care about data science. To answer, we discuss data science from three perspectives: statistical, computational, and human. Although each of the three is a critical component of data science, we argue that the effective combination of all three components is the essence of what data science is about.

Marketing aspect of paramedical

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Dugalić Sretenka L.

2003-01-01

Full Text Available That's how the primary medical and ecological reasons as the well being for humanity came out of the satisfaction of specific health needs. Through operationally of these outcomes it tried to prove the need and the intentions of the customers, and through methodologies and strategies which stand to our service. Further developing activity acted as a useful to the innovation of the product and vertical structure of marketing, through the change in the way of thinking of the medical and pharmaceutical profession. The paper is concepted so that the received material inserted to the content part, do the following: 1. Meaning, characteristics and developing possibilities of phytotherapy; 2. Dimensions of market in managing of phytotherapic assortment. By observing the final results, which were obtained through means of representative sources and other research of phytotherapic products, it can be expected that the same can be applicable to broader spectrum in practice with kind input to the marketing ideas. Models, presented here, is meant to be for innovative applications in the medical marketing concept, by the results of wide spending in the food service industry (domain of dietetics, at manufacture of food for children at the manufacture of 'medical cosmetics' and cosmetic-druggist assortments (products for hygiene, shampoos, soap, creams and bubbles for bath.

Primary Science Interview: Science Sparks

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Bianchi, Lynne

2016-01-01

In this "Primary Science" interview, Lynne Bianchi talks with Emma Vanstone about "Science Sparks," which is a website full of creative, fun, and exciting science activity ideas for children of primary-school age. "Science Sparks" started with the aim of inspiring more parents to do science at home with their…

Caring Science or Science of Caring.

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Turkel, Marian C; Watson, Jean; Giovannoni, Joseph

2018-01-01

The concepts caring science and science of caring have different meanings; however, they are often used interchangeably. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the synthesis of the scholarly literature on the definitions of the science of caring and caring science and to affirm the authors' perspective relating to the language of caring science. Caring science advances the epistemology and ontology of caring. Ideas related to caring science inquiry are presented, and the authors acknowledge the future of caring science as unitary caring science.

Exploring gender differences in perceptions of 3D telepresence collaboration technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maurin, Hanna; Sonnenwald, Diane H.; Cairns, Bruce

2006-01-01

Previous research on gender differences and collaboration technology illustrate the need to investigate gender issues as early as possible in the development cycle in order to avoid any negative consequences the technology may impose. Therefore we are investigating the potential of 3D telepresence....... The results show several gender differences that imply male paramedics may inherently receive more benefits from use of the 3D telepresence technology than female paramedics....

What's science? Where's science? Science journalism in German print media.

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Summ, Annika; Volpers, Anna-Maria

2016-10-01

This article examines the current state of science coverage in German print media. It deals with the following questions: (1) how the main characteristics of science journalism can be described, (2) whether there is a difference between various scientific fields, and (3) how different definitions of science journalism lead to differing findings. Two forms of science coverage were analyzed in a standardized, two-part content analysis of German newspapers (N = 1730 and N = 1640). The results show a significant difference between a narrow and a broad definition of science journalism. In the classic understanding, science journalism is prompted by scientific events and is rather noncritical. Science coverage in a broad sense is defined by a wider range of journalistic styles, driven by non-scientific events, and with a focus on the statements of scientific experts. Furthermore, the study describes the specific role of the humanities and social sciences in German science coverage. © The Author(s) 2015.

Science Fiction and Science Education.

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Cavanaugh, Terence

2002-01-01

Uses science fiction films such as "Jurassic Park" or "Anaconda" to teach science concepts while fostering student interest. Advocates science fiction as a teaching tool to improve learning and motivation. Describes how to use science fiction in the classroom with the sample activity Twister. (YDS)

Appraisal of work ability in relation to job-specific health requirements in ambulance workers

OpenAIRE

van Schaaijk, A.; Boschman, J. S.; Frings-Dresen, M. H. W.; Sluiter, J. K.

2016-01-01

Purpose To gain insight into which job-specific health requirements relate to work ability, the following two research questions were formulated: Which job-specific health requirements are associated with the appraisal of work ability in ambulance drivers and paramedics? How are appraisals of physical and mental work ability associated with the appraisal of overall work ability in ambulance drivers and paramedics? Method Workers Health Surveillance cross-sectional data of 506 ambulance worker...

Utility of Vital Signs, Heart-rate Variability and Complexity, and Machine Learning for Identifying the Need for Life-saving Interventions in Trauma Patients

Science.gov (United States)

2014-08-01

nurse /paramedic manually pressed a button on the WVSM data-capture-and-display interface. Because of this limitation, the study suffered from scarcity of...expertise, dedication, and professionalism of the emergency medical services paramedics, nurses , and staff in Houston who performed the patient care and... hemodynamic monitoring for combat casualties. Mil Med 171:813Y820, 2006. 6. Liu NT, Holcomb JB, Wade CE, Batchinsky AI, Cancio LC, Darrah MI, Salinas J

Exploring physical health perceptions, fatigue and stress among health care professionals

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Rice V

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Vanessa Rice,1 Nel Glass,2 KR Ogle,2 Nasrin Parsian21School of Exercise Science, 2School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaAbstract: Nurses, midwives, and paramedics are exposed to high degrees of job demand, which impacts health status and job satisfaction. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of health with a group of nurses, midwives and paramedics in Australia. Specifically, this paper reveals the findings related to the dataset on physical health. In this regard, the researchers sought to explore the relationship between physical health and job satisfaction, and the relationship between health status and stress levels. The study adopted a mixed methodology and used two methods for data collection: one-on-one interviews exploring the relationship between physical health and job satisfaction, and a survey questionnaire focusing on self-rated stress management. The individual interviews were conducted for further exploration of the participants' responses to the survey. There were 24 health care participants who were drawn from metropolitan and regional Australia. The findings revealed participants: had a desire to increase their physical activity levels; had different perspectives of physical health from those recommended by government guidelines; and viewed physical health as important to job satisfaction, yet related to stress and fatigue.Keywords: workforce, job satisfaction, health status

Preservice Science Teachers' Science Teaching Orientations and Beliefs about Science

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Kind, Vanessa

2016-01-01

This paper offers clarification of science teacher orientations as a potential component of pedagogical content knowledge. Science teaching orientations and beliefs about science held by 237 preservice science teachers were gathered via content-specific vignettes and questionnaire, respectively, prior to participation in a UK-based teacher…

Formative science and indicial science: epistemological proposal for information science

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Eliany Alvarenga de Araújo

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Epistemological reflections on the Information Science as scientific field that if structure in the context of modern science, in theoretical and methodological terms and technologies of the information in applied terms. Such configuration made possible the sprouting of this science; however we consider that the same one will not guarantee to this science the full development as field of consistent and modern knowledge. Modern Science, while scientific practical vision and meets depleted and the information technologies are only auto-regulated mechanisms that function according to principles of automatisms. To leave of these considerations we propols the concept of Formative Science (Bachelard, 1996 and the Indiciario Paradigm (1991 with epistemological basis for the Information Science. The concept of formative science if a base on the principles of tree states of the scientific spirit and the psychological condition of the scientific progress and the indiciario paradigm it considers the intuição (empirical and rational as methodological base to make it scientific.

Job stressors and job satisfaction in a major metropolitan public EMS service.

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Bowron, J S; Todd, K H

1999-01-01

Behavioral and social science research suggests that job satisfaction and job performance are positively correlated. It is important that EMS managers identify predictors of job satisfaction in order to maximize job performance among prehospital personnel. Identify job stressors that predict the level of job satisfaction among prehospital personnel. The study was conducted within a large, urban Emergency Medical Services (EMS) service performing approximately 60,000 Advanced Life Support (ALS) responses annually. Using focus groups and informal interviews, potential predictors of global job satisfaction were identified. These factors included: interactions with hospital nurses and physicians; on-line communications; dispatching; training provided by the ambulance service; relationship with supervisors and; standing orders as presently employed by the ambulance service. These factors were incorporated into a 21 item questionnaire including one item measuring global job satisfaction, 14 items measuring potential predictors of satisfaction, and seven questions exploring demographic information such as age, gender, race, years of experience, and years with the company. The survey was administered to all paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) Results of the survey were analyzed using univariate and multivariate techniques to identify predictors of global job satisfaction. Ninety paramedics and EMT participated in the study, a response rate of 57.3%. Job satisfaction was cited as extremely satisfying by 11%, very satisfying by 29%, satisfying by 45%, and not satisfying by 15% of respondents. On univariate analysis, only the quality of training, quality of physician interaction, and career choice were associated with global job satisfaction. On multivariate analysis, only career choice (p = 0.005) and quality of physician interaction (p = 0.05) were predictive of global job satisfaction. Quality of career choice and interactions with physicians are predictive

Everyday science & science every day: Science-related talk & activities across settings

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, Heather

To understand the development of science-related thinking, acting, and learning in middle childhood, I studied youth in schools, homes, and other neighborhood settings over a three-year period. The research goal was to analyze how multiple everyday experiences influence children's participation in science-related practices and their thinking about science and scientists. Ethnographic and interaction analysis methodologies were to study the cognition and social interactions of the children as they participated in activities with peers, family, and teachers (n=128). Interviews and participant self-documentation protocols elucidated the participants' understandings of science. An Everyday Expertise (Bell et al., 2006) theoretical framework was employed to study the development of science understandings on three analytical planes: individual learner, social groups, and societal/community resources. Findings came from a cross-case analysis of urban science learners and from two within-case analyses of girls' science-related practices as they transitioned from elementary to middle school. Results included: (1) children participated actively in science across settings---including in their homes as well as in schools, (2) children's interests in science were not always aligned to the school science content, pedagogy, or school structures for participation, yet children found ways to engage with science despite these differences through crafting multiple pathways into science, (3) urban parents were active supporters of STEM-related learning environments through brokering access to social and material resources, (4) the youth often found science in their daily activities that formal education did not make use of, and (5) children's involvement with science-related practices can be developed into design principles to reach youth in culturally relevant ways.

WikiScience: Wikipedia for science and technology

OpenAIRE

Aibar Puentes, Eduard

2015-01-01

Peer-reviewed Presentació de la conferència "WikiScience: Wikipedia for science and technology". Presentación de la conferencia "WikiScience: Wikipedia for science and technology". Presentation of the conference "Science Wiki: Wikipedia for science and technology".

Where civics meets science: building science for the public good through Civic Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Garlick, J A; Levine, P

2017-09-01

Public understanding of science and civic engagement on science issues that impact contemporary life matter more today than ever. From the Planned Parenthood controversy, to the Flint water crisis and the fluoridation debate, societal polarization about science issues has reached dramatic levels that present significant obstacles to public discussion and problem solving. This is happening, in part, because systems built to support science do not often reward open-minded thinking, inclusive dialogue, and moral responsibility regarding science issues. As a result, public faith in science continues to erode. This review explores how the field of Civic Science can impact public work on science issues by building new understanding of the practices, influences, and cultures of science. Civic Science is defined as a discipline that considers science practice and knowledge as resources for civic engagement, democratic action, and political change. This review considers how Civic Science informs the roles that key participants-scientists, public citizens and institutions of higher education-play in our national science dialogue. Civic Science aspires to teach civic capacities, to inform the responsibilities of scientists engaged in public science issues and to inspire an open-minded, inclusive dialogue where all voices are heard and shared commitments are acknowledged. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A research proposition for using high definition video in emergency medical services

OpenAIRE

Weerakkody, Vishanth; Molnar, Andreea; Irani, Zahir; El-Haddadeh, Ramzi

2013-01-01

In emergency situations, communication between the ambulance crew and an emergency department in the hospital can be crucial in determining the best decision for a patient's health. Currently, when an ambulance crew reports at an emergency, paramedics use voice communication from scene of emergency to the hospital. In critical life threatening situations, use of high quality visual images and live video streaming can allow paramedics on the scene of an emergency to take better informed decisi...

Portraying Real Science in Science Communication

Science.gov (United States)

van Dijk, Esther M.

2011-01-01

In both formal and informal settings, not only science but also views on the nature of science are communicated. Although there probably is no singular nature shared by all fields of science, in the field of science education it is commonly assumed that on a certain level of generality there is a consensus on many features of science. In this…

Development of new core competencies for Taiwanese Emergency Medical Technicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Yu-Tung; Tsai, Kuang-Chau; Williams, Brett

2018-01-01

Core competencies are considered the foundation for establishing Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and paramedic curricula, and for ensuring performance standards in the delivery of prehospital care. This study surveyed EMT instructors and medical directors to identify the most desirable core competencies for all levels of EMTs in Taiwan. A principal components analysis with Varimax rotation was conducted. An online questionnaire was distributed to obtain perspectives of EMT instructors and medical directors on the most desirable core competencies for EMTs. The target population was EMT training-course instructors and medical directors of fire departments in Taiwan. The questionnaire comprised 61 competency items, and multiple-choice and open-ended questions were used to obtain respondents' perspectives of the Taiwanese EMT training and education system. The results identified three factors at EMT-1 and EMT-2 levels and five factors at the EMT-Paramedic level. The factors for EMT-1 and EMT-2 were similar, and those for EMT-Paramedics identified further comprehensive competence perspectives. The key factors that appear to influence the development of the Taiwanese Emergency Medical Services (EMS) education system are the attitude of authorities, the licensure system, and legislation. The findings present new core competencies for the Taiwanese EMT system and provide capacity to redesign curricula and reconsider roles for EMT-1 and EMT-2 technicians. At the EMT-Paramedic level, the findings demonstrate the importance of incorporating competency standards in the current skills-based curriculum. Moreover, the core-competencies gap that exists between Taiwanese EMT-1s, EMT-2s, and EMT-Paramedics and internationally recognized core competencies needs to be addressed. By identifying the key factors that potentially impact the development of the EMS education system, such as the attitude of authorities, the licensure system, and legislation, these findings will inform

Science teaching in science education

Science.gov (United States)

Callahan, Brendan E.; Dopico, Eduardo

2016-06-01

Reading the interesting article Discerning selective traditions in science education by Per Sund , which is published in this issue of CSSE, allows us to open the discussion on procedures for teaching science today. Clearly there is overlap between the teaching of science and other areas of knowledge. However, we must constantly develop new methods to teach and differentiate between science education and teaching science in response to the changing needs of our students, and we must analyze what role teachers and teacher educators play in both. We must continually examine the methods and concepts involved in developing pedagogical content knowledge in science teachers. Otherwise, the possibility that these routines, based on subjective traditions, prevent emerging processes of educational innovation. Modern science is an enormous field of knowledge in its own right, which is made more expansive when examined within the context of its place in society. We propose the need to design educative interactions around situations that involve science and society. Science education must provide students with all four dimensions of the cognitive process: factual knowledge, conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and metacognitive knowledge. We can observe in classrooms at all levels of education that students understand the concepts better when they have the opportunity to apply the scientific knowledge in a personally relevant way. When students find value in practical exercises and they are provided opportunities to reinterpret their experiences, greater learning gains are achieved. In this sense, a key aspect of educational innovation is the change in teaching methodology. We need new tools to respond to new problems. A shift in teacher education is needed to realize the rewards of situating science questions in a societal context and opening classroom doors to active methodologies in science education to promote meaningful learning through meaningful teaching.

Secondary science teachers' attitudes toward and beliefs about science reading and science textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Yore, Larry D.

Science textbooks are dominant influences behind most secondary science instruction but little is known about teachers' approach to science reading. The purpose of this naturalistic study was to develop and validate a Science and Reading Questionnaire to assess secondary science teachers' attitudes toward science reading and their beliefs or informed opinions about science reading. A survey of 428 British Columbia secondary science teachers was conducted and 215 science teachers responded. Results on a 12-item Likert attitude scale indicated that teachers place high value on reading as an important strategy to promote learning in science and that they generally accept responsibility for teaching content reading skills to science students. Results on a 13-item Likert belief scale indicated that science teachers generally reject the text-driven model of reading, but they usually do not have well-formulated alternative models to guide their teaching practices. Teachers have intuitive beliefs about science reading that partially agree with many research findings, but their beliefs are fragmented and particularly sketchy in regard to the cognitive and metacognitive skills required by readers to learn from science texts. The findings for attitude, belief, and total scales were substantiated by further questions in the Science and Reading Questionnaire regarding classroom practice and by individual interviews and classroom observations of a 15-teacher subsample of the questionnaire respondents.

77 FR 55863 - NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Applied Sciences Advisory...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-11

... Committee; Earth Science Subcommittee; Applied Sciences Advisory Group Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics... the Applied Science Advisory Group. This Subcommittee reports to the Earth Science Subcommittee... following topics: --Applied Sciences Program Update --Earth Science Data Latency Study Preliminary Update...

Interfacial and Surface Science | Materials Science | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

Science group within the Material Science Center. He oversees research studies of surfaces and interfaces Interfacial and Surface Science Interfacial and Surface Science Image of irregular-outlined, light address a broad range of fundamental and applied issues in surface and interfacial science that are

Science Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Laboratory Delivering science and technology to protect our nation and promote world stability Science & ; Innovation Collaboration Careers Community Environment Science & Innovation Facilities Science Pillars Research Library Science Briefs Science News Science Highlights Lab Organizations Science Programs Applied

Science Olympiad students' nature of science understandings

Science.gov (United States)

Philpot, Cindy J.

2007-12-01

Recent reform efforts in science education focus on scientific literacy for all citizens. In order to be scientifically literate, an individual must have informed understandings of nature of science (NOS), scientific inquiry, and science content matter. This study specifically focused on Science Olympiad students' understanding of NOS as one piece of scientific literacy. Research consistently shows that science students do not have informed understandings of NOS (Abd-El-Khalick, 2002; Bell, Blair, Crawford, and Lederman, 2002; Kilcrease and Lucy, 2002; Schwartz, Lederman, and Thompson, 2001). However, McGhee-Brown, Martin, Monsaas and Stombler (2003) found that Science Olympiad students had in-depth understandings of science concepts, principles, processes, and techniques. Science Olympiad teams compete nationally and are found in rural, urban, and suburban schools. In an effort to learn from students who are generally considered high achieving students and who enjoy science, as opposed to the typical science student, the purpose of this study was to investigate Science Olympiad students' understandings of NOS and the experiences that formed their understandings. An interpretive, qualitative, case study method was used to address the research questions. The participants were purposefully and conveniently selected from the Science Olympiad team at a suburban high school. Data collection consisted of the Views of Nature of Science -- High School Questionnaire (VNOS-HS) (Schwartz, Lederman, & Thompson, 2001), semi-structured individual interviews, and a focus group. The main findings of this study were similar to much of the previous research in that the participants had informed understandings of the tentative nature of science and the role of inferences in science, but they did not have informed understandings of the role of human imagination and creativity, the empirical nature of science, or theories and laws. High level science classes and participation in

Applications of Nuclear Science for Stewardship Science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cizewski, Jolie A

2013-01-01

Stewardship science is research important to national security interests that include stockpile stewardship science, homeland security, nuclear forensics, and non-proliferation. To help address challenges in stewardship science and workforce development, the Stewardship Science Academic Alliances (SSAA) was inaugurated ten years ago by the National Nuclear Security Administration of the U. S. Department of Energy. The goal was to enhance connections between NNSA laboratories and the activities of university scientists and their students in research areas important to NNSA, including low-energy nuclear science. This paper presents an overview of recent research in low-energy nuclear science supported by the Stewardship Science Academic Alliances and the applications of this research to stewardship science.

Fascinating! Popular Science Communication and Literary Science Fiction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meyer, Gitte

2017-01-01

Some see literary Science Fiction as a possible vehicle for critical discussions about the future development and the ethical implications of science-based technologies. According to that understanding, literary Science Fiction constitutes a variety of science communication. Along related lines, ......, popular science communication with science fiction features might be expected to serve a similar purpose. Only, it is far from obvious that it actually works that way.......Some see literary Science Fiction as a possible vehicle for critical discussions about the future development and the ethical implications of science-based technologies. According to that understanding, literary Science Fiction constitutes a variety of science communication. Along related lines...

Exploring science through science fiction

CERN Document Server

Luokkala, Barry B

2014-01-01

How does Einstein’s description of space and time compare with Dr. Who? Can James Bond really escape from an armor-plated railroad car by cutting through the floor with a laser concealed in a wristwatch? What would it take to create a fully-intelligent android, such as Star Trek’s Commander Data? How might we discover intelligent civilizations on other planets in the galaxy? Is human teleportation possible? Will our technological society ever reach the point at which it becomes lawful to discriminate on the basis of genetic information, as in the movie GATTACA? Exploring Science Through Science Fiction addresses these and other interesting questions, using science fiction as a springboard for discussing fundamental science concepts and cutting-edge science research. The book is designed as a primary text for a college-level course which should appeal to students in the fine arts and humanities as well as to science and engineering students. It includes references to original research papers, landmark scie...

Science Song Project: Integration of Science, Technology and Music to Learn Science and Process Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiyoon Yoon

2017-07-01

Full Text Available It has been critical to find a way for teachers to motivate their young children to learn science and improve science achievement. Since music has been used as a tool for educating young students, this study introduces the science song project to teacher candidates that contains science facts, concepts, laws and theories, and combines them with music for motivating their young children to learn science and improve science achievement. The purpose of the study is to determine the effect of the science song project on teacher candidates’ understanding of science processing skills and their attitudes toward science. The participants were 45 science teacher candidates who were enrolled in an EC-6 (Early Childhood through Grade 6 program in the teacher certification program at a racially diverse Texas public research university. To collect data, this study used two instruments: pre-and post-self efficacy tests before and after the science teacher candidates experienced the science song project and final reflective essay at the end of the semester. The results show that while developing their songs, the participating teacher candidates experienced a process for science practice, understood science concepts and facts, and positively improved attitudes toward science. This study suggests that the science song project is a science instruction offering rich experiences of process-based learning and positive attitudes toward science.

The Double Helix: Why Science Needs Science Fiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Andreadis, Athena

2003-01-01

Discusses why science needs science fiction, commenting on the author's book about science that draws heavily on the "Star Trek" series. The best science, in spite of popular thinking, comes from leaps of intuition, and science fiction provides a creative spark that encourages participation in science. (SLD)

Science Teaching in Science Education

Science.gov (United States)

Callahan, Brendan E.; Dopico, Eduardo

2016-01-01

Reading the interesting article "Discerning selective traditions in science education" by Per Sund, which is published in this issue of "CSSE," allows us to open the discussion on procedures for teaching science today. Clearly there is overlap between the teaching of science and other areas of knowledge. However, we must…

How to Motivate Science Teachers to Use Science Experiments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josef Trna

2012-10-01

Full Text Available A science experiment is the core tool in science education. This study describes the science teachers' professional competence to implement science experiments in teaching/learning science. The main objective is the motivation of science teachers to use science experiments. The presented research tries to answer questions aimed at the science teachers' skills to use science experiments in teaching/learning science. The research discovered the following facts: science teachers do not include science experiments in teaching/learning in a suitable way; are not able to choose science experiments corresponding to the teaching phase; prefer teachers' demonstration of science experiments; are not able to improvise with the aids; use only a few experiments. The important research result is that an important motivational tool for science teachers is the creation of simple experiments. Examples of motivational simple experiments used into teachers' training for increasing their own creativity and motivation are presented.

Management of science policy, sociology of science policy and economics of science policy

CERN Document Server

Ruivo, Beatriz

2017-01-01

'Management of science policy, sociology of science policy and economics of science policy' is a theoretical essay on the scientific foundation of science policy (formulation, implementation, instruments and procedures). It can be also used as a textbook.

Is normal science good science?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrianna Kępińska

2015-09-01

Full Text Available “Normal science” is a concept introduced by Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962. In Kuhn’s view, normal science means “puzzle solving”, solving problems within the paradigm—framework most successful in solving current major scientific problems—rather than producing major novelties. This paper examines Kuhnian and Popperian accounts of normal science and their criticisms to assess if normal science is good. The advantage of normal science according to Kuhn was “psychological”: subjective satisfaction from successful “puzzle solving”. Popper argues for an “intellectual” science, one that consistently refutes conjectures (hypotheses and offers new ideas rather than focus on personal advantages. His account is criticized as too impersonal and idealistic. Feyerabend’s perspective seems more balanced; he argues for a community that would introduce new ideas, defend old ones, and enable scientists to develop in line with their subjective preferences. The paper concludes that normal science has no one clear-cut set of criteria encompassing its meaning and enabling clear assessment.

75 FR 10845 - Subcommittee on Forensic Science; Committee on Science; National Science and Technology Council

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-09

... OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY Subcommittee on Forensic Science; Committee on Science... participants. SUMMARY: The Subcommittee on Forensic Science of the National Science and Technology Council's... . Kenneth E. Melson, Co-Chair, Subcommittee on Forensic Science. [FR Doc. 2010-4899 Filed 3-8-10; 8:45 am...

Science in Science Fiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Allday, Jonathan

2003-01-01

Offers some suggestions as to how science fiction, especially television science fiction programs such as "Star Trek" and "Star Wars", can be drawn into physics lessons to illuminate some interesting issues. (Author/KHR)

Hollywood Science: Good for Hollywood, Bad for Science?

Science.gov (United States)

Perkowitz, Sidney

2009-03-01

Like it or not, most science depicted in feature films is in the form of science fiction. This isn't likely to change any time soon, if only because science fiction films are huge moneymakers for Hollywood. But beyond that, these films are a powerful cultural force. They reach millions as they depict scientific ideas from DNA and cloning to space science, whether correctly or incorrectly; reflect contemporary issues of science and society like climate change, nuclear power and biowarfare; inspire young people to become scientists; and provide defining images -- or stereotypes -- of scientists for the majority of people who've never met a real one. Certainly, most scientists feel that screen depictions of science and scientists are badly distorted. Many are, but not always. In this talk, based on my book Hollywood Science [1], I'll show examples of good and bad screen treatments of science, scientists, and their impact on society. I'll also discuss efforts to improve how science is treated in film and ways to use even bad movie science to convey real science. [4pt] [1] Sidney Perkowitz, Hollywood Science: Movies, Science, and the End of the World (Columbia University Press, New York, 2007). ISBN: 978-0231142809

Communicating Science

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Nicholas

2009-10-01

Introduction: what this book is about and why you might want to read it; Prologue: three orphans share a common paternity: professional science communication, popular journalism, and literary fiction are not as separate as they seem; Part I. Professional Science Communication: 1. Spreading the word: the endless struggle to publish professional science; 2. Walk like an Egyptian: the alien feeling of professional science writing; 3. The future's bright? Professional science communication in the age of the internet; 4. Counting the horse's teeth: professional standards in science's barter economy; 5. Separating the wheat from the chaff: peer review on trial; Part II. Science for the Public: What Science Do People Need and How Might They Get It?: 6. The Public Understanding of Science (PUS) movement and its problems; 7. Public engagement with science and technology (PEST): fine principle, difficult practice; 8. Citizen scientists? Democratic input into science policy; 9. Teaching and learning science in schools: implications for popular science communication; Part III. Popular Science Communication: The Press and Broadcasting: 10. What every scientist should know about mass media; 11. What every scientist should know about journalists; 12. The influence of new media; 13. How the media represents science; 14. How should science journalists behave?; Part IV. The Origins of Science in Cultural Context: Five Historic Dramas: 15. A terrible storm in Wittenberg: natural knowledge through sorcery and evil; 16. A terrible storm in the Mediterranean: controlling nature with white magic and religion; 17. Thieving magpies: the subtle art of false projecting; 18. Foolish virtuosi: natural philosophy emerges as a distinct discipline but many cannot take it seriously; 19. Is scientific knowledge 'true' or should it just be 'truthfully' deployed?; Part V. Science in Literature: 20. Science and the Gothic: the three big nineteenth-century monster stories; 21. Science fiction: serious

Does science education need the history of science?

Science.gov (United States)

Gooday, Graeme; Lynch, John M; Wilson, Kenneth G; Barsky, Constance K

2008-06-01

This essay argues that science education can gain from close engagement with the history of science both in the training of prospective vocational scientists and in educating the broader public about the nature of science. First it shows how historicizing science in the classroom can improve the pedagogical experience of science students and might even help them turn into more effective professional practitioners of science. Then it examines how historians of science can support the scientific education of the general public at a time when debates over "intelligent design" are raising major questions over the kind of science that ought to be available to children in their school curricula. It concludes by considering further work that might be undertaken to show how history of science could be of more general educational interest and utility, well beyond the closed academic domains in which historians of science typically operate.

Communicating knowledge in science, science journalism and art

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Kristian Hvidtfelt

Richter. The specialized knowledge about the image is communicated in three very different contexts with three very different outcomes. The paper uses Niklas Luhmann's system theory to describe science, science journalism, and art as autonomous social subsystems of communication. Also, Luhmann's notions...... of irritation and interference are employed to frame an interpretation of the complex relations between communicating knowledge about the image in science, science journalism, and art. Even though the functional differentiation between the communication systems of science, science journalism, and art remains...... that Richter's Erster Blick ends up questioning the epistemological and ontological grounds for communication of knowledge in science and in science journalism....

Science or Science Fiction?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lefsrud, Lianne M.; Meyer, Renate

2012-01-01

This paper examines the framings and identity work associated with professionals’ discursive construction of climate change science, their legitimation of themselves as experts on ‘the truth’, and their attitudes towards regulatory measures. Drawing from survey responses of 1077 professional......, legitimation strategies, and use of emotionality and metaphor. By linking notions of the science or science fiction of climate change to the assessment of the adequacy of global and local policies and of potential organizational responses, we contribute to the understanding of ‘defensive institutional work...

Computational Materials Science | Materials Science | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

Computational Materials Science Computational Materials Science An image of interconnecting, sphere science capabilities span many research fields and interests. Electronic, Optical, and Transport Properties of Photovoltaic Materials Material properties and defect physics of Si, CdTe, III-V, CIGS, CZTS

Recruiting Science Majors into Secondary Science Teaching: Paid Internships in Informal Science Settings

Science.gov (United States)

Worsham, Heather M.; Friedrichsen, Patricia; Soucie, Marilyn; Barnett, Ellen; Akiba, Motoko

2014-01-01

Despite the importance of recruiting highly qualified individuals into the science teaching profession, little is known about the effectiveness of particular recruitment strategies. Over 3 years, 34 college science majors and undecided students were recruited into paid internships in informal science settings to consider secondary science teaching…

Cognitive science contributions to decision science.

Science.gov (United States)

Busemeyer, Jerome R

2015-02-01

This article briefly reviews the history and interplay between decision theory, behavioral decision-making research, and cognitive psychology. The review reveals the increasingly important impact that psychology and cognitive science have on decision science. One of the main contributions of cognitive science to decision science is the development of dynamic models that describe the cognitive processes that underlay the evolution of preferences during deliberation phase of making a decision. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The sciences of science communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischhoff, Baruch

2013-08-20

The May 2012 Sackler Colloquium on "The Science of Science Communication" brought together scientists with research to communicate and scientists whose research could facilitate that communication. The latter include decision scientists who can identify the scientific results that an audience needs to know, from among all of the scientific results that it would be nice to know; behavioral scientists who can design ways to convey those results and then evaluate the success of those attempts; and social scientists who can create the channels needed for trustworthy communications. This overview offers an introduction to these communication sciences and their roles in science-based communication programs.

75 FR 4882 - Subcommittee on Forensic Science; Committee on Science; National Science and Technology Council

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-29

... OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY Subcommittee on Forensic Science; Committee on Science; National Science and Technology Council ACTION: Notice of Panel Session. Public input is requested concerning appropriate Federal Executive Branch responses to the National Academy of Sciences 2009 report...

Constructing a philosophy of science of cognitive science.

Science.gov (United States)

Bechtel, William

2009-07-01

Philosophy of science is positioned to make distinctive contributions to cognitive science by providing perspective on its conceptual foundations and by advancing normative recommendations. The philosophy of science I embrace is naturalistic in that it is grounded in the study of actual science. Focusing on explanation, I describe the recent development of a mechanistic philosophy of science from which I draw three normative consequences for cognitive science. First, insofar as cognitive mechanisms are information-processing mechanisms, cognitive science needs an account of how the representations invoked in cognitive mechanisms carry information about contents, and I suggest that control theory offers the needed perspective on the relation of representations to contents. Second, I argue that cognitive science requires, but is still in search of, a catalog of cognitive operations that researchers can draw upon in explaining cognitive mechanisms. Last, I provide a new perspective on the relation of cognitive science to brain sciences, one which embraces both reductive research on neural components that figure in cognitive mechanisms and a concern with recomposing higher-level mechanisms from their components and situating them in their environments. Copyright © 2009 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

1st Hands-on Science Science Fair

OpenAIRE

Costa, Manuel F. M.; Esteves. Z.

2017-01-01

In school learning of science through investigative hands-on experiments is in the core of the Hands-on Science Network vision. However informal and non-formal contexts may also provide valuable paths for implementing this strategy aiming a better e!ective science education. In May 2011, a "rst country wide “Hands-on Science’ Science Fair” was organized in Portugal with the participation of 131 students that presented 38 projects in all "elds of Science. In this communication we will pr...

Informal science education at Science City

Science.gov (United States)

French, April Nicole

The presentation of chemistry within informal learning environments, specifically science museums and science centers is very sparse. This work examines learning in Kansas City's Science City's Astronaut Training Center in order to identify specific behaviors associated with visitors' perception of learning and their attitudes toward space and science to develop an effective chemistry exhibit. Grounded in social-constructivism and the Contextual Model of Learning, this work approaches learning in informal environments as resulting from social interactions constructed over time from interaction between visitors. Visitors to the Astronaut Training Center were surveyed both during their visit and a year after the visit to establish their perceptions of behavior within the exhibit and attitudes toward space and science. Observations of visitor behavior and a survey of the Science City staff were used to corroborate visitor responses. Eighty-six percent of visitors to Science City indicated they had learned from their experiences in the Astronaut Training Center. No correlation was found between this perception of learning and visitor's interactions with exhibit stations. Visitor attitudes were generally positive toward learning in informal settings and space science as it was presented in the exhibit. Visitors also felt positively toward using video game technology as learning tools. This opens opportunities to developing chemistry exhibits using video technology to lessen the waste stream produced by a full scale chemistry exhibit.

76 FR 6163 - Subcommittee on Forensic Science; Committee on Science; National Science and Technology Council

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-03

... Branch responses to the AFIS interoperability issues identified in the National Academy of Sciences 2009... OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY Subcommittee on Forensic Science; Committee on Science; National Science and Technology Council ACTION: Notice of meeting. Public input is requested concerning...

Communicative Management in Ambulatory Services: Prehospital Management Communication--Limits and Possibilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordby, Halvor

2015-01-01

Poor management communication in healthcare services affects employees' motivation, commitment, and, in the final instance, organizational performance and the quality of patient care. In any area of health management, good communication is, therefore, key to successful management. This article discusses how managers of ambulance stations should secure communication with their paramedic crews. The first part uses ethical concepts to analyze communicative disagreement in interactive dialogue between managers and paramedics. The second part outlines basic communication principles that can serve as conceptual tools for avoiding misinterpretation in prehospital manager-employee interaction.

Motivational Aspects Of New Payment System In Public Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S.N. Cherkasov

2009-12-01

Full Text Available In connection with the change of tariffication net of payment for medical personnel, i.e. paramedical and junior medical staff, the minimum income has been increased. Data received from questionnaires of paramedical and junior medical staff have revealed the fact that with time working enthusiasm decreases and tendency to material welfare increases. While young specialists are intended to find out more prestigious and well-paid place of work. The main task of managers is to provide optimal labour conditions and motivational background for high-quality and effective work of medical staff

Ethical considerations in embedding a surgeon in a military or civilian tactical team.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Lewis J; Siegel, Mark D; Eastman, Alexander L; Flynn, Lisa M; Rosenbaum, Stanley H; Cone, David C; Blake, David P; Mulhern, Jonathan

2012-12-01

Tactical emergency medical services (TEMS) bring immediate medical support to the inner perimeter of special weapons and tactics team activations. While initially envisioned as a role for an individual dually trained as a police officer and paramedic, TEMS is increasingly undertaken by physicians and paramedics who are not police officers. This report explores the ethical underpinnings of embedding a surgeon within a military or civilian tactical team with regard to identity, ethically acceptable actions, triage, responsibility set, training, certification, and potential future refinements of the role of the tactical police surgeon.

The Science of Science Communication and Protecting the Science Communication Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Kahan, D.

2012-12-01

Promoting public comprehension of science is only one aim of the science of science communication and is likely not the most important one for the well-being of a democratic society. Ordinary citizens form quadrillions of correct beliefs on matters that turn on complicated scientific principles they cannot even identify much less understand. The reason they fail to converge on beliefs consistent with scientific evidence on certain other consequential matters—from climate change to genetically modified foods to compusory adolescent HPV vaccination—is not the failure of scientists or science communicators to speak clearly or the inability of ordinary citizens to understand what they are saying. Rather, the source of such conflict is the proliferation of antagonistic cultural meanings. When they become attached to particular facts that admit of scientific investigation, these meanings are a kind of pollution of the science communication environment that disables the faculties ordinary citizens use to reliably absorb collective knowledge from their everyday interactions. The quality of the science communication environment is thus just as critical for enlightened self-government as the quality of the natural environment is for the physical health and well-being of a society's members. Understanding how this science communication environment works, fashioning procedures to prevent it from becoming contaminated with antagonistic meanings, and formulating effective interventions to detoxify it when protective strategies fail—those are the most critical functions science communication can perform in a democratic society.

Science Smiles

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education. Science Smiles. Articles in Resonance – Journal of Science Education. Volume 1 Issue 4 April 1996 pp 4-4 Science Smiles. Chief Editor's column / Science Smiles · R K Laxman · More Details Fulltext PDF. Volume 1 Issue 5 May 1996 pp 3-3 Science Smiles.

A study of science leadership and science standards in exemplary standards-based science programs

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, Wendy Renae

The purpose for conducting this qualitative study was to explore best practices of exemplary standards-based science programs and instructional leadership practices in a charter high school and in a traditional high school. The focus of this study included how twelve participants aligned practices to National Science Education Standards to describe their science programs and science instructional practices. This study used a multi-site case study qualitative design. Data were obtained through a review of literature, interviews, observations, review of educational documents, and researcher's notes collected in a field log. The methodology used was a multi-site case study because of the potential, through cross analysis, for providing greater explanation of the findings in the study (Merriam, 1988). This study discovered six characteristics about the two high school's science programs that enhance the literature found in the National Science Education Standards; (a) Culture of expectations for learning-In exemplary science programs teachers are familiar with a wide range of curricula. They have the ability to examine critically and select activities to use with their students to promote the understanding of science; (b) Culture of varied experiences-In exemplary science programs students are provided different paths to learning, which help students, take in information and make sense of concepts and skills that are set forth by the standards; (c) Culture of continuous feedback-In exemplary science programs teachers and students work together to engage students in ongoing assessments of their work and that of others as prescribed in the standards; (d) Culture of Observations-In exemplary science programs students, teachers, and principals reflect on classroom instructional practices; teachers receive ongoing evaluations about their teaching and apply feedback towards improving practices as outlined in the standards; (e) Culture of continuous learning-In exemplary

Science for Diplomacy, Diplomacy for Science

Science.gov (United States)

Colglazier, E. Wiliam

2015-04-01

I was a strong proponent of ``science diplomacy'' when I became Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State in 2011. I thought I knew a lot about the subject after being engaged for four decades on international S&T policy issues and having had distinguished scientists as mentors who spent much of their time using science as a tool for building better relations between countries and working to make the world more peaceful, prosperous, and secure. I learned a lot from my three years inside the State Department, including great appreciation and respect for the real diplomats who work to defuse conflicts and avoid wars. But I also learned a lot about science diplomacy, both using science to advance diplomacy and diplomacy to advance science. My talk will focus on the five big things that I learned, and from that the one thing where I am focusing my energies to try to make a difference now that I am a private citizen again.

Probe into geo-information science and information science in nuclear and geography science in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang Bin

2001-01-01

In the past ten years a new science-Geo-Information Science, a branch of Geoscience, developed very fast, which has been valued and paid much attention to. Based on information science, the author analyzes the flow of material, energy, people and information and their relations, presents the place of Geo-Information Science in Geo-science and its content from Geo-Informatics, Geo-Information technology and the application of itself. Finally, the author discusses the main content and problem existed in Geo-Information Science involved in Nuclear and Geography Science

Archives: Afrique Science: Revue Internationale des Sciences et ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Items 1 - 31 of 31 ... Archives: Afrique Science: Revue Internationale des Sciences et Technologie. Journal Home > Archives: Afrique Science: Revue Internationale des Sciences et Technologie. Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads.

Pure Science and Applied Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert J. Aumann

2011-01-01

Full Text Available (Excerpt The name of my talk is Pure Science and Applied Science, and the idea I would like to sell to you today is that there is no such thing as “pure” or “applied” science. In other words, there is such a thing as science, but there is no difference between pure and applied science. Science is one entity and cannot be separated into different categories. In order to back that up, I would like to tell you a little story. As an undergraduate, I studied mathematics at City College in New York. At that time, what was called Pure Mathematics was in vogue, and the more prominent mathematicians were a little contemptuous of any kind of application. A very famous, prominent mathematician in the first half of the previous century by the name of G. H. Hardy, who was in a branch of mathematics called number theory, said that the only thing he regretted was that he unwittingly did some important work in mathematical genetics that eventually turned out to have some application. … Such was the atmosphere in the late ’40s of the previous century and, being a young man and impressionable, I was swept up in this atmosphere.

Science Process Skills in Science Curricula Applied in Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Yumusak, Güngör Keskinkiliç

2016-01-01

One of the most important objectives of the science curricula is to bring in science process skills. The science process skills are skills that lie under scientific thinking and decision-making. Thus it is important for a science curricula to be rationalized in such a way that it brings in science process skills. New science curricula were…

International production on science oriented towards data: analysis of the terms data science and e-science in scopus and the web of science

OpenAIRE

Leilah Santiago Bufrem; Fábio Mascarenhas e Silva; Natanael Vitor Sobral; Anna Elizabeth Galvão Coutinho Correia

2016-01-01

Introduction: current configuration in the dynamics of production and scientific communication reveals the role of Science Oriented Towards Data, a comprehensive conception represented, mainly, by terms such as "e-Science" and "Data Science". Objective: To present the global scientific production on Science Oriented Towards Data by using the terms "e-Science" and "Data Science" in Scopus and the Web of Science during 2006-2016. Methodology: The study is divided into five phases: a) sear...

Physical Sciences 2007 Science & Technology Highlights

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hazi, A U

2008-04-07

The Physical Sciences Directorate applies frontier physics and technology to grand challenges in national security. Our highly integrated and multidisciplinary research program involves collaborations throughout Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Energy, and with academic and industrial partners. The Directorate has a budget of approximately $150 million, and a staff of approximately 350 employees. Our scientists provide expertise in condensed matter and high-pressure physics, plasma physics, high-energy-density science, fusion energy science and technology, nuclear and particle physics, accelerator physics, radiation detection, optical science, biotechnology, and astrophysics. This document highlights the outstanding research and development activities in the Physical Sciences Directorate that made news in 2007. It also summarizes the awards and recognition received by members of the Directorate in 2007.

How In-Service Science Teachers Integrate History and Nature of Science in Elementary Science Courses

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Hacieminoglu, Esme

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the in-service science teachers' (IST) perceptions and practices about curriculum and integration of the history of science (HOS) and the nature of science (NOS) affect their science courses. For this aim, how ISTs integrated the NOS and HOS in their elementary science courses for understanding of…

Data-driven predictions in the science of science.

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Clauset, Aaron; Larremore, Daniel B; Sinatra, Roberta

2017-02-03

The desire to predict discoveries-to have some idea, in advance, of what will be discovered, by whom, when, and where-pervades nearly all aspects of modern science, from individual scientists to publishers, from funding agencies to hiring committees. In this Essay, we survey the emerging and interdisciplinary field of the "science of science" and what it teaches us about the predictability of scientific discovery. We then discuss future opportunities for improving predictions derived from the science of science and its potential impact, positive and negative, on the scientific community. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Can citizen science enhance public understanding of science?

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Bonney, Rick; Phillips, Tina B; Ballard, Heidi L; Enck, Jody W

2016-01-01

Over the past 20 years, thousands of citizen science projects engaging millions of participants in collecting and/or processing data have sprung up around the world. Here we review documented outcomes from four categories of citizen science projects which are defined by the nature of the activities in which their participants engage - Data Collection, Data Processing, Curriculum-based, and Community Science. We find strong evidence that scientific outcomes of citizen science are well documented, particularly for Data Collection and Data Processing projects. We find limited but growing evidence that citizen science projects achieve participant gains in knowledge about science knowledge and process, increase public awareness of the diversity of scientific research, and provide deeper meaning to participants' hobbies. We also find some evidence that citizen science can contribute positively to social well-being by influencing the questions that are being addressed and by giving people a voice in local environmental decision making. While not all citizen science projects are intended to achieve a greater degree of public understanding of science, social change, or improved science -society relationships, those projects that do require effort and resources in four main categories: (1) project design, (2) outcomes measurement, (3) engagement of new audiences, and (4) new directions for research. © The Author(s) 2015.

Islam and Science

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Salam, Abdus

The following sections are included: * The Holy Quran and Science * Modem Science, A Greco- Islamic Legacy * The Decline of Sciences in Islam * The Limitations of Science * Faith and Science * The Present Picture of Sciences in the Islamic Countries * Renaissance of Sciences in Islam * Steps Needed for Building up Sciences in the Islamic Countries * Science Education * Science Foundations in Islam * Technology in Our Countries * Concluding Remarks * REFERENCES

Citizen Science: Opportunities for Girls' Development of Science Identity

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Brien, Sinead Carroll

Many students in the United States, particularly girls, have lost interest in science by the time they reach high school and do not pursue higher degrees or careers in science. Several science education researchers have found that the ways in which youth see themselves and position themselves in relation to science can influence whether they pursue science studies and careers. I suggest that participation in a citizen science program, which I define as a program in which girls interact with professional scientists and collect data that contributes to scientific research, could contribute to changing girls' perceptions of science and scientists, and promote their science identity work. I refer to science identity as self-recognition and recognition by others that one thinks scientifically and does scientific work. I examined a case study to document and analyze the relationship between girls' participation in a summer citizen science project and their development of science identity. I observed six girls between the ages of 16 and 18 during the Milkweed and Monarch Project, taking field notes on focal girls' interactions with other youth, adults, and the scientist, conducted highly-structured interviews both pre-and post- girls' program participation, and interviewed the project scientist and educator. I qualitatively analyzed field notes and interview responses for themes in girls' discussion of what it meant to think scientifically, roles they took on, and how they recognized themselves as thinking scientifically. I found that girls who saw themselves as thinking scientifically during the program seemed to demonstrate shifts in their science identity. The aspects of the citizen science program that seemed to most influence shifts in these girls' science identities were 1) the framing of the project work as "real science, 2) that it involved ecological field work, and 3) that it created a culture that valued data and scientific work. However, some of the girls only

Identifying Relevant Anti-Science Perceptions to Improve Science-Based Communication: The Negative Perceptions of Science Scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melanie Morgan

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Science communicators and scholars have struggled to understand what appears to be increasingly frequent endorsement of a wide range of anti-science beliefs and a corresponding reduction of trust in science. A common explanation for this issue is a lack of science literacy/knowledge among the general public (Funk et al. 2015. However, other possible explanations have been advanced, including conflict with alternative belief systems and other contextual factors, and even cultural factors (Gauchat 2008; Kahan 2015 that are not necessarily due to knowledge deficits. One of the challenges is that there are limited tools available to measure a range of possible underlying negative perceptions of science that could provide a more nuanced framework within which to improve communication around important scientific topics. This project describes two studies detailing the development and validation of the Negative Perceptions of Science Scale (NPSS, a multi-dimensional instrument that taps into several distinct sets of negative science perceptions: Science as Corrupt, Science as Complex, Science as Heretical, and Science as Limited. Evidence for the reliability and validity of the NPSS is described. The sub-dimensions of the NPSS are associated with a range of specific anti-science beliefs across a broad set of topic areas above and beyond that explained by demographics (including education, sex, age, and income, political, and religious ideology. Implications for these findings for improving science communication and science-related message tailoring are discussed.

Young "Science Ambassadors" Raise the Profile of Science

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Ridley, Katie

2014-01-01

Katie Ridley, science coordinator at St. Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Liverpool, UK, states that the inspiration for "science ambassadors" came after embarking on the Primary Science Quality Mark programme at their school. Ridley realized that science was just not recognised as such by the children, they talked about scientific…

Science teacher orientations and PCK across science topics in grade 9 earth science

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Campbell, Todd; Melville, Wayne; Goodwin, Dawne

2017-07-01

While the literature is replete with studies examining teacher knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), few studies have investigated how science teacher orientations (STOs) shape classroom instruction. Therefore, this research explores the interplay between a STOs and the topic specificity of PCK across two science topics within a grade 9 earth science course. Through interviews and observations of one teacher's classroom across two sequentially taught, this research contests the notion that teachers hold a single way of conceptualising science teaching and learning. In this, we consider if multiple ontologies can provide potential explanatory power for characterising instructional enactments. In earlier work with the teacher in this study, using generic interview prompts and general discussions about science teaching and learning, we accepted the existence of a unitary STO and its promise of consistent reformed instruction in the classroom. However, upon close examination of instruction focused on different science topics, evidence was found to demonstrate the explanatory power of multiple ontologies for shaping characteristically different epistemological constructions across science topics. This research points to the need for care in generalising about teacher practice, as it reveals that a teacher's practice, and orientation, can vary, dependent on the context and science topics taught.

Capabilities: Science Pillars

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Alamos National Laboratory Delivering science and technology to protect our nation and promote world stability Science & Innovation Collaboration Careers Community Environment Science & Innovation Facilities Science Pillars Research Library Science Briefs Science News Science Highlights Lab Organizations

Faces of Science

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Alamos National Laboratory Delivering science and technology to protect our nation and promote world stability Science & Innovation Collaboration Careers Community Environment Science & Innovation Facilities Science Pillars Research Library Science Briefs Science News Science Highlights Lab Organizations

Bradbury Science Museum

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Alamos National Laboratory Delivering science and technology to protect our nation and promote world stability Science & Innovation Collaboration Careers Community Environment Science & Innovation Facilities Science Pillars Research Library Science Briefs Science News Science Highlights Lab Organizations

Office of Science

Science.gov (United States)

Alamos National Laboratory Delivering science and technology to protect our nation and promote world stability Science & Innovation Collaboration Careers Community Environment Science & Innovation Facilities Science Pillars Research Library Science Briefs Science News Science Highlights Lab Organizations

Romanticism and Romantic Science: Their Contribution to Science Education

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Hadzigeorgiou, Yannis; Schulz, Roland

2014-01-01

The unique contributions of romanticism and romantic science have been generally ignored or undervalued in history and philosophy of science studies and science education. Although more recent research in history of science has come to delineate the value of both topics for the development of modern science, their merit for the educational field…

Adapting Practices of Science Journalism to Foster Science Literacy

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Polman, Joseph L.; Newman, Alan; Saul, Ellen Wendy; Farrar, Cathy

2014-01-01

In this paper, the authors describe how the practices of expert science journalists enable them to act as "competent outsiders" to science. We assert that selected science journalism practices can be used to design reform-based science instruction; these practices not only foster science literacy that is useful in daily life, but also…

Factors Influencing Science Content Accuracy in Elementary Inquiry Science Lessons

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Nowicki, Barbara L.; Sullivan-Watts, Barbara; Shim, Minsuk K.; Young, Betty; Pockalny, Robert

2013-06-01

Elementary teachers face increasing demands to engage children in authentic science process and argument while simultaneously preparing them with knowledge of science facts, vocabulary, and concepts. This reform is particularly challenging due to concerns that elementary teachers lack adequate science background to teach science accurately. This study examined 81 in-classroom inquiry science lessons for preservice education majors and their cooperating teachers to determine the accuracy of the science content delivered in elementary classrooms. Our results showed that 74 % of experienced teachers and 50 % of student teachers presented science lessons with greater than 90 % accuracy. Eleven of the 81 lessons (9 preservice, 2 cooperating teachers) failed to deliver accurate science content to the class. Science content accuracy was highly correlated with the use of kit-based resources supported with professional development, a preference for teaching science, and grade level. There was no correlation between the accuracy of science content and some common measures of teacher content knowledge (i.e., number of college science courses, science grades, or scores on a general science content test). Our study concluded that when provided with high quality curricular materials and targeted professional development, elementary teachers learn needed science content and present it accurately to their students.

Appraisal of work ability in relation to job-specific health requirements in ambulance workers.

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van Schaaijk, A; Boschman, J S; Frings-Dresen, M H W; Sluiter, J K

2017-01-01

To gain insight into which job-specific health requirements relate to work ability, the following two research questions were formulated: Which job-specific health requirements are associated with the appraisal of work ability in ambulance drivers and paramedics? How are appraisals of physical and mental work ability associated with the appraisal of overall work ability in ambulance drivers and paramedics? Workers Health Surveillance cross-sectional data of 506 ambulance workers (236 drivers and 270 paramedics) were used. The tests for specific job requirements were divided into six categories. Work ability was appraised as overall, physical and mental/emotional. Multiple linear stepwise regression analyses were used to model the associations. Outcomes in 'raised alertness and judgment ability' (R 2  = 0.09), 'job-specific physical abilities' (R 2  = 0.10) and 'emotional peak load' (R 2  = 0.07) significantly explained appraised overall, physical and mental/emotional work ability. Physical and mental/emotional work ability together explained 48.3% of the variance of overall work ability. The explained variance by physical and mental/emotional work ability was almost 4% higher in drivers than in paramedics. Overall work ability was significantly explained by outcomes in 'raised alertness and judgment ability' and 'emotional peak load.' Physical work ability was significantly explained by 'job-specific physical abilities' and 'raised alertness and judgment ability' outcomes, while 'emotional peak load' and 'raised alertness and judgment ability' outcomes significantly explained mental/emotional work ability. Physical and mental/emotional work ability explains the same proportion of variance in overall work ability.

Decrease in medical command errors with use of a "standing orders" protocol system.

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Holliman, C J; Wuerz, R C; Meador, S A

1994-05-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the physician medical command error rates and paramedic error rates after implementation of a "standing orders" protocol system for medical command. These patient-care error rates were compared with the previously reported rates for a "required call-in" medical command system (Ann Emerg Med 1992; 21(4):347-350). A secondary aim of the study was to determine if the on-scene time interval was increased by the standing orders system. Prospectively conducted audit of prehospital advanced life support (ALS) trip sheets was made at an urban ALS paramedic service with on-line physician medical command from three local hospitals. All ALS run sheets from the start time of the standing orders system (April 1, 1991) for a 1-year period ending on March 30, 1992 were reviewed as part of an ongoing quality assurance program. Cases were identified as nonjustifiably deviating from regional emergency medical services (EMS) protocols as judged by agreement of three physician reviewers (the same methodology as a previously reported command error study in the same ALS system). Medical command and paramedic errors were identified from the prehospital ALS run sheets and categorized. Two thousand one ALS runs were reviewed; 24 physician errors (1.2% of the 1,928 "command" runs) and eight paramedic errors (0.4% of runs) were identified. The physician error rate was decreased from the 2.6% rate in the previous study (P < .0001 by chi 2 analysis). The on-scene time interval did not increase with the "standing orders" system.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A prospective study of pre-trauma risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Wild, J; Smith, K V; Thompson, E; Béar, F; Lommen, M J J; Ehlers, A

2016-09-01

It is unclear which potentially modifiable risk factors best predict post-trauma psychiatric disorders. We aimed to identify pre-trauma risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression (MD) that could be targeted with resilience interventions. Newly recruited paramedics (n = 453) were assessed for history of mental disorders with structured clinical interviews within the first week of their paramedic training and completed self-report measures to assess hypothesized predictors. Participants were assessed every 4 months for 2 years to identify any episodes of PTSD and MD; 386 paramedics (85.2%) participated in the follow-up interviews. In all, 32 participants (8.3%) developed an episode of PTSD and 41 (10.6%) an episode of MD during follow-up. In all but nine cases (2.3%), episodes had remitted by the next assessment 4 months later. At 2 years, those with episodes of PTSD or MD during follow-up reported more days off work, poorer sleep, poorer quality of life, greater burn-out; and greater weight-gain for those with PTSD. In line with theories of PTSD and depression, analyses controlling for psychiatric and trauma history identified several pre-trauma predictors (cognitive styles, coping styles and psychological traits). Logistic regressions showed that rumination about memories of stressful events at the start of training uniquely predicted an episode of PTSD. Perceived resilience uniquely predicted an episode of MD. Participants at risk of developing episodes of PTSD or depression could be identified within the first week of paramedic training. Cognitive predictors of episodes of PTSD and MD are promising targets for resilience interventions.

Simulation based training in a publicly funded home birth programme in Australia: A qualitative study.

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Kumar, Arunaz; Nestel, Debra; Stoyles, Sally; East, Christine; Wallace, Euan M; White, Colleen

2016-02-01

Birth at home is a safe and appropriate choice for healthy women with a low risk pregnancy. However there is a small risk of emergencies requiring immediate, skilled management to optimise maternal and neonatal outcomes. We developed and implemented a simulation workshop designed to run in a home based setting to assist with emergency training for midwives and paramedical staff. The workshop was evaluated by assessing participants' satisfaction and response to key learning issues. Midwifery and emergency paramedical staff attending home births participated in a simulation workshop where they were required to manage birth emergencies in real time with limited availability of resources to suit the setting. They completed a pre-test and post-test evaluation form exploring the content and utility of the workshops. Content analysis was performed on qualitative data regarding the most important learning from the simulation activity. A total of 73 participants attended the workshop (midwifery=46, and paramedical=27). There were 110 comments, made by 49 participants. The most frequently identified key learning elements were related to communication (among midwives, paramedical and hospital staff and with the woman's partner), followed by recognising the role of other health care professionals, developing an understanding of the process and the importance of planning ahead. Home birth simulation workshop was found to be a useful tool by staff that provide care to women who are having a planned home birth. Developing clear communication and teamwork were found to be the key learning principles guiding their practice. Copyright © 2015 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Attitude of Medical Students towards Occupational Safety and Health: A Multi-National Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Bhardwaj

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Work-related diseases contribute immensely to the global burden of diseases. Better understanding of attitudes of health care workers towards occupational safety and health (OSH is important for planning. Objective: To assess the attitude of medical students towards OSH around the globe. Methods: A questionnaire assessing the attitude towards OSH was administered to medical and paramedical students of 21 Medical Universities across the globe. In the current study 1895 students, aged 18–36 years, from 17 countries were included. After having performed a principal components analysis, the associations of interest between the identified components and other socio demographic characteristics were assessed by multivariate linear regression. Results: Principal component analysis revealed 3 components. Students from lower and lower-middle-income countries had a more positive attitude towards OSH, but the importance of OSH was still rated higher by students from upper-income countries. Although students from Asian and African continents showed high interest for OSH, European and South-Central American students comparatively rated importance of OSH to be higher. Paramedical students had more positive attitude towards OSH than medical students. Conclusion: The attitude of students from lower-income and lower-middle-income countries towards importance of OSH is negative. This attitude could be changed by recommending modifications to OSH courses that reflect the importance of OSH. Since paramedical students showed more interest in OSH than medical students, modifications in existing health care system with major role of paramedics in OSH service delivery is recommended.

A Festival of Contemporary Science for Science Teachers

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Harrison, Tim; Berry, Bryan; Shallcross, Dudley

2010-01-01

In this article, the authors describe the first Festival of Contemporary Science for Science Teachers which was held in January 2010. Focusing on a number of leading-edge science topics, this new festival was organised by Bristol ChemLabS, in collaboration with the Science Learning Centre South West, and involved academics from several departments…

Preservice Science Teachers' Views on Science-Technology-Society

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Dikmentepe, Emel; Yakar, Zeha

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the views of pre-service science teachers on Science-Technology-Society (STS). In the research, a descriptive research method was used and data were collected using the Views on Science-Technology-Society (VOSTS) Questionnaire. In general, the results of this study revealed that pre-service science teachers…

Democratizing data science through data science training.

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Van Horn, John Darrell; Fierro, Lily; Kamdar, Jeana; Gordon, Jonathan; Stewart, Crystal; Bhattrai, Avnish; Abe, Sumiko; Lei, Xiaoxiao; O'Driscoll, Caroline; Sinha, Aakanchha; Jain, Priyambada; Burns, Gully; Lerman, Kristina; Ambite, José Luis

2018-01-01

The biomedical sciences have experienced an explosion of data which promises to overwhelm many current practitioners. Without easy access to data science training resources, biomedical researchers may find themselves unable to wrangle their own datasets. In 2014, to address the challenges posed such a data onslaught, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative. To this end, the BD2K Training Coordinating Center (TCC; bigdatau.org) was funded to facilitate both in-person and online learning, and open up the concepts of data science to the widest possible audience. Here, we describe the activities of the BD2K TCC and its focus on the construction of the Educational Resource Discovery Index (ERuDIte), which identifies, collects, describes, and organizes online data science materials from BD2K awardees, open online courses, and videos from scientific lectures and tutorials. ERuDIte now indexes over 9,500 resources. Given the richness of online training materials and the constant evolution of biomedical data science, computational methods applying information retrieval, natural language processing, and machine learning techniques are required - in effect, using data science to inform training in data science. In so doing, the TCC seeks to democratize novel insights and discoveries brought forth via large-scale data science training.

Impact of Informal Science Education on Children's Attitudes About Science

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Wulf, Rosemary; Mayhew, Laurel M.; Finkelstein, Noah D.

2010-10-01

The JILA Physics Frontier Center Partnerships for Informal Science Education in the Community (PISEC) provides informal afterschool inquiry-based science teaching opportunities for university participants with children typically underrepresented in science. We focus on the potential for this program to help increase children's interest in science, mathematics, and engineering and their understanding of the nature of science by validating the Children's Attitude Survey, which is based on the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey [1] and designed to measure shifts in children's attitudes about science and the nature of science. We present pre- and post-semester results for several semesters of the PISEC program, and demonstrate that, unlike most introductory physics courses in college, our after-school informal science programs support and promote positive attitudes about science.

When Nature of Science Meets Marxism: Aspects of Nature of Science Taught by Chinese Science Teacher Educators to Prospective Science Teachers

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Wan, Zhi Hong; Wong, Siu Ling; Zhan, Ying

2013-01-01

Nature of science (NOS) is beginning to find its place in the science education in China. In a study which investigated Chinese science teacher educators' conceptions of teaching NOS to prospective science teachers through semi-structured interviews, five key dimensions emerged from the data. This paper focuses on the dimension, "NOS content…

Fort Collins Science Center-Fiscal year 2009 science accomplishments

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Juliette T.

2010-01-01

Public land and natural resource managers in the United States are confronted with increasingly complex decisions that have important ramifications for both ecological and human systems. The scientists and technical professionals at the U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center?many of whom are at the forefront of their fields?possess a unique blend of ecological, socioeconomic, and technological expertise. Because of this diverse talent, Fort Collins Science Center staff are able to apply a systems approach to investigating complicated ecological problems in a way that helps answer critical management questions. In addition, the Fort Collins Science Center has a long record of working closely with the academic community through cooperative agreements and other collaborations. The Fort Collins Science Center is deeply engaged with other U.S. Geological Survey science centers and partners throughout the Department of the Interior. As a regular practice, we incorporate the expertise of these partners in providing a full complement of ?the right people? to effectively tackle the multifaceted research problems of today's resource-management world. In Fiscal Year 2009, the Fort Collins Science Center's scientific and technical professionals continued research vital to Department of the Interior's science and management needs. Fort Collins Science Center work also supported the science needs of other Federal and State agencies as well as non-government organizations. Specifically, Fort Collins Science Center research and technical assistance focused on client and partner needs and goals in the areas of biological information management and delivery, enterprise information, fisheries and aquatic systems, invasive species, status and trends of biological resources (including human dimensions), terrestrial ecosystems, and wildlife resources. In the process, Fort Collins Science Center science addressed natural-science information needs identified in the U

Parents' Attitudes Towards Science and their Children's Science Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Perera, Liyanage Devangi H.

2014-12-01

Although countries worldwide are emphasizing the importance of science education for technological development and global economic competition, comparative findings from standardized international student assessments reveal a huge gap in science scores between developed and developing countries. Certain developed economies too have made little progress in raising science achievement over the past decade. Despite school improvement being placed high on the policy agenda, the results of such actions have been poor. Therefore, there is a need to explore additional ways in which science achievement can be enhanced. This study focuses on the family and examines whether parents' attitudes towards science (how much they value science and the importance they place on it) can influence their children's science achievement. Individual- and school-level data are obtained from the Program for International Student Assessment 2006 survey for 15 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and non-OECD countries. Hierarchical linear modelling is employed to estimate the equations. The findings indicate that parents' attitudes towards science have a positive and statistically significant effect on science achievement, after controlling for other important student- and school-level variables. Moreover, students from poor backgrounds appear to benefit from more positive parental science attitudes as much as students from high socioeconomic status, such that equality of student achievement is not affected. This study recommends that schools and teachers encourage parents to play a more pro-active role in their children's science education, as well as educate parents about the importance of science and strategies that can be adopted to support their children's science learning.

Science + Maths = A Better Understanding of Science!

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Markwick, Andy; Clark, Kris

2016-01-01

Science and mathematics share a common purpose: to explore, understand and explain the pure beauty of our universe and how it works. Using mathematics in science enquiry can enhance children's understanding of science and also provide opportunities for children to apply their mathematical knowledge to "real" contexts. The authors…

Common Earth Science Misconceptions in Science Teaching

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King, Chris

2012-01-01

A survey of the Earth science content of science textbooks found a wide range of misconceptions. These are discussed in this article with reference to the published literature on Earth science misconceptions. Most misconceptions occurred in the "sedimentary rocks and processes" and "Earth's structure and plate tectonics"…

Environmental science: A new opportunity for soil science

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pepper, I.L.

2000-01-01

During the golden era of soil science--from the 1950s to the 1980s--the main focus of this discipline was on the role of soil in production agriculture. More recently, renewed interest in the area of environmental science has offered new opportunities to soil scientists. Thus, many soil scientists are now working in areas such as bioremediation, waste recycling, and/or contaminant transport. Environmental science has, therefore, not only changed the traditional research role of soil scientists at land grant institutions but has also influenced student enrollment, the traditional soil science curriculum, and faculty recruitment. These changes require a new breed of soil scientist, one with a background not only in soil science but also in other areas of environmental science as well.

Connecting university science experiences to middle school science teaching

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Johnson, Gordon; Laughran, Laura; Tamppari, Ray; Thomas, Perry

1991-06-01

Science teachers naturally rely on their university science experiences as a foundation for teaching middle school science. This foundation consists of knowledge far too complex for the middle level students to comprehend. In order for middle school science teachers to utilize their university science training they must search for ways to adapt their college experiences into appropriate middle school learning experience. The criteria set forth above provide broad-based guidelines for translating university science laboratory experiences into middle school activities. These guidelines are used by preservice teachers in our project as they identify, test, and organize a resource file of hands-on inquiry activities for use in their first year classrooms. It is anticipated that this file will provide a basis for future curriculum development as the teacher becomes more comfortable and more experienced in teaching hands-on science. The presentation of these guidelines is not meant to preclude any other criteria or considerations which a teacher or science department deems important. This is merely one example of how teachers may proceed to utilize their advanced science training as a basis for teaching middle school science.

Senator Fred Harris's National Social Science Foundation proposal: Reconsidering federal science policy, natural science-social science relations, and American liberalism during the 1960s.

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Solovey, Mark

2012-03-01

During the 1960s, a growing contingent of left-leaning voices claimed that the social sciences suffered mistreatment and undue constraints within the natural science-dominated federal science establishment. According to these critics, the entrenched scientific pecking order in Washington had an unreasonable commitment to the unity of the sciences, which reinforced unacceptable inequalities between the social and the natural sciences. The most important political figure who advanced this critique, together with a substantial legislative proposal for reform, was the Oklahoma Democratic Senator Fred Harris. Yet histories of science and social science have told us surprisingly little about Harris. Moreover, existing accounts of his effort to create a National Social Science Foundation have misunderstood crucial features of this story. This essay argues that Harris's NSSF proposal developed into a robust, historically unique, and increasingly critical liberal challenge to the post-World War II federal science establishment's treatment of the social sciences as "second-class citizens."

Hormesis in Regulatory risk assessment - Science and Science Policy.

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Gray, George

2011-01-01

This brief commentary will argue that whether hormesis is considered in regulatory risk assessment is a matter less of science than of science policy. I will first discuss the distinction between science and science policy and their roles in regulatory risk assessment. Then I will focus on factors that influence science policy, especially as it relates to the conduct of risk assessments to inform regulatory decisions, with a focus on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The key questions will then be how does hormesis interact with current concepts of science and science policy for risk assessment? Finally, I look ahead to factors that may increase, or decrease, the likelihood of hormesis being incorporated into regulatory risk assessment.

The rightful place of science science on the verge

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

A crisis looms over the scientific enterprise. Not a day passes without news of retractions, failed replications, fraudulent peer reviews, or misinformed science-based policies. The social implications are enormous, yet this crisis has remained largely uncharted—until now. In Science on the Verge, luminaries in the field of post-normal science and scientific governance focus attention on worrying fault-lines in the use of science for policymaking, and the dramatic crisis within science itself. This provocative new volume in The Rightful Place of Science also explores the concepts that need to be unlearned, and the skills that must be relearned and enhanced, if we are to restore the legitimacy and integrity of science.

Science and religion: implications for science educators

Science.gov (United States)

Reiss, Michael J.

2010-03-01

A religious perspective on life shapes how and what those with such a perspective learn in science; for some students a religious perspective can hinder learning in science. For such reasons Staver's article is to be welcomed as it proposes a new way of resolving the widely perceived discord between science and religion. Staver notes that Western thinking has traditionally postulated the existence and comprehensibility of a world that is external to and independent of human consciousness. This has led to a conception of truth, truth as correspondence, in which our knowledge corresponds to the facts in this external world. Staver rejects such a conception, preferring the conception of truth as coherence in which the links are between and among independent knowledge claims themselves rather than between a knowledge claim and reality. Staver then proposes constructivism as a vehicle potentially capable of resolving the tension between religion and science. My contention is that the resolution between science and religion that Staver proposes comes at too great a cost—both to science and to religion. Instead I defend a different version of constructivism where humans are seen as capable of generating models of reality that do provide richer and more meaningful understandings of reality, over time and with respect both to science and to religion. I argue that scientific knowledge is a subset of religious knowledge and explore the implications of this for science education in general and when teaching about evolution in particular.

Journal of Earth System Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China. Earth Sciences Department, Faculty of Science, University of Kufa, Najaf 34003, Iraq. College of Resource Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China.

Globalisation and science education: Rethinking science education reforms

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Lyn

2005-05-01

Like Lemke (J Res Sci Teach 38:296-316, 2001), I believe that science education has not looked enough at the impact of the changing theoretical and global landscape by which it is produced and shaped. Lemke makes a sound argument for science education to look beyond its own discourses toward those like cultural studies and politics, and to which I would add globalisation theory and relevant educational studies. Hence, in this study I draw together a range of investigations to argue that globalisation is indeed implicated in the discourses of science education, even if it remains underacknowledged and undertheorized. Establishing this relationship is important because it provides different frames of reference from which to investigate many of science education's current concerns, including those new forces that now have a direct impact on science classrooms. For example, one important question to investigate is the degree to which current science education improvement discourses are the consequences of quality research into science teaching and learning, or represent national and local responses to global economic restructuring and the imperatives of the supranational institutions that are largely beyond the control of science education. Developing globalisation as a theoretical construct to help formulate new questions and methods to examine these questions can provide science education with opportunities to expand the conceptual and analytical frameworks of much of its present and future scholarship.

New concepts of science and medicine in science and technology studies and their relevance to science education.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hsiu-Yun; Stocker, Joel F; Fu, Daiwie

2012-02-01

Science education often adopts a narrow view of science that assumes the lay public is ignorant, which seemingly justifies a science education limited to a promotional narrative of progress in the form of scientific knowledge void of meaningful social context. We propose that to prepare students as future concerned citizens of a technoscientific society, science education should be informed by science, technology, and society (STS) perspectives. An STS-informed science education, in our view, will include the following curricular elements: science controversy education, gender issues, historical perspective, and a move away from a Eurocentric view by looking into the distinctive patterns of other regional (in this case of Taiwan, East Asian) approaches to science, technology, and medicine. This article outlines the significance of some major STS studies as a means of illustrating the ways in which STS perspectives can, if incorporated into science education, enhance our understanding of science and technology and their relationships with society. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V.

New concepts of science and medicine in science and technology studies and their relevance to science education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hsiu-Yun Wang

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Science education often adopts a narrow view of science that assumes the lay public is ignorant, which seemingly justifies a science education limited to a promotional narrative of progress in the form of scientific knowledge void of meaningful social context. We propose that to prepare students as future concerned citizens of a technoscientific society, science education should be informed by science, technology, and society (STS perspectives. An STS-informed science education, in our view, will include the following curricular elements: science controversy education, gender issues, historical perspective, and a move away from a Eurocentric view by looking into the distinctive patterns of other regional (in this case of Taiwan, East Asian approaches to science, technology, and medicine. This article outlines the significance of some major STS studies as a means of illustrating the ways in which STS perspectives can, if incorporated into science education, enhance our understanding of science and technology and their relationships with society.

Learning Science, Learning about Science, Doing Science: Different Goals Demand Different Learning Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Hodson, Derek

2014-01-01

This opinion piece paper urges teachers and teacher educators to draw careful distinctions among four basic learning goals: learning science, learning about science, doing science and learning to address socio-scientific issues. In elaboration, the author urges that careful attention is paid to the selection of teaching/learning methods that…

Science.gov: gateway to government science information.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzpatrick, Roberta Bronson

2010-01-01

Science.gov is a portal to more than 40 scientific databases and 200 million pages of science information via a single query. It connects users to science information and research results from the U.S. government. This column will provide readers with an overview of the resource, as well as basic search hints.

Physical Sciences 2007 Science and Technology Highlights

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hazi, A.U.

2008-01-01

The Physical Sciences Directorate applies frontier physics and technology to grand challenges in national security. Our highly integrated and multidisciplinary research program involves collaborations throughout Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Energy, and with academic and industrial partners. The Directorate has a budget of approximately $150 million, and a staff of approximately 350 employees. Our scientists provide expertise in condensed matter and high-pressure physics, plasma physics, high-energy-density science, fusion energy science and technology, nuclear and particle physics, accelerator physics, radiation detection, optical science, biotechnology, and astrophysics. This document highlights the outstanding research and development activities in the Physical Sciences Directorate that made news in 2007. It also summarizes the awards and recognition received by members of the Directorate in 2007

Science and Society - Problems, issues and dilemmas in science education

CERN Multimedia

2001-01-01

Next in CERN's series of Science and Society speakers is Jonathan Osborne, Senior Lecturer in Science Education at King's College London. On Thursday 26 April, Dr Osborne will speak in the CERN main auditorium about current issues in science education in the light of an ever more science-based society. Jonathan Osborne, Senior Lecturer in Science Education at King's College London. Does science deserve a place at the curriculum high table of each student or is it just a gateway to a set of limited career options in science and technology? This question leads us to an important change in our ideas of what science education has been so far and what it must be. Basic knowledge of science and technology has traditionally been considered as just a starting point for those who wanted to build up a career in scientific research. But nowadays, the processes of science, the analysis of risks and benefits, and a knowledge of the social practices of science are necessary for every citizen. This new way of looking at s...

Exploring Girls' Science Affinities Through an Informal Science Education Program

Science.gov (United States)

Todd, Brandy; Zvoch, Keith

2017-10-01

This study examines science interests, efficacy, attitudes, and identity—referred to as affinities, in the context of an informal science outreach program for girls. A mixed methods design was used to explore girls' science affinities before, during, and after participation in a cohort-based summer science camp. Multivariate analysis of survey data revealed that girls' science affinities varied as a function of the joint relationship between family background and number of years in the program, with girls from more affluent families predicted to increase affinities over time and girls from lower income families to experience initial gains in affinities that diminish over time. Qualitative examination of girls' perspectives on gender and science efficacy, attitudes toward science, and elements of science identities revealed a complex interplay of gendered stereotypes of science and girls' personal desires to prove themselves knowledgeable and competent scientists. Implications for the best practice in fostering science engagement and identities in middle school-aged girls are discussed.

Evaluation Science

Science.gov (United States)

Patton, Michael Quinn

2018-01-01

Culturally and politically science is under attack. The core consequence of perceiving and asserting evaluation as science is that it enhances our credibility and effectiveness in supporting the importance of science in our world and brings us together with other scientists to make common cause in supporting and advocating for science. Other…

The Nature of Science and Science Education: A Bibliography

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Randy; Abd-El-Khalick, Fouad; Lederman, Norman G.; Mccomas, William F.; Matthews, Michael R.

Research on the nature of science and science education enjoys a long history, with its origins in Ernst Mach's work in the late nineteenth century and John Dewey's at the beginning of the twentieth century. As early as 1909 the Central Association for Science and Mathematics Teachers published an article - A Consideration of the Principles that Should Determine the Courses in Biology in Secondary Schools - in School Science and Mathematics that reflected foundational concerns about science and how school curricula should be informed by them. Since then a large body of literature has developed related to the teaching and learning about nature of science - see, for example, the Lederman (1992)and Meichtry (1993) reviews cited below. As well there has been intense philosophical, historical and philosophical debate about the nature of science itself, culminating in the much-publicised Science Wars of recent time. Thereferences listed here primarily focus on the empirical research related to the nature of science as an educational goal; along with a few influential philosophical works by such authors as Kuhn, Popper, Laudan, Lakatos, and others. While not exhaustive, the list should prove useful to educators, and scholars in other fields, interested in the nature of science and how its understanding can be realised as a goal of science instruction. The authors welcome correspondence regarding omissions from the list, and on-going additions that can be made to it.

Science et Technique, Sciences de la Santé

African Journals Online (AJOL)

AFRICAN JOURNALS ONLINE (AJOL) · Journals · Advanced Search · USING AJOL · RESOURCES. Science et Technique, Sciences de la Santé. Journal Home > Vol ... The journal is focused on health sciences in general. It publishes articles ...

Taking the Lead in Science Education: Forging Next-Generation Science Standards. International Science Benchmarking Report. Appendix

Science.gov (United States)

Achieve, Inc., 2010

2010-01-01

This appendix accompanies the report "Taking the Lead in Science Education: Forging Next-Generation Science Standards. International Science Benchmarking Report," a study conducted by Achieve to compare the science standards of 10 countries. This appendix includes the following: (1) PISA and TIMSS Assessment Rankings; (2) Courses and…

Other Women in Science Groups | Women in Science | Initiatives ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

... Proceedings – Mathematical Sciences · Resonance – Journal of Science ... The Department of Science & Technology has set up a National Task Force on Women ... The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) has set up a ... the area of Science in Society under its Research and Innovation programmes.

Vaccination against human papillomavirus among 865 female students from the health professions in central Greece: a questionnaire- based cross-sectional study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Papagiannis D

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Dimitrios Papagiannis,1 George Rachiotis,1 Emmanouil K Symvoulakis,2 Alexandros Daponte,3 Ioanna N Grivea,4 George A Syrogiannopoulos,4 Christos Hadjichristodoulou11Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, Thessalia, 2Private Family Practice Unit, Heraklion, Crete, 3Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Thessalia Medical School, Thessalia, 4Department of Paediatrics, University of Thessaly, School of Medicine, General University Hospital of Larissa, Thessalia, GreeceBackground: There are still sparse data on vaccination coverage against human papillomavirus (HPV among students in the health professions. The aim of this study was to investigate HPV vaccination coverage in female students from the health professions in Greece.Methods: A self-administered, anonymous questionnaire was distributed to second-year and third-year female students pursuing degrees in medicine, nursing, and paramedical health disciplines in central Greece.Results: Overall vaccination coverage was 44.3%. The major reason for lack of vaccination was fear about safety of the vaccine. Participants who had received information about safety of the vaccine from the mass media and paramedical students had lower vaccination coverage in comparison with students who had received information about vaccine safety from alternative sources.Conclusion: Further quantitative and qualitative research is needed to design educational activities targeting female students in the health professions in order to create a positive domino effect and improve HPV vaccination coverage levels in Greece.Keywords: human papillomavirus, vaccination, coverage, students, health professions, mass media, Greece

Job satisfaction and Job stress among various employees of tertiary care level hospital in central Uttar Pradesh, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruchi Yadav

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Job satisfaction defined as the end state of feeling, the feeling that is experienced after a task is accomplished. Job stress can be defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or need of the worker. Objectives: To study the relationship between job satisfaction and job stress among various employees of tertiary care level hospital and to find the co-relates of job stress and job satisfaction. Materials & Methods: A cross sectional study carried out for a period of 2 month among various employees working in Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences, Saifai, Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, a tertiary care level hospital. A total 225 Participants 75 from each medical, paramedical and office staff were selected by purposive sampling technique. The study was conducted using pretested structured questionnaire regarding socio-demographic profile, job satisfaction and job stress. Data was analyzed using chi square test. Result: A total of 225 participants,75 from each medical, paramedical and office staff were interviewed. On doing analysis of questionnaire regarding job satisfaction and job stress it was found that majority believe that their job was well recognized and working in a good institute and were not satisfied with the management and salary and were coping well with their job stress and were having average level of satisfaction. Conclusion: The present study conclude that majority of the participants felt they are well recognized with their job, working in a good institute but not satisfied with the management and salary.

Elucidating elementary science teachers' conceptions of the nature of science: A view to beliefs about both science and teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Keske, Kristina Palmer

The purpose of this interpretive case study was to elucidate the conceptions of the nature of science held by seven elementary science teachers. The constructivist paradigm provided the philosophical and methodological foundation for the study. Interviews were employed to collect data from the participants about their formal and informal experiences with science. In addition, the participants contributed their perspectives on four aspects of the nature of science: what is science; who is a scientist; what are the methods of science; and how is scientific knowledge constructed. Data analysis not only revealed these teachers' views of science, but also provided insights into how they viewed science teaching. Four themes emerged from the data. The first theme developed around the participants' portrayals of the content of science, with participant views falling on a continuum of limited to universal application of science as procedure. The second theme dealt with the participants' views of the absolute nature of scientific knowledge. Participants' perceptions of the tentative nature of science teaching provided the basis for the third theme concerning the need for absolutes in practice. The fourth theme drew parallels between participants' views of science and science teaching, with two participants demonstrating a consistency in beliefs about knowledge construction across contexts. This study revealed both personal and contextual factors which impacted how the participants saw science and science teaching. Many of the participants' memories of formal science revolved around the memorization of content and were viewed negatively. All the participants had limited formal training in science. Of the seven participants, only two had chosen to be science teachers at the beginning of their careers. The participants' limited formal experiences with science provided little time for exploration into historical, philosophical, and sociological studies of science, a necessary

Bulletin of Materials Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

College of Materials Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China; Guangxi Key Laboratory of Information Materials, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Luoyang Institute of Science and ...

Journal of Chemical Sciences | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla, 90112, Thailand; Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University, Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani, 12120, Thailand; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Thaksin University, Papayom, ...

Home Culture, Science, School and Science Learning: Is Reconciliation Possible?

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Aik-Ling

2011-01-01

In response to Meyer and Crawford's article on how nature of science and authentic science inquiry strategies can be used to support the learning of science for underrepresented students, I explore the possibly of reconciliation between the cultures of school, science, school science as well as home. Such reconciliation is only possible when…

International production on science oriented towards data: analysis of the terms data science and e-science in scopus and the web of science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leilah Santiago Bufrem

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction: current configuration in the dynamics of production and scientific communication reveals the role of Science Oriented Towards Data, a comprehensive conception represented, mainly, by terms such as "e-Science" and "Data Science". Objective: To present the global scientific production on Science Oriented Towards Data by using the terms "e-Science" and "Data Science" in Scopus and the Web of Science during 2006-2016. Methodology: The study is divided into five phases: a search for information in Scopus and the Web of Science data bases; b obtaining bibliometric records; c complementing keywords; d data correction and crossing; e analytical data representation. Results: The most important terms within the analyzed scientific production were Distributed computer systems (2006, Grid computing (2007-2013 and Big data (2014- 2016. In the area of Library and Information Science, the emphasis was on Digital Library and Open Access issues, highlighting the importance of the field for the discussions on the devices providing access to scientific information in digital media. Conclusions: Under a diachronic look, it was found a visible shift of focus, from issues approaching data exchange operations to an analytical perspective for finding patterns in large data volumes

Mars: A Freshmen Year Seminar of Science and Science-fiction

Science.gov (United States)

Svec, Michael; Moffett, D. A.; Winiski, M.

2013-06-01

"Mars: On the shoulder of giants" is a freshmen year seminar developed collaboratively between the physics, education, and center for teaching and learning. This course focuses on how scientific knowledge is developed through the lens of our changing view of Mars throughout history. Analyses of current studies of Mars are juxtaposed against historical understanding and perceptions of the planet found in scientific and popular literature of the day, as well as the movies. Kim Stanley Robinson’s "Red Mars" provides a unifying story throughout the course complimented by Fredrick Taylor’s "The Scientific Exploration of Mars" and Hartmann’s "A Traveler’s Guide to Mars." Based on the three-years of experience, the authors advocate the use of the speculative science-fiction novel and argue for its use in high school and undergraduate courses including those for science majors. Many of the students who selected this seminar went on to major in science and in subsequent interviews discussed the influence of science fiction on their decision to major in science. Science fiction provided story, science, and speculation that became a rich medium for critical-thinking skills and critical literacy. Student reflections indicated that science fiction served as a reminder of why they study science, a source for imagination, and exploration of science as a human endeavor. Based on this experience, we propose five elements for selecting science-fiction for inclusion in science classes: 1) Provides a deep description of the science content or technologies, 2) Describes science and technologies are plausible or accurate to the time period, 3) Contains a novum or plausible innovation that plays a key element in the speculation, 4) Exploration of the impact on society or humanity, and, 5) Shows science and technology as human endeavors.

Bulletin of Materials Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The Institute for Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, MAScIR (Moroccan Foundation for Advanced Science, Innovation and Research), Rabat, Morocco; LMPHE (URAC 12), Departement of Physique, BP 1014, Faculty of Science, Mohammed V-Agdal University, Rabat, Morocco; National Centre for Energy, Sciences and ...

Bulletin of Materials Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Bulletin of Materials Science; Volume 29; Issue 5 ... Polyester urethane; scaffold; tensile strength; swelling; degradation; cell culture. ... Materials Science Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721 302, India; School of Medical Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur ...

Journal of Chemical Sciences | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

... Physics · Proceedings – Mathematical Sciences · Resonance – Journal of Science ... Home; Journals; Journal of Chemical Sciences; Special Issues ... 2nd International Symposium on Materials Chemistry (ISMC-2008) ... New Directions of Research in Molecules and Materials ... Theoretical Models for Molecular Structure.

Proceedings – Mathematical Sciences | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Proceedings – Mathematical Sciences; Search. Search. Proceedings – Mathematical Sciences. Title. Author. Keywords. Fulltext. Submit. Proceedings – Mathematical Sciences. Current Issue : Vol. 128, Issue 2. Current Issue Volume 128 | Issue 2. April 2018. Home · Volumes & Issues · Special Issues ...

Bulletin of Materials Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

... India; Department of Physics, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, P.O. Box 36, Code 123, Oman; Department of Polymer Science andRubber Technology, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin 682022, India; Department of Materials Science and Nanoengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA ...

Journal of Chemical Sciences | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

National Initiative on Undergraduate Science (NIUS) Chemistry Programme Fellow, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mankhurd, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400 088, India; Department of Chemistry, V. K. Krishna Menon College of Commerce & S. S. Dighe College of Science, Bhandup (E), Mumbai, Maharashtra 400 ...

Dualism persists in the science of mind.

Science.gov (United States)

Demertzi, Athena; Liew, Charlene; Ledoux, Didier; Bruno, Marie-Aurélie; Sharpe, Michael; Laureys, Steven; Zeman, Adam

2009-03-01

The relationship between mind and brain has philosophical, scientific, and practical implications. Two separate but related surveys from the University of Edinburgh (University students, n= 250) and the University of Liège (health-care workers, lay public, n= 1858) were performed to probe attitudes toward the mind-brain relationship and the variables that account for differences in views. Four statements were included, each relating to an aspect of the mind-brain relationship. The Edinburgh survey revealed a predominance of dualistic attitudes emphasizing the separateness of mind and brain. In the Liège survey, younger participants, women, and those with religious beliefs were more likely to agree that the mind and brain are separate, that some spiritual part of us survives death, that each of us has a soul that is separate from the body, and to deny the physicality of mind. Religious belief was found to be the best predictor for dualistic attitudes. Although the majority of health-care workers denied the distinction between consciousness and the soma, more than one-third of medical and paramedical professionals regarded mind and brain as separate entities. The findings of the study are in line with previous studies in developmental psychology and with surveys of scientists' attitudes toward the relationship between mind and brain. We suggest that the results are relevant to clinical practice, to the formulation of scientific questions about the nature of consciousness, and to the reception of scientific theories of consciousness by the general public.

Science Outside the Lab: Helping Graduate Students in Science and Engineering Understand the Complexities of Science Policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernstein, Michael J; Reifschneider, Kiera; Bennett, Ira; Wetmore, Jameson M

2017-06-01

Helping scientists and engineers challenge received assumptions about how science, engineering, and society relate is a critical cornerstone for macroethics education. Scientific and engineering research are frequently framed as first steps of a value-free linear model that inexorably leads to societal benefit. Social studies of science and assessments of scientific and engineering research speak to the need for a more critical approach to the noble intentions underlying these assumptions. "Science Outside the Lab" is a program designed to help early-career scientists and engineers understand the complexities of science and engineering policy. Assessment of the program entailed a pre-, post-, and 1 year follow up survey to gauge student perspectives on relationships between science and society, as well as a pre-post concept map exercise to elicit student conceptualizations of science policy. Students leave Science Outside the Lab with greater humility about the role of scientific expertise in science and engineering policy; greater skepticism toward linear notions of scientific advances benefiting society; a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the actors involved in shaping science policy; and a continued appreciation of the contributions of science and engineering to society. The study presents an efficacious program that helps scientists and engineers make inroads into macroethical debates, reframe the ways in which they think about values of science and engineering in society, and more thoughtfully engage with critical mediators of science and society relationships: policy makers and policy processes.

Effects of Inquiry-Based Science Instruction on Science Achievement and Interest in Science: Evidence from Qatar

Science.gov (United States)

Areepattamannil, Shaljan

2012-01-01

The author sought to investigate the effects of inquiry-based science instruction on science achievement and interest in science of 5,120 adolescents from 85 schools in Qatar. Results of hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed the substantial positive effects of science teaching and learning with a focus on model or applications and…

Transforming Elementary Science Teacher Education by Bridging Formal and Informal Science Education in an Innovative Science Methods Course

Science.gov (United States)

Riedinger, Kelly; Marbach-Ad, Gili; McGinnis, J. Randy; Hestness, Emily; Pease, Rebecca

2011-01-01

We investigated curricular and pedagogical innovations in an undergraduate science methods course for elementary education majors at the University of Maryland. The goals of the innovative elementary science methods course included: improving students' attitudes toward and views of science and science teaching, to model innovative science teaching…

Incorporating Earth Science into Other High School Science Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Manning, C. L. B.; Holzer, M.; Colson, M.; Courtier, A. M. B.; Jacobs, B. E.

2016-12-01

As states begin to review their standards, some adopt or adapt the NGSS and others write their own, many basing these on the Framework for K-12 Science Education. Both the NGSS and the Frameworks have an increased emphasis on Earth Science but many high school teachers are being asked to teach these standards in traditional Biology, Chemistry and Physics courses. At the Earth Educators Rendezvous, teachers, scientists, and science education researchers worked together to find the interconnections between the sciences using the NGSS and identified ways to reference the role of Earth Sciences in the other sciences during lectures, activities and laboratory assignments. Weaving Earth and Space sciences into the other curricular areas, the teams developed relevant problems for students to solve by focusing on using current issues, media stories, and community issues. These and other lessons and units of study will be presented along with other resources used by teachers to ensure students are gaining exposure and a deeper understanding of Earth and Space Science concepts.

Science Anxiety, Science Attitudes, and Constructivism: A Binational Study

Science.gov (United States)

Bryant, Fred B.; Kastrup, Helge; Udo, Maria; Hislop, Nelda; Shefner, Rachel; Mallow, Jeffry

2013-08-01

Students' attitudes and anxieties about science were measured by responses to two self-report questionnaires. The cohorts were Danish and American students at the upper secondary- and university-levels. Relationships between and among science attitudes, science anxiety, gender, and nationality were examined. Particular attention was paid to constructivist attitudes about science. These fell into at least three broad conceptual categories: Negativity of Science Toward the Individual, Subjective Construction of Knowledge, and Inherent Bias Against Women. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses revealed that these dimensions of constructivist attitudes were equally applicable and had the same meaning in both cultures. Gender differences in mean levels of constructivist attitudes were found; these varied across the two cultures. Constructivist beliefs were associated with science anxiety, but in different ways for females and males, and for Danes and Americans. In agreement with earlier studies, females in both the US and Danish cohorts were significantly more science anxious than males, and the gender differences for the Americans were larger than those for the Danes. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for reducing science anxiety by changing constructivist beliefs.

Science/s.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emmanuelle Tricoire

2005-03-01

Full Text Available Un forum a été organisé en mars par la Commission européenne. Il s’appelait « Science in Society ». Depuis 2000 la Commission a mis en place un Plan d’Action élaboré pour que soit promue « la science » au sein du public, afin que les citoyens prennent de bonnes décisions, des décisions informées. Il s’agit donc de développer la réflexivité au sein de la société, pour que cette dernière agisse avec discernement dans un monde qu’elle travaille à rendre durable. ...

Journal of Chemical Sciences | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

... XIONG1 WEIHUA ZHU1 HEMING XIAO1. Institute for Computation in Molecular and Materials Science and Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China; School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Institute of Technology, ...

Initiatives | Women in Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

This initiative of the Women in Science (WiS) Panel relates to mentoring of young ... The Women in Science Panel (WiS) of Indian Academy of Sciences has ... age of 52, after a valiant battle with cancer, today on 29th March 2016 in Delhi.

Bulletin of Materials Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Editorial Board. Bulletin of Materials Science. Editor. Giridhar U. Kulkarni, Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Science, Bengaluru. Associate Editors. Ayan Datta, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata M. Eswaramoorthy, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru A.K. Ganguli ...

Network science, nonlinear science and infrastructure systems

CERN Document Server

2007-01-01

Network Science, Nonlinear Science and Infrastructure Systems has been written by leading scholars in these areas. Its express purpose is to develop common theoretical underpinnings to better solve modern infrastructural problems. It is felt by many who work in these fields that many modern communication problems, ranging from transportation networks to telecommunications, Internet, supply chains, etc., are fundamentally infrastructure problems. Moreover, these infrastructure problems would benefit greatly from a confluence of theoretical and methodological work done with the areas of Network Science, Dynamical Systems and Nonlinear Science. This book is dedicated to the formulation of infrastructural tools that will better solve these types of infrastructural problems. .

Gender roles and science beliefs and their relationship to science interest

Science.gov (United States)

Paolucci, Judith Jean

This study investigated adolescents' views about the nature of science (NOS) and conceptions of their gender identities, and revealed whether these conceptions and views are related to their science interest. Participants were 566 high school students enrolled in chemistry courses at three high schools in a New England state. A questionnaire was used to assess participants' science interest, gender role perceptions, and views about science, as well as to provide background and math and science achievement data. The study found that while student scores of NOS understanding did not differ by gender, some significant differences were noted on the student responses to statements about science. Students with higher-than-average science interest scores responded to these statements differently than students with lower science interest scores; their responses tended to more closely match statements about NOS taken from current reform documents. The study also found that math and science achievement, masculinity scores, and NOS scores accounted for a greater variance of science interest for girls than for boys, though all three also contributed significantly and positively to the regression equation for boys. These predictor variables predicted membership to the lower or higher science interest groups, but could not predict students' career aspiration groups. Thus, other mediating factors not considered in this study may translate high science interest to science career aspiration. The results of this study coed prior research, which found that science and math achievement and masculinity are positively and significantly related to science interest for boy boys and girls. Moreover, the study found that achievement in math and science courses is a greater predictor of science interest for girls than for boys. The results of this study provide a rationale for incorporating the nature of science into the science curriculum. Moreover, since the science interest of boys was

Innovation in Citizen Science – Perspectives on Science-Policy Advances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susanne Hecker

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Citizen science is growing as a field of research with contributions from diverse disciplines, promoting innovation in science, society, and policy. Inter- and transdisciplinary discussions and critical analyses are needed to use the current momentum to evaluate, demonstrate, and build on the advances that have been made in the past few years. This paper synthesizes results of discussions at the first international citizen science conference of the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA in 2016 in Berlin, Germany, and distills major points of the discourse into key recommendations. To enhance innovation in science, citizen science needs to clearly demonstrate its scientific benefit, branch out across disciplines, and foster active networking and new formats of collaboration, including true co-design with participants. For fostering policy advances, it is important to embrace opportunities for policy-relevant monitoring and policy development and to work with science funders to find adequate avenues and evaluation tools to support citizen science. From a society angle it is crucial to engage with societal actors in various formats that suit participants and to evaluate two-way learning outcomes as well as to develop the transformative role of science communication. We hope that these key perspectives will promote citizen science progress at the science-society-policy interface.

Family experiences, the motivation for science learning and science ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Schulze, Salome

Student Motivation for Science Learning questionnaire combined with items investigating family experiences. ... science achievement: inadequate school resources and weak household ..... informal interviews with the science teachers of the.

Science as theater, theater as science

Science.gov (United States)

Lustig, Harry

2002-04-01

Beginning with Bertold Brecht's "Galileo" in 1942 and Friedrich Dürrenmatt's "The Physicists" in 1962, physics and other sciences have served a number of dramatists as backdrops for the exposition of existential problems, as well as the provision of entertainment. Michael Frayn's 1998 play "Copenhagen" broke new ground by giving a central role to the presentation of scientific substance and ideas and to the examination of recent controversial and emotionally charged events in the history of science and of the "real world". A rash of "science plays" erupted. How should we physicists react to this development? Surely, it can be argued, any exposure of science to the public is better than none and will help break down the barriers between the "two cultures". But what if the science or the scientists are badly misrepresented or the play is a weapon to strip science of its legitimacy and its claims to reality and truth? After reviewing a half dozen of the new plays, I conclude that "Copenhagen", though flawed, is not only the best of show, but a positive, even admirable endeavor. The contributions of Bohr, Heisenberg, Born, Schrödinger, and other scientists and their interactions in the golden years of the creation of quantum mechanics are accurately and thrillingly rendered. There may be no better non-technical exposition of complementarity and the uncertainty principle than the one that Frayn puts into the mouths of Bohr and Heisenberg. The treatment of the history of the atomic bomb and Heisenberg's role in Germany's failure to achieve a bomb is another matter. Frayn can also be criticized for applying uncertainly and complementarity to the macroscopic world and, in particular, to human interactions, thereby giving some aid and comfort to the post-modernists. These reservations aside, Copenhagen is a beautiful contribution to the appreciation of science.

USSR report: life sciences. Biomedical and behavioral sciences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-09-01

Studies in life sciences, biomedical sciences, and behavioral sciences are reported. The following fields of interest were studied: agricultural biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, environment effects, medical demography, medicine, microbiology, physiology, radiation biology, and human factors engineering. For individual titles, see N82-33989 through N82-33994

Naturalized Philosophy of Science and Natural Science Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Siegel, Harvey

1993-01-01

Reviews the philosophical controversy concerning naturalism, and investigates the role it might play in the science classroom. Argues that science students can benefit from explicit study of this controversy and from explicit consideration of the extent to which philosophy of science can be studied naturalistically. (PR)

It's not rocket science : developing pupils’ science talent in out-of-school science education for primary schools

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geveke, Carla

2017-01-01

Out-of-school science educational activities, such as school visits to a science center, aim at stimulating pupils’ science talent. Science talent is a developmental potential that takes the form of talented behaviors such as curiosity and conceptual understanding. This dissertation investigates

It's not rocket science : Developing pupils’ science talent in out-of-school science education for Primary Schools

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geveke, Catherina

2017-01-01

Out-of-school science educational activities, such as school visits to a science center, aim at stimulating pupils’ science talent. Science talent is a developmental potential that takes the form of talented behaviors such as curiosity and conceptual understanding. This dissertation investigates

Preservice Elementary Teachers' Science Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Science Content Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Menon, Deepika; Sadler, Troy D.

2016-10-01

Self-efficacy beliefs that relate to teachers' motivation and performance have been an important area of concern for preservice teacher education. Research suggests high-quality science coursework has the potential to shape preservice teachers' science self-efficacy beliefs. However, there are few studies examining the relationship between science self-efficacy beliefs and science content knowledge. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to investigate changes in preservice teachers' science self-efficacy beliefs and science content knowledge and the relationship between the two variables as they co-evolve in a specialized science content course. Results from pre- and post-course administrations of the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument-B (Bleicher, 2004) and a physical science concept test along with semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and artifacts served as data sources for the study. The 18 participants belonged to three groups representing low, medium and high initial levels of self-efficacy beliefs. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance design was used to test the significance of differences between the pre- and post-surveys across time. Results indicated statistically significant gains in participants' science self-efficacy beliefs and science conceptual understandings. Additionally, a positive moderate relationship between gains in science conceptual understandings and gains in personal science teaching efficacy beliefs was found. Qualitative analysis of the participants' responses indicated positive shifts in their science teacher self-image and they credited their experiences in the course as sources of new levels of confidence to teach science. The study includes implications for preservice teacher education programs, science teacher education, and research.

DES Science Portal: II- Creating Science-Ready Catalogs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fausti Neto, Angelo; et al.

2017-08-18

We present a novel approach for creating science-ready catalogs through a software infrastructure developed for the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We integrate the data products released by the DES Data Management and additional products created by the DES collaboration in an environment known as DES Science Portal. Each step involved in the creation of a science-ready catalog is recorded in a relational database and can be recovered at any time. We describe how the DES Science Portal automates the creation and characterization of lightweight catalogs for DES Year 1 Annual Release, and show its flexibility in creating multiple catalogs with different inputs and configurations. Finally, we discuss the advantages of this infrastructure for large surveys such as DES and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. The capability of creating science-ready catalogs efficiently and with full control of the inputs and configurations used is an important asset for supporting science analysis using data from large astronomical surveys.

Science As A Second Language: Acquiring Fluency through Science Enterprises

Science.gov (United States)

Shope, R.; EcoVoices Expedition Team

2013-05-01

Science Enterprises are problems that students genuinely want to solve, questions that students genuinely want to answer, that naturally entail reading, writing, investigation, and discussion. Engaging students in personally-relevant science enterprises provides both a diagnostic opportunity and a context for providing students the comprehensible input they need. We can differentiate instruction by creating science enterprise zones that are set up for the incremental increase in challenge for the students. Comprehensible input makes reachable, those just-out-of-reach concepts in the mix of the familiar and the new. EcoVoices takes students on field research expeditions within an urban natural area, the San Gabriel River Discovery Center. This project engages students in science enterprises focused on understanding ecosystems, ecosystem services, and the dynamics of climate change. A sister program, EcoVoces, has been launched in Mexico, in collaboration with the Universidad Loyola del Pacífico. 1) The ED3U Science Inquiry Model, a learning cycle model that accounts for conceptual change: Explore { Diagnose, Design, Discuss } Use. 2) The ¿NQUIRY Wheel, a compass of scientific inquiry strategies; 3) Inquiry Science Expeditions, a way of laying out a science learning environment, emulating a field and lab research collaboratory; 4) The Science Educative Experience Scale, a diagnostic measure of the quality of the science learning experience; and 5) Mimedia de la Ciencia, participatory enactment of science concepts using techniques of mime and improvisational theater. BACKGROUND: Science has become a vehicle for teaching reading, writing, and other communication skills, across the curriculum. This new emphasis creates renewed motivation for Scientists and Science Educators to work collaboratively to explore the common ground between acquiring science understanding and language acquisition theory. Language Acquisition is an informal process that occurs in the midst of

Science access, career choices, achievement, and motivation: Perceptions of female science olympians

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Kelly Rae

Women remain under-represented in science career fields and this is especially evident in the physical sciences. Female students maintain equal science interest and achievement to male students in elementary school but by middle and high school they fall behind their male peers. Reasons cited for girls' declining interest in science include battling traditional gender stereotypes, lack of encouragement, and lack of female role models. Four main science concerns related to girls/women as indicated by research literature were science access, career choices, achievement, and motivation. In Georgia, some girls have made a break from the research trends by demonstrating their fervor for science through participation in the academic activity, Science Olympiad. The purpose of this study was to examine the science perceptions of girls who demonstrated science success by their participation in Science Olympiad. Utilizing phenomenological and feminist perspectives, the qualitative research method of focus group interviewing was used to address the research questions comprising the four science concerns of female science access, career choices, achievement, and motivation. The study participants were all girls/women who participated in Science Olympiad. A total of five focus groups were studied. One of the focus groups had current college undergraduates, former Science Olympians, in it while the others were composed of high school girls. Through the description of their science experiences, the participants shared their perceptions of the four science concerns. When addressing these science concerns, the participants revealed four factors that had most affected their science perceptions: the importance of support, science needs Serious Fun, teachers matter, and the bonuses of extracurricular involvement. In their experiences, the participants found success in science because they had teachers, parents, and peers who supported their academic interests, including science, and

A Science Products Inventory for Citizen-Science Planning and Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiggins, Andrea; Bonney, Rick; LeBuhn, Gretchen; Parrish, Julia K; Weltzin, Jake F

2018-06-01

Citizen science involves a range of practices involving public participation in scientific knowledge production, but outcomes evaluation is complicated by the diversity of the goals and forms of citizen science. Publications and citations are not adequate metrics to describe citizen-science productivity. We address this gap by contributing a science products inventory (SPI) tool, iteratively developed through an expert panel and case studies, intended to support general-purpose planning and evaluation of citizen-science projects with respect to science productivity. The SPI includes a collection of items for tracking the production of science outputs and data practices, which are described and illustrated with examples. Several opportunities for further development of the initial inventory are highlighted, as well as potential for using the inventory as a tool to guide project management, funding, and research on citizen science.

A science products inventory for citizen-science planning and evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Wiggins, Andrea; Bonney, Rick; LeBuhn, Gretchen; Parrish, Julia K.; Weltzin, Jake F.

2018-01-01

Citizen science involves a range of practices involving public participation in scientific knowledge production, but outcomes evaluation is complicated by the diversity of the goals and forms of citizen science. Publications and citations are not adequate metrics to describe citizen-science productivity. We address this gap by contributing a science products inventory (SPI) tool, iteratively developed through an expert panel and case studies, intended to support general-purpose planning and evaluation of citizen-science projects with respect to science productivity. The SPI includes a collection of items for tracking the production of science outputs and data practices, which are described and illustrated with examples. Several opportunities for further development of the initial inventory are highlighted, as well as potential for using the inventory as a tool to guide project management, funding, and research on citizen science.

A Science Products Inventory for Citizen-Science Planning and Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Wiggins, Andrea; Bonney, Rick; LeBuhn, Gretchen; Parrish, Julia K; Weltzin, Jake F

2018-01-01

Abstract Citizen science involves a range of practices involving public participation in scientific knowledge production, but outcomes evaluation is complicated by the diversity of the goals and forms of citizen science. Publications and citations are not adequate metrics to describe citizen-science productivity. We address this gap by contributing a science products inventory (SPI) tool, iteratively developed through an expert panel and case studies, intended to support general-purpose planning and evaluation of citizen-science projects with respect to science productivity. The SPI includes a collection of items for tracking the production of science outputs and data practices, which are described and illustrated with examples. Several opportunities for further development of the initial inventory are highlighted, as well as potential for using the inventory as a tool to guide project management, funding, and research on citizen science. PMID:29867254

Science as religion: when science becomes (too) irrational.

Science.gov (United States)

Muzur, Amir; Rinčić, Iva

2017-04-01

Science is expected to be objective: however, since practiced and produced by humans, it has to reflect human flows - prejudices, stubbornness, malice, and the tendency to be misused. No wonder an excellent scientist like John Eccles proclaimed science to be among the most personal activities he had known. By analysing a few examples from the history of science (in particular the intellectual development of Van Rensselaer Potter, the American onco-biochemist and bioethics pioneer), as well as the current trend of the evidence-based approach, the present paper will try to demonstrate that denying, distrusting, and opposing science for the sake of religion, as seen so many times in human history, has significant similarities to the overestimation of science we more often encounter in our times.

The Dissemination of Science and Science Journalism in Brazilian Universities: Analyzing Strategies that Facilitate Access to Science & Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuliana Batista Rodrigues de Queiroz

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article is a mapping of Brazilian universities that maintain a structured work for Science Journalism and / or the dissemination of science. It analyses the strategies used by the top 50 Brazilian universities for including dissemination of science in their communication activities. In order to do this each institution’s website was examined for the purpose of collecting a large sample size of universities that organize and prioritize the dissemination of science and science journalism, and make their studies and projects available to the public. The dissemination of science is a priority for only 15 universities; ones that have structured science journalism programs. 11 of these universities are among the top 25 in the country which indicates that there is a direct relationship between academic quality and dissemination of science. Thus, this study lends to a deeper understanding of the field of science journalism.

Materials Science | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

microscopy and imaging science, interfacial and surface science, materials discovery, and thin-film material Science Materials Science Illustration with bottom row showing a ball-and-stick model and top row dense black band. State-of-the-art advances in materials science come from a combination of experiments

In-Service Turkish Elementary and Science Teachers' Attitudes toward Science and Science Teaching: A Sample from Usak Province

Science.gov (United States)

Turkmen, Lutfullah

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to reveal Turkish elementary teachers' and science teachers' attitudes toward science and science teaching. The sample of the study, 138 in-service elementary level science teachers from a province of Turkey, was selected by a clustered sampling method. The Science Teaching Attitude Scale-II was employed to measure the…

Social representations of science and gender in Science teaching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bettina Heerdt

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the Social Representations (SR of teachers regarding the Nature of Science (NoS, gender issues in society, Science and in the teaching context. The theoretical approach is Moscovici’s SR associated to NoS discussions, Science feminist theories and Teaching of Science. A number of twenty-two teachers were part of this research. Data were collected through the filmic record. The lexical analysis was performed using the Alceste software. Four classes were formed: NoS, Gender and women in Science, Gender and teaching context, and Gender and society. In the areas of the teachers’ education, it was not possible to find significant differences in SR. Through empirical data, the distinct argumentation of men and women is noticed. The SR of men, naturalized, discriminatory and of gender issue denial in society and Science, is more forceful than of women. It is necessary, in the initial and continued education, the problematization of gender issues in Science.

Science Standards, Science Achievement, and Attitudes about Evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Belin, Charlie M.; Kisida, Brian

2015-01-01

This article explores the relationships between (a) the quality of state science standards and student science achievement, (b) the public's belief in teaching evolution and the quality of state standards, and (c) the public's belief in teaching evolution and student science achievement. Using multiple measures, we find no evidence of a…

Bulletin of Materials Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Ming Kang1 2 Xiaoming Liao1 Guangfu Yin1 Xun Sun3 Xing Yin4 Lu Xie4 Jun Liu2. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China; College of Material Science and Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, China; Department of ...

Women in Science | Initiatives | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

... Journal of Chemical Sciences · Journal of Earth System Science · Journal of ... and to suggest recommendations, the Council of the Indian Academy of Sciences ... in January 2005, to carry out recommendations made by the committee and to ... An article published in "The Guardian" on 10 best unsung female scientists.

Nature of Science or Nature of the Sciences?

Science.gov (United States)

Schizas, Dimitrios; Psillos, Dimitris; Stamou, George

2016-01-01

The present essay examines the emerging issue of domain-general versus domain-specific nature of science (NOS) understandings from a perspective that illuminates the value of domain-specific philosophies of science for the growth and development of the NOS educational field. Under the assumption that individual sciences do have their own…

Open Science: a first step towards Science Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Grigorov, Ivo; Tuddenham, Peter

2015-04-01

As Earth Science communicators gear up to adopt the new tools and captivating approaches to engage citizen scientists, budding entrepreneurs, policy makers and the public in general, researchers have the responsibility, and opportunity, to fully adopt Open Science principles and capitalize on its full societal impact and engagement. Open Science is about removing all barriers to basic research, whatever its formats, so that it can be freely used, re-used and re-hashed, thus fueling discourse and accelerating generation of innovative ideas. The concept is central to EU's Responsible Research and Innovation philosophy, and removing barriers to basic research measurably contributes to engaging citizen scientists into the research process, it sets the scene for co-creation of solutions to societal challenges, and raises the general science literacy level of the public. Despite this potential, only 50% of today's basic research is freely available. Open Science can be the first passive step of communicating marine research outside academia. Full and unrestricted access to our knowledge including data, software code and scientific publications is not just an ethical obligation, but also gives solid credibility to a more sophisticated communication strategy on engaging society. The presentation will demonstrate how Open Science perfectly compliments a coherent communication strategy for placing Marine Research in societal context, and how it underpin an effective integration of Ocean & Earth Literacy principles in standard educational, as well mobilizing citizen marine scientists, thus making marine science Open Science.

Science in Cinema. Teaching Science Fact through Science Fiction Films.

Science.gov (United States)

Dubeck, Leroy W.; And Others

Many feel that secondary school graduates are not prepared to compete in a world of rapidly expanding technology. High school and college students in the United States often prefer fantasy to science. This book offers a strategy for overcoming student apathy toward the physical sciences by harnessing the power of the cinema. In it, ten popular…

Advancing the Science of Team Science

Science.gov (United States)

Falk‐Krzesinski, Holly J.; Börner, Katy; Contractor, Noshir; Fiore, Stephen M.; Hall, Kara L.; Keyton, Joann; Spring, Bonnie; Stokols, Daniel; Trochim, William; Uzzi, Brian

2010-01-01

Abstract The First Annual International Science of Team Science (SciTS) Conference was held in Chicago, IL April 22–24, 2010. This article presents a summary of the Conference proceedings. Clin Trans Sci 2010; Volume 3: 263–266. PMID:20973925

Citizen science can improve conservation science, natural resource management, and environmental protection

Science.gov (United States)

McKinley, Duncan C.; Miller-Rushing, Abe J.; Ballard, Heidi L.; Bonney, Rick; Brown, Hutch; Cook-Patton, Susan; Evans, Daniel M.; French, Rebecca A.; Parrish, Julia; Phillips, Tina B.; Ryan, Sean F.; Shanley, Lea A.; Shirk, Jennifer L.; Stepenuck, Kristine F.; Weltzin, Jake F.; Wiggins, Andrea; Boyle, Owen D.; Briggs, Russell D.; Chapin, Stuart F.; Hewitt, David A.; Preuss, Peter W.; Soukup, Michael A.

2017-01-01

Citizen science has advanced science for hundreds of years, contributed to many peer-reviewed articles, and informed land management decisions and policies across the United States. Over the last 10 years, citizen science has grown immensely in the United States and many other countries. Here, we show how citizen science is a powerful tool for tackling many of the challenges faced in the field of conservation biology. We describe the two interwoven paths by which citizen science can improve conservation efforts, natural resource management, and environmental protection. The first path includes building scientific knowledge, while the other path involves informing policy and encouraging public action. We explore how citizen science is currently used and describe the investments needed to create a citizen science program. We find that:Citizen science already contributes substantially to many domains of science, including conservation, natural resource, and environmental science. Citizen science informs natural resource management, environmental protection, and policymaking and fosters public input and engagement.Many types of projects can benefit from citizen science, but one must be careful to match the needs for science and public involvement with the right type of citizen science project and the right method of public participation.Citizen science is a rigorous process of scientific discovery, indistinguishable from conventional science apart from the participation of volunteers. When properly designed, carried out, and evaluated, citizen science can provide sound science, efficiently generate high-quality data, and help solve problems.

Parents' and children's beliefs about science and science careers

Science.gov (United States)

Telfer, Jo Ann

Science has become an essential part of our cultural, social and technological lives. Around the world economic policies are giving high priority to the production of new knowledge generated by scientists. Unfortunately, gender equality in science-related careers has not been achieved. Women who possess high intellectual and personal abilities are succeeding in many occupational areas previously closed to all but the most impervious women, but females are still largely underrepresented in physical science and mathematics related careers. The purpose of the current study was to examine the reasons for this underrepresentation of women in science-related careers. Participants included a subset of mothers (n = 174), fathers (n = 132) and children (n = 186) from a larger study at the University of Calgary entitled Gender Differences in Student Participation and Achievement in the Sciences: Choice or Chance ? Telephone interview and survey questionnaire data were examined for gender and achievement level differences, focusing on high achieving girls who are most likely to succeed in science-related careers. Relationships between parents' and children's responses were also examined using the theoretical construct of Eccles' Model of Achievement Related Choices. Gathered data were studied using factor analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, analysis of variance as well as categorical analysis of qualitative results. Girls and boys achieved similar grades on all academic measures except the Alberta Science Achievement Test, where boys scored significantly higher than girls. Mothers, fathers, and children indicated positive attitudes towards science, no gender stereotyping about science and science careers, and gender neutral beliefs about science achievement. Gender differences were found in expressed possibility of future career choice. Science/Professional Careers were viewed as male occupations by mothers and children, but as gender neutral occupations by fathers

Science Fiction in the Political Science Classroom: A Comment

Science.gov (United States)

Landers, Clifford E.

1977-01-01

Science fiction can be used for introducing and analyzing political concepts at the undergraduate level for either a specialized theory-oriented course such as Political Science Fiction or an Introduction to Political Science course. (Author/RM)

Learning Science and the Science of Learning. Science Educators' Essay Collection.

Science.gov (United States)

Bybee, Rodger W., Ed.

This yearbook addresses critical issues in science learning and teaching. Contents are divided into four sections: (1) "How Do Students Learn Science?"; (2) "Designing Curriculum for Student Learning"; (3) "Teaching That Enhances Student Learning"; and (4) "Assessing Student Learning." Papers include: (1) "How Students Learn and How Teachers…

Midwest Science Festival: Exploring Students' and Parents' Participation in and Attitudes Toward Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Dippel, Elizabeth A; Mechels, Keegan B; Griese, Emily R; Laufmann, Rachel N; Weimer, Jill M

2016-08-01

Compared to national numbers, South Dakota has a higher proportion of students interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Interest in science can be influenced by exposure to science through formal and informal learning. Informal science activities (including exposures and participation) have been found to elicit higher levels of interest in science, likely impacting one's attitude towards science overall. The current study goal is to better understand the levels and relationships of attitude, exposure, and participation in science that were present among students and parents attending a free science festival. The project collected survey data from 65 students and 79 parents attending a science festival ranging from age 6 to 65. Informal science participation is significantly related to science attitudes in students and informal science exposure is not. No relationship was found for parents between science attitudes and participation. Students who indicated high levels of informal science participation (i.e., reading science-themed books) were positively related to their attitudes regarding science. However, informal science exposures, such as attending the zoo or independently visiting a science lab, was not significantly associated with positive attitudes towards science.

Do compulsory secondary science courses change students’ attitude towards studying science?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Lærke Elisabeth; Petersen, Morten Rask

2015-01-01

recruitment to STEM education has been a compulsory course in the Gymnasium called Natural Science Subject (NSS). This is an interdisciplinary, introductory course with the intention that students shall “ … realize the importance of knowing and understanding natural science thinking” (Authors translation...... science and science careers. In this approach we ended up with the following research question: “Does a compulsory introductory sciences course have an impact on students’ attitude towards studying sciences in secondary school?” In this approach we chose to use parameters as motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2002...... Subject course. The distribution included all levels (K10-K12) and all study lines. Student answers were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U-test using SPSS statistics 22 as analytical tool. Comparisons for this study were made across study lines (natural science vs. human science & social science...

The Presentation of Science in Everyday Life: The Science Show

Science.gov (United States)

Watermeyer, Richard

2013-01-01

This paper constitutes a case-study of the "science show" model of public engagement employed by a company of science communicators focused on the popularization of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subject disciplines with learner constituencies. It examines the potential of the science show to foster the interest…

Turkish Pre-Service Science Teachers' Views on Science-Technology-Society Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Yalvac, Bugrahan; Tekkaya, Ceren; Cakiroglu, Jale; Kahyaoglu, Elvan

2007-01-01

The international science education community recognises the role of pre-service science teachers' views about the interdependence of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) in achieving scientific literacy for all. To this end, pre-service science teachers' STS views signal the strengths and the weaknesses of science education reform movements.…

Science Lives: Women and Minorities in the Sciences.

Science.gov (United States)

Minnesota Univ., Minneapolis. KUOM Radio.

This pamphlet and accompanying brochure of the same title describe a radio series of 13 half hour programs on the participation of women and minorities in science in the United States. The series attempts to make the public aware of the crisis in the sciences and science education and provides role models for young people, particularly young women…

Science 101: What Constitutes a Good Science Project

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Bill

2016-01-01

Having written columns dealing with science fairs before, Bill Robertson notes that it's been a long time since he has tackled the subject of what passes for a "science fair" in schools these days. Because science fairs have changed over the years, Robertson revisits the topic and explains the scientific method. The main focus of the…

Towards Building Science Teachers’ Understandings of Contemporary Science Practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Greg Lancaster

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Faculties of Education and Science at Monash University have designed a Masters unit to assist pre-service and in-service science teachers in exploring the practices of contemporary science and examine how varied understandings can influence science communication. Teachers are encouraged to explore their current understandings of the Nature of Science (NoS and to contrast their views with those known to be widely held by society (Cobern & Loving, 1998. Teachers are challenged to provide insights into their thinking relating to the NoS. In order to build understandings of contemporary science practice each teacher shadows a research scientist and engages them in conversations intended to explore the scientists’ views of NoS and practice. Findings suggest that teachers were initially uncomfortable with the challenge to express ideas relating to their NoS and were also surprised how diverse the views of NoS can be among teachers, scientists and their peers, and that these views can directly impact ways of communicating contemporary science practice.

Constructivism in Science and Science Education: A Philosophical Critique

Science.gov (United States)

Nola, Robert

This paper argues that constructivist science education works with an unsatisfactory account of knowledge which affects both its account of the nature of science and of science education. The paper begins with a brief survey of realism and anti-realism in science and the varieties of constructivism that can be found. In the second section the important conception of knowledge and teaching that Plato develops in the Meno is contrasted with constructivism. The section ends with an account of the contribution that Vico (as understood by constructivists), Kant and Piaget have made to constructivist doctrines. Section three is devoted to a critique of the theory of knowledge and the anti-realism of von Glaserfeld. The final section considers the connection, or lack of it, between the constructivist view of science and knowledge and the teaching of science.

Global Patterns in Students' Views of Science and Interest in Science

Science.gov (United States)

van Griethuijsen, Ralf A. L. F.; van Eijck, Michiel W.; Haste, Helen; den Brok, Perry J.; Skinner, Nigel C.; Mansour, Nasser; Savran Gencer, Ayse; BouJaoude, Saouma

2015-08-01

International studies have shown that interest in science and technology among primary and secondary school students in Western European countries is low and seems to be decreasing. In many countries outside Europe, and especially in developing countries, interest in science and technology remains strong. As part of the large-scale European Union funded `Science Education for Diversity' project, a questionnaire probing potential reasons for this difference was completed by students in the UK, Netherlands, Turkey, Lebanon, India and Malaysia. This questionnaire sought information about favourite courses, extracurricular activities and views on the nature of science. Over 9,000 students aged mainly between 10 and 14 years completed the questionnaire. Results revealed that students in countries outside Western Europe showed a greater interest in school science, in careers related to science and in extracurricular activities related to science than did Western European students. Non-European students were also more likely to hold an empiricist view of the nature of science and to believe that science can solve many problems faced by the world. Multilevel analysis revealed a strong correlation between interest in science and having such a view of the Nature of Science.

Teaching Science as Science Is Practiced: Opportunities and Limits for Enhancing Preservice Elementary Teachers' Self-Efficacy for Science and Science Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Avery, Leanne M.; Meyer, Daniel Z.

2012-01-01

Science teaching in elementary schools, or the lack thereof, continues to be an area of concern and criticism. Preservice elementary teachers' lack of confidence in teaching science is a major part of this problem. In this mixed-methods study, we report the impacts of an inquiry-based science course on preservice elementary teachers' self-efficacy…

Online citizen science games: Opportunities for the biological sciences.

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, Vickie

2014-12-01

Recent developments in digital technologies and the rise of the Internet have created new opportunities for citizen science. One of these has been the development of online citizen science games where complex research problems have been re-imagined as online multiplayer computer games. Some of the most successful examples of these can be found within the biological sciences, for example, Foldit, Phylo and EteRNA. These games offer scientists the opportunity to crowdsource research problems, and to engage with those outside the research community. Games also enable those without a background in science to make a valid contribution to research, and may also offer opportunities for informal science learning.

Science and anti-science

CERN Document Server

Holton, Gerald

1997-01-01

What is good science? What goal--if any--is the proper end of scientific activity? Is there a legitimating authority that scientists mayclaim? Howserious athreat are the anti-science movements? These questions have long been debated but, as Gerald Holton points out, every era must offer its own responses. This book examines these questions not in the abstract but shows their historic roots and the answers emerging from the scientific and political controversies of this century. Employing the case-study method and the concept of scientific thematathat he has pioneered, Holton displays the broad scope of his insight into the workings of science: from the influence of Ernst Mach on twentiethcentury physicists, biologists, psychologists, and other thinkers to the rhetorical strategies used in the work of Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, and others; from the bickering between Thomas Jefferson and the U.S. Congress over the proper form of federal sponsorship of scientific research to philosophical debates since Oswald...

Studying Students' Science Literacy: Non-Scientific Beliefs and Science Literacy Measures

Science.gov (United States)

Impey, C.; Buxner, S.

2015-11-01

We have been conducting a study of university students' science literacy for the past 24 years. Based on the work of the National Science Board's ongoing national survey of the US public, we have administered the same survey to undergraduate science students at the University of Arizona almost every year since 1989. Results have shown relatively little change in students' overall science literacy, descriptions of science, and knowledge of basic science topics for almost a quarter of a century despite an increase in education interventions, the rise of the internet, and increased access to knowledge. Several trends do exist in students' science literacy and descriptions of science. Students who exhibit beliefs in non-scientific phenomenon (e.g., lucky numbers, creationism) consistently have lower science literacy scores and less correct descriptions of scientific phenomenon. Although not surprising, our results support ongoing efforts to help students generate evidence based thinking.

FWP executive summaries: Basic energy sciences materials sciences programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Samara, G.A.

1996-02-01

This report provides an Executive Summary of the various elements of the Materials Sciences Program which is funded by the Division of Materials Sciences, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico.

Science and Community Engagement: Connecting Science Students with the Community

Science.gov (United States)

Lancor, Rachael; Schiebel, Amy

2018-01-01

In this article we describe a course on science outreach that was developed as part of our college's goal that all students participate in a meaningful community engagement experience. The Science & Community Engagement course provides a way for students with science or science-related majors to learn how to effectively communicate scientific…

Science of learning is learning of science: why we need a dialectical approach to science education research

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, Wolff-Michael

2012-06-01

Research on learning science in informal settings and the formal (sometimes experimental) study of learning in classrooms or psychological laboratories tend to be separate domains, even drawing on different theories and methods. These differences make it difficult to compare knowing and learning observed in one paradigm/context with those observed in the other. Even more interestingly, the scientists studying science learning rarely consider their own learning in relation to the phenomena they study. A dialectical, reflexive approach to learning, however, would theorize the movement of an educational science (its learning and development) as a special and general case—subject matter and method—of the phenomenon of learning (in/of) science. In the dialectical approach to the study of science learning, therefore, subject matter, method, and theory fall together. This allows for a perspective in which not only disparate fields of study—school science learning and learning in everyday life—are integrated but also where the progress in the science of science learning coincides with its topic. Following the articulation of a contradictory situation on comparing learning in different settings, I describe the dialectical approach. As a way of providing a concrete example, I then trace the historical movement of my own research group as it simultaneously and alternately studied science learning in formal and informal settings. I conclude by recommending cultural-historical, dialectical approaches to learning and interaction analysis as a context for fruitful interdisciplinary research on science learning within and across different settings.

The Science of Sex Differences in Science and Mathematics

Science.gov (United States)

Halpern, Diane F.; Benbow, Camilla P.; Geary, David C.; Gur, Ruben C.; Hyde, Janet Shibley; Gernsbacher, Morton Ann

2014-01-01

Summary Amid ongoing public speculation about the reasons for sex differences in careers in science and mathematics, we present a consensus statement that is based on the best available scientific evidence. Sex differences in science and math achievement and ability are smaller for the mid-range of the abilities distribution than they are for those with the highest levels of achievement and ability. Males are more variable on most measures of quantitative and visuospatial ability, which necessarily results in more males at both high- and low-ability extremes; the reasons why males are often more variable remain elusive. Successful careers in math and science require many types of cognitive abilities. Females tend to excel in verbal abilities, with large differences between females and males found when assessments include writing samples. High-level achievement in science and math requires the ability to communicate effectively and comprehend abstract ideas, so the female advantage in writing should be helpful in all academic domains. Males outperform females on most measures of visuospatial abilities, which have been implicated as contributing to sex differences on standardized exams in mathematics and science. An evolutionary account of sex differences in mathematics and science supports the conclusion that, although sex differences in math and science performance have not directly evolved, they could be indirectly related to differences in interests and specific brain and cognitive systems. We review the brain basis for sex differences in science and mathematics, describe consistent effects, and identify numerous possible correlates. Experience alters brain structures and functioning, so causal statements about brain differences and success in math and science are circular. A wide range of sociocultural forces contribute to sex differences in mathematics and science achievement and ability—including the effects of family, neighborhood, peer, and school

Plans of mice and men: from bench science to science policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, Ian D

2011-09-01

The transition from bench science to science policy is not always a smooth one, and my journey stretched as far as the unemployment line to the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol. While earning my doctorate in microbiology, I found myself more interested in my political activities than my experiments. Thus, my science policy career aspirations were born from merging my love of science with my interest in policy and politics. After receiving my doctorate, I accepted the Henry Luce Scholarship, which allowed me to live in South Korea for 1 year and delve into the field of science policy research. This introduction into science policy occurred at the South Korean think tank called the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI). During that year, I used textbooks, colleagues, and hands-on research projects as my educational introduction into the social science of science and technology decision-making. However, upon returning to the United States during one of the worst job markets in nearly 80 years, securing a position in science policy proved to be very difficult, and I was unemployed for five months. Ultimately, it took more than a year from the end of the Luce Scholarship to obtain my next science policy position with the American Society for Microbiology Congressional Fellowship. This fellowship gave me the opportunity to work as the science and public health advisor to U.S. Senator Harry Reid. While there were significant challenges during my transition from the laboratory to science policy, those challenges made me tougher, more appreciative, and more prepared to move from working at the bench to working in the field of science policy. Copyright © 2011.

A Career in Science | Women in Science | Initiatives | Indian ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Journals · Overview · Bulletin of Materials Science · DIALOGUE: Science, ... Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore ... Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram ... The Panel organized a one day Lecture on the occasion of International ...

Bridging Science and Policy: The AGU Science Policy Conference

Science.gov (United States)

Hankin, E. R.; Uhlenbrock, K.; Landau, E. A.

2013-12-01

In recent years, science has become inextricably linked to the political process. As such, it is more important now than ever for science to forge a better relationship with politics, for the health of both science and society. To help meet this need, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) strives to engage its members, shape policy, and inform society about the excitement of Earth and space science and its role in developing solutions for the sustainability of the planet. In June 2013, AGU held its second annual Science Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. The goal of the conference is to provide a new forum for diverse discussions and viewpoints on the challenges and opportunities of science policy, with a focus on applications of Earth and space science that serve local, national, and international communities. The meeting brought together more than 300 scientists, policy makers, industry professionals, members of the press, and other stakeholders to discuss the topics concerning the Arctic, climate change, oceans, energy, technology and infrastructure, and natural hazards science as they relate to challenges impacting society. Sessions such as 'The Water-Energy Nexus,' 'Potential for Megadisasters,' 'The Changing Ocean and Impacts on Human Health,' and 'Drowning and Drought: Agricultural Impacts of Climate Change' are examples of some of the intriguing and timely science policy issues addressed at the conference. The findings from the conference were used to develop a summary report. The report highlights key facts and figures to be used as a resource in discussions with policy makers and other stakeholders regarding the conference topics. This presentation will discuss the goals and outcomes of the conference and how the event represents one of the many ways AGU is approaching its 'Science and Society' priority objective as part of the Union's strategic plan; namely by increasing the effectiveness and recognition of AGU among policy makers as an authoritative

Science-Technology-Society (STS): A New Paradigm in Science Education

Science.gov (United States)

Mansour, Nasser

2009-01-01

Changes in the past two decades of goals for science education in schools have induced new orientations in science education worldwide. One of the emerging complementary approaches was the science-technology-society (STS) movement. STS has been called the current megatrend in science education. Others have called it a paradigm shift for the field…

The Next Generation Science Standards: A Focus on Physical Science

Science.gov (United States)

Krajcik, Joe

2013-01-01

This article describes ways to adapt U.S. science curriculum to the U.S. National Research Council (NRC) "Framework for K-12 Science Education" and "Next Generation of Science Standards" (NGSS), noting their focus on teaching the physical sciences. The overall goal of the Framework and NGSS is to help all learners develop the…

Commonly Shared Foundation of Mathematics, Information Science, Natural Science, Social Science, and Theology

OpenAIRE

Wayne, James J.

2014-01-01

Through a simple thought experiment, this paper shows that there must be a shared foundation of mathematics, information science, natural science, social science, and theology. The thought experiment is to ask a volunteer to write down an arbitrary real number between 0 and 1 with many digits. For example, 0.19823765010367129462…. would be one of such numbers. Then we analyze this experiment result by asking five simple questions: Is the real number a random real? Can the observed real numbe...

Making Philosophy of Science Education Practical for Science Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Janssen, F. J. J. M.; van Berkel, B.

2015-04-01

Philosophy of science education can play a vital role in the preparation and professional development of science teachers. In order to fulfill this role a philosophy of science education should be made practical for teachers. First, multiple and inherently incomplete philosophies on the teacher and teaching on what, how and why should be integrated. In this paper we describe our philosophy of science education (ASSET approach) which is composed of bounded rationalism as a guideline for understanding teachers' practical reasoning, liberal education underlying the why of teaching, scientific perspectivism as guideline for the what and educational social constructivism as guiding choices about the how of science education. Integration of multiple philosophies into a coherent philosophy of science education is necessary but not sufficient to make it practical for teachers. Philosophies are still formulated at a too abstract level to guide teachers' practical reasoning. For this purpose, a heuristic model must be developed on an intermediate level of abstraction that will provide teachers with a bridge between these abstract ideas and their specific teaching situation. We have developed and validated such a heuristic model, the CLASS model in order to complement our ASSET approach. We illustrate how science teachers use the ASSET approach and the CLASS model to make choices about the what, the how and the why of science teaching.

A call for more science in forensic science.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Suzanne; Sah, Sunita; Albright, Thomas D; Gates, S James; Denton, M Bonner; Casadevall, Arturo

2018-05-01

Forensic science is critical to the administration of justice. The discipline of forensic science is remarkably complex and includes methodologies ranging from DNA analysis to chemical composition to pattern recognition. Many forensic practices developed under the auspices of law enforcement and were vetted primarily by the legal system rather than being subjected to scientific scrutiny and empirical testing. Beginning in the 1990s, exonerations based on DNA-related methods revealed problems with some forensic disciplines, leading to calls for major reforms. This process generated a National Academy of Science report in 2009 that was highly critical of many forensic practices and eventually led to the establishment of the National Commission for Forensic Science (NCFS) in 2013. The NCFS was a deliberative body that catalyzed communication between nonforensic scientists, forensic scientists, and other stakeholders in the legal community. In 2017, despite continuing problems with forensic science, the Department of Justice terminated the NCFS. Just when forensic science needs the most support, it is getting the least. We urge the larger scientific community to come to the aid of our forensic colleagues by advocating for urgently needed research, testing, and financial support.

Sports-science roundtable: does sports-science research influence practice?

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, David; Burnett, Angus; Farrow, Damian; Gabbett, Tim; Newton, Robert

2006-06-01

As sports scientists, we claim to make a significant contribution to the body of knowledge that influences athletic practice and performance. Is this the reality? At the inaugural congress of the Australian Association for Exercise and Sports Science, a panel of well-credentialed academic experts with experience in the applied environment debated the question, Does sports-science research influence practice? The first task was to define "sports-science research," and it was generally agreed that it is concerned with providing evidence that improves sports performance. When practices are equally effective, sports scientists also have a role in identifying practices that are safer, more time efficient, and more enjoyable. There were varying views on the need for sports-science research to be immediately relevant to coaches or athletes. Most agreed on the importance of communicating the results of sports-science research, not only to the academic community but also to coaches and athletes, and the need to encourage both short- and long-term research. The panelists then listed examples of sports-science research that they believe have influenced practice, as well as strategies to ensure that sports-science research better influences practice.

Nine meta-functions for science museums and science centres

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Achiam, Marianne; Sølberg, Jan

2017-01-01

Science centres and science museums face challenges such as increased accountability, increased demands for accessibility, and growing competition from leisure experiences. On their own, the traditional museum practices of preservation, communication, and research are insufficient to address...... Ecsite conference, to map out how these institutions address modern-day challenges. This analysis generates a new framework of nine meta-functions for science centres and science museums that can guide and help qualify discussions about their present and future activities. We discuss the new meta...

Ethical Problems in Teaching: "Paramedic" Training.

Science.gov (United States)

McCormick, Donald W.

1994-01-01

Discusses ethical dilemmas that professors face in the classroom, drawing on three examples involving students: (1) discussing the illegal activities of an employer; (2) participating in politically controversial military activities; and (3) making racist comments. Argues that academic and professional organizations should issue codes of ethics…

Senior High School Earth Sciences and Marine Sciences.

Science.gov (United States)

Hackenberg, Mary; And Others

This guide was developed for earth sciences and marine sciences instruction in the senior high schools of Duval County, Jacksonville, Florida. The subjects covered are: (1) Earth Science for 10th, 11th, and 12th graders; (2) Marine Biology I for 10th, 11th, and 12th graders; (3) Marine Biology II, Advanced, for 11th and 12th graders; (4) Marine…

U-Science (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Borne, K. D.

2009-12-01

The emergence of e-Science over the past decade as a paradigm for Internet-based science was an inevitable evolution of science that built upon the web protocols and access patterns that were prevalent at that time, including Web Services, XML-based information exchange, machine-to-machine communication, service registries, the Grid, and distributed data. We now see a major shift in web behavior patterns to social networks, user-provided content (e.g., tags and annotations), ubiquitous devices, user-centric experiences, and user-led activities. The inevitable accrual of these social networking patterns and protocols by scientists and science projects leads to U-Science as a new paradigm for online scientific research (i.e., ubiquitous, user-led, untethered, You-centered science). U-Science applications include components from semantic e-science (ontologies, taxonomies, folksonomies, tagging, annotations, and classification systems), which is much more than Web 2.0-based science (Wikis, blogs, and online environments like Second Life). Among the best examples of U-Science are Citizen Science projects, including Galaxy Zoo, Stardust@Home, Project Budburst, Volksdata, CoCoRaHS (the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow network), and projects utilizing Volunteer Geographic Information (VGI). There are also scientist-led projects for scientists that engage a wider community in building knowledge through user-provided content. Among the semantic-based U-Science projects for scientists are those that specifically enable user-based annotation of scientific results in databases. These include the Heliophysics Knowledgebase, BioDAS, WikiProteins, The Entity Describer, and eventually AstroDAS. Such collaborative tagging of scientific data addresses several petascale data challenges for scientists: how to find the most relevant data, how to reuse those data, how to integrate data from multiple sources, how to mine and discover new knowledge in large databases, how to

Journal of Earth System Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

... 835 215, India. Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India. Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India. Laboratoire Image Ville Environnement, UMR 7362CNRS/UDS, 3, rue de l'Argonne, 67000 Strasbourg, France.

From learning science to teaching science: What transfers?

Science.gov (United States)

Harlow, Danielle Boyd

As educational researchers and teacher educators, we have the responsibility to help teachers gain the skills and knowledge necessary to provide meaningful learning activities for their students. For elementary school science, this means helping teachers create situations in which children can participate in the practices associated with scientific inquiry. Through the framework of transfer I investigated how a professional development course based on an inquiry-based physics curriculum influenced five elementary teachers teaching practices and identified the factors that led to or hindered this transfer. In this study, evidence of transfer consisted of episodes where the teachers used the ideas learned in the physics course to solve new problems such as transforming activities to be appropriate for their students and responding to unexpected students' ideas. The findings of this study highlight the many different ways that teachers use what they learn in content courses to teach science to elementary children. While some teachers transferred pedagogical practices along with the content, others transformed the content to be useful in already existing pedagogical frameworks, and still others show little or no evidence of transfer. What the teachers transferred depended upon their existing teaching context as well as their prior ideas about teaching science and physics content. Specifically, the findings of this study suggest that the teachers transferred only what they sought from the course. One implication of this study is that the sort of science training we provide teachers can affect far more than just the teachers' conceptual understanding of science and performance on written conceptual exams. Science courses have the potential to impact the sort of science education that K-5 children receive in elementary classrooms in terms of the topics taught but the way that science is represented. An additional implication is that teaching science to teachers in ways

Science as Content, Science as Context: Working in the Science Department

Science.gov (United States)

Wildy, Helen; Wallace, John

2004-01-01

In this study we explored how the science department shaped the relationship between a science department head, Mr Greg, and a teacher, Ms Horton, as they grappled with their expectations of, and responsibilities for, teaching and leadership in the daily life in the department. We found that, from their life histories and their positions in the…

How does a Next Generation Science Standard Aligned, Inquiry Based, Science Unit Impact Student Achievement of Science Practices and Student Science Efficacy in an Elementary Classroom?

Science.gov (United States)

Whittington, Kayla Lee

This study examined the impact of an inquiry based Next Generation Science Standard aligned science unit on elementary students' understanding and application of the eight Science and Engineering Practices and their relation in building student problem solving skills. The study involved 44 second grade students and three participating classroom teachers. The treatment consisted of a school district developed Second Grade Earth Science unit: What is happening to our playground? that was taught at the beginning of the school year. Quantitative results from a Likert type scale pre and post survey and from student content knowledge assessments showed growth in student belief of their own abilities in the science classroom. Qualitative data gathered from student observations and interviews performed at the conclusion of the Earth Science unit further show gains in student understanding and attitudes. This study adds to the existing literature on the importance of standard aligned, inquiry based science curriculum that provides time for students to engage in science practices.

Science Shops

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Michael Søgaard

1999-01-01

The paper prsents the overall concept of science shops as practised in most of the European science shops and present the concept practised and some experience obtained at the Technical University of Denmark. An outline for the planning of new sceince shops is presented.......The paper prsents the overall concept of science shops as practised in most of the European science shops and present the concept practised and some experience obtained at the Technical University of Denmark. An outline for the planning of new sceince shops is presented....

Information Science Roles in the Emerging Field of Data Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gary Marchionini

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The article discusses how data science emerges from information science,statistics, computer science, and knowledge domain. Schools of information stand as meaningful and substantive entities that are critical to the education of scholars and practitioners who work across a wide range of enterprises. Data science is but one emerging field that will benefit from information school engagement.

The Los Alamos Science Pillars The Science of Signatures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, Joshua E. [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Peterson, Eugene J. [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2012-09-13

As a national security science laboratory, Los Alamos is often asked to detect and measure the characteristics of complex systems and to use the resulting information to quantify the system's behavior. The Science of Signatures (SoS) pillar is the broad suite of technical expertise and capability that we use to accomplish this task. With it, we discover new signatures, develop new methods for detecting or measuring signatures, and deploy new detection technologies. The breadth of work at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in SoS is impressive and spans from the initial understanding of nuclear weapon performance during the Manhattan Project, to unraveling the human genome, to deploying laser spectroscopy instrumentation on Mars. Clearly, SoS is a primary science area for the Laboratory and we foresee that as it matures, new regimes of signatures will be discovered and new ways of extracting information from existing data streams will be developed. These advances will in turn drive the development of sensing instrumentation and sensor deployment. The Science of Signatures is one of three science pillars championed by the Laboratory and vital to supporting our status as a leading national security science laboratory. As with the other two pillars, Materials for the Future and Information Science and Technology for Predictive Science (IS&T), SoS relies on the integration of technical disciplines and the multidisciplinary science and engineering that is our hallmark to tackle the most difficult national security challenges. Over nine months in 2011 and 2012, a team of science leaders from across the Laboratory has worked to develop a SoS strategy that positions us for the future. The crafting of this strategy has been championed by the Chemistry, Life, and Earth Sciences Directorate, but as you will see from this document, SoS is truly an Institution-wide effort and it has engagement from every organization at the Laboratory. This process tapped the insight and

Engaging a Rural Community with Science through a Science Café

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, P. E.

2012-12-01

Public awareness about science and science issues is often lacking in the general community; in a rural community there are even fewer options for an interested person to engage with others on science topics. One approach to address this issue is through the use of the Science Café model of citizen science at the local level. The Science Café concept, for the United States, originated in Boston (http://www.sciencecafes.org/). Science Café events are held in informal settings, such as restaurants, pubs, or coffee houses with presentations being provided by experts on the subject. The format is designed to promote discussion and questions. Fort Hays State University Science and Mathematics Institute (SMEI), located in Hays, KS, is now in its fifth year of hosting a science café in a community of 20,000 people. The program in Hays started as a grassroots effort from an area high school teacher asking SMEI to organize and support the program. Attendance at the Science Café has range from 14 to 75 people (fire code capacity!), with an average attendance of 30 people. The audience for our Science Café has been citizens, college students, high school students, and university faculty. The presenters at the Hays Science Café have ranged from scientists to engineers, high school students to hobbyists. Our topics have ranged from searching for life in the universe, wind energy, paleo-life in Kansas, climate change, honey bees, and planetary science. The program has developed a strong following in the community and has led to the formation of additional Science Café programs in Kansas. Selection of topics is based on community interest and timeliness. Publicity occurs through posters, e-mail, and social media outlets. Participants have found the sessions to be of interest and a place to learn more about the world and become informed about issues in the news. The Science Café in Hays has had a positive impact on the community.

Emerging areas of science: Recommendations for Nursing Science Education from the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science Idea Festival.

Science.gov (United States)

Henly, Susan J; McCarthy, Donna O; Wyman, Jean F; Heitkemper, Margaret M; Redeker, Nancy S; Titler, Marita G; McCarthy, Ann Marie; Stone, Patricia W; Moore, Shirley M; Alt-White, Anna C; Conley, Yvette P; Dunbar-Jacob, Jacqueline

2015-01-01

The Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science aims to "facilitate and recognize life-long nursing science career development" as an important part of its mission. In light of fast-paced advances in science and technology that are inspiring new questions and methods of investigation in the health sciences, the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science convened the Idea Festival for Nursing Science Education and appointed the Idea Festival Advisory Committee (IFAC) to stimulate dialogue about linking PhD education with a renewed vision for preparation of the next generation of nursing scientists. Building on the 2005 National Research Council report Advancing The Nation's Health Needs and the 2010 American Association of Colleges of Nursing Position Statement on the Research-Focused Doctorate Pathways to Excellence, the IFAC specifically addressed the capacity of PhD programs to prepare nursing scientists to conduct cutting-edge research in the following key emerging and priority areas of health sciences research: omics and the microbiome; health behavior, behavior change, and biobehavioral science; patient-reported outcomes; big data, e-science, and informatics; quantitative sciences; translation science; and health economics. The purpose of this article is to (a) describe IFAC activities, (b) summarize 2014 discussions hosted as part of the Idea Festival, and (c) present IFAC recommendations for incorporating these emerging areas of science and technology into research-focused doctoral programs committed to preparing graduates for lifelong, competitive careers in nursing science. The recommendations address clearer articulation of program focus areas; inclusion of foundational knowledge in emerging areas of science in core courses on nursing science and research methods; faculty composition; prerequisite student knowledge and skills; and in-depth, interdisciplinary training in supporting area of science content and methods. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc

The "Next Generation Science Standards" and the Life Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Bybee, Rodger W.

2013-01-01

Publication of the "Next Generation Science Standards" will be just short of two decades since publication of the "National Science Education Standards" (NRC 1996). In that time, biology and science education communities have advanced, and the new standards will reflect that progress (NRC 1999, 2007, 2009; Kress and Barrett…

Valid and Reliable Science Content Assessments for Science Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Tretter, Thomas R.; Brown, Sherri L.; Bush, William S.; Saderholm, Jon C.; Holmes, Vicki-Lynn

2013-01-01

Science teachers' content knowledge is an important influence on student learning, highlighting an ongoing need for programs, and assessments of those programs, designed to support teacher learning of science. Valid and reliable assessments of teacher science knowledge are needed for direct measurement of this crucial variable. This paper…

Project-Based Science

Science.gov (United States)

Krajcik, Joe

2015-01-01

Project-based science is an exciting way to teach science that aligns with the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS"). By focusing on core ideas along with practices and crosscutting concepts, classrooms become learning environments where teachers and students engage in science by designing and carrying out…

Teaching Grade Eight Science with Reference to the Science Curriculum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rasel Babu

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A mixed methodological approach was used to explore to what extent the science curriculum was being reflected in science teaching-learning of grade VIII students in Bangladesh. 160 students were randomly selected and 10 science teachers were purposively selected as study respondents. Fifteen science lessons were observed. Data were collected via student questionnaires, teacher interviews, and classroom observation checklists. Grade VIII science teaching-learning activities were not conducted according to the instructions of the science curriculum. Most teachers did not adhere to the curriculum and teacher's guide. Teachers mainly depended on lecture methods for delivering lessons. Learning by doing, demonstrating experiments, scientific inquiry, rational thinking, and analysing cause-effect relationships were noticeably absent. Teachers reported huge workloads and a lack of ingredients as reasons for not practising these activities. Teachers did not use teaching aids properly. Science teaching-learning was fully classroom centred, and students were never involved in any creative activities. 

How do science centers perceive their role in science teaching?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jan Alexis; Stougaard, Birgitte; Andersen, Beth Wehner

This poster presents the data of a survey of 11 science centres in the Region of Southern Denmark. The survey is the initial step in a project which aims, on the one hand, to identify the factors which conditions successful learning outcomes of visits to science centres, and, on the other hand...... and teachers. In the present survey we have approached the topic from the perspective of science centres. Needless to say, the science centres’ own perception of their role in science teaching plays a vital role with respect to the successfulness of such visits. The data of our survey suggest that, also from......, to apply this identification so as to guide the interaction of science teachers and science centres. Recent literature on this topic (Rennie et. al. 2003; Falk & Dierking 2000) suggest that stable learning outcomes of such visits require that such visits are (1) prepared in the sense that the teacher has...

Community science, philosophy of science, and the practice of research.

Science.gov (United States)

Tebes, Jacob Kraemer

2005-06-01

Embedded in community science are implicit theories on the nature of reality (ontology), the justification of knowledge claims (epistemology), and how knowledge is constructed (methodology). These implicit theories influence the conceptualization and practice of research, and open up or constrain its possibilities. The purpose of this paper is to make some of these theories explicit, trace their intellectual history, and propose a shift in the way research in the social and behavioral sciences, and community science in particular, is conceptualized and practiced. After describing the influence and decline of logical empiricism, the underlying philosophical framework for science for the past century, I summarize contemporary views in the philosophy of science that are alternatives to logical empiricism. These include contextualism, normative naturalism, and scientific realism, and propose that a modified version of contextualism, known as perspectivism, affords the philosophical framework for an emerging community science. I then discuss the implications of perspectivism for community science in the form of four propositions to guide the practice of research.

Citizen Science Initiatives: Engaging the Public and Demystifying Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kim Van Vliet

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The Internet and smart phone technologies have opened up new avenues for collaboration among scientists around the world. These technologies have also expanded citizen science opportunities and public participation in scientific research (PPSR. Here we discuss citizen science, what it is, who does it, and the variety of projects and methods used to increase scientific knowledge and scientific literacy. We describe a number of different types of citizen-science projects. These greatly increase the number of people involved, helping to speed the pace of data analysis and allowing science to advance more rapidly. As a result of the numerous advantages of citizen-science projects, these opportunities are likely to expand in the future and increase the rate of novel discoveries.

National Science Bowl | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

Science Bowl National Science Bowl The Department of Energy's Office of Science sponsors the National Science Bowl competition. This fun, fast-paced academic tournament tests the brainpower of middle and high school student teams on science and math topics. The National Science Bowl provides an

National Science Teachers Association

Science.gov (United States)

; Resources Books, Articles, and More NSTA Press® NSTA Journals Science and Children Science Scope The Science Teacher Journal of College Science Teaching Connected Science Learning NSTA Learning Center Online Resources: Calendar, Freebies ... e-Newsletters NSTA Science Store New Releases Bestsellers Award Winners

Cognitive knowledge, attitude toward science, and skill development in virtual science laboratories

Science.gov (United States)

Babaie, Mahya

The purpose of this quantitative, descriptive, single group, pretest posttest design study was to explore the influence of a Virtual Science Laboratory (VSL) on middle school students' cognitive knowledge, skill development, and attitudes toward science. This study involved 2 eighth grade Physical Science classrooms at a large urban charter middle school located in Southern California. The Buoyancy and Density Test (BDT), a computer generated test, assessed students' scientific knowledge in areas of Buoyancy and Density. The Attitude Toward Science Inventory (ATSI), a multidimensional survey assessment, measured students' attitudes toward science in the areas of value of science in society, motivation in science, enjoyment of science, self-concept regarding science, and anxiety toward science. A Virtual Laboratory Packet (VLP), generated by the researcher, captured students' mathematical and scientific skills. Data collection was conducted over a period of five days. BDT and ATSI assessments were administered twice: once before the Buoyancy and Density VSL to serve as baseline data (pre) and also after the VSL (post). The findings of this study revealed that students' cognitive knowledge and attitudes toward science were positively changed as expected, however, the results from paired sample t-tests found no statistical significance. Analyses indicated that VSLs were effective in supporting students' scientific knowledge and attitude toward science. The attitudes most changed were value of science in society and enjoyment of science with mean differences of 1.71 and 0.88, respectively. Researchers and educational practitioners are urged to further examine VSLs, covering a variety of topics, with more middle school students to assess their learning outcomes. Additionally, it is recommended that publishers in charge of designing the VSLs communicate with science instructors and research practitioners to further improve the design and analytic components of these

Students' awareness of science teachers' leadership, attitudes toward science, and positive thinking

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Ying-Yan; Chen, Hsiang-Ting; Hong, Zuway-R.; Yore, Larry D.

2016-09-01

There appears to be a complex network of cognitive and affective factors that influence students' decisions to study science and motivate their choices to engage in science-oriented careers. This study explored 330 Taiwanese senior high school students' awareness of their science teacher's learning leadership and how it relates to the students' attitudes toward science and positive thinking. Initial results revealed that the optimism of positive thinking is highly and positively correlated with the future participation in science and learning science in school attitudes toward science and self-concept in science. Moreover, structural equation modelling (SEM) results indicated that the subscale of teachers' leadership with idealised influence was the most predictive of students' attitudes toward science (β = .37), and the leadership with laissez-faire was predictive of students' positive thinking (β = .21). In addition, the interview results were consistent with the quantitative findings. The correlation and SEM results indicate some of the associations and potential relationships amongst the motivational and affective factors studied and students' attitudes toward and intentions to study science, which will increase their likelihood of future involvement in science careers.

Research methods from social science can contribute much to the health sciences.

Science.gov (United States)

Wensing, Michel

2008-06-01

Research methods from social science, such as social network analysis, random coefficient modeling, and advanced measurement techniques, can contribute much to the health sciences. There is, however, a slow rate of transmission of social science methodology into the health sciences. This paper identifies some of the barriers for adoption and proposes ideas for the future. Commentary. Contributions of social science to the health sciences are not always recognized as such. It may help if the professional profile of social science in the health sciences would be higher and if its focus would be more on making useful predictions. Clinical epidemiologists may assume that their discipline includes all relevant methods and that social science is largely based on qualitative research. These perceptions need to be challenged in order to widen the scope of clinical epidemiology and include relevant methods from other sciences. New methods help to ask new research questions and to provide better to old questions. This paper has sketched challenges for both social science researchers and clinical epidemiologists.

Sound Science

Science.gov (United States)

Sickel, Aaron J.; Lee, Michele H.; Pareja, Enrique M.

2010-01-01

How can a teacher simultaneously teach science concepts through inquiry while helping students learn about the nature of science? After pondering this question in their own teaching, the authors developed a 5E learning cycle lesson (Bybee et al. 2006) that concurrently embeds opportunities for fourth-grade students to (a) learn a science concept,…

Inaugural Seminar on "Women in Science : A Career in Science"

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

user

Venue : SMS Auditorium, Cochin University of Science and Technology, ... in science, particularly at the senior levels of teaching and research in India, has ... To explore avenues for entrepreneur development for women through Science.

Decay in chest compression quality due to fatigue is rare during prolonged advanced life support in a manikin model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bjørshol Conrad A

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The aim of this study was to measure chest compression decay during simulated advanced life support (ALS in a cardiac arrest manikin model. Methods 19 paramedic teams, each consisting of three paramedics, performed ALS for 12 minutes with the same paramedic providing all chest compressions. The patient was a resuscitation manikin found in ventricular fibrillation (VF. The first shock terminated the VF and the patient remained in pulseless electrical activity (PEA throughout the scenario. Average chest compression depth and rate was measured each minute for 12 minutes and divided into three groups based on chest compression quality; good (compression depth ≥ 40 mm, compression rate 100-120/minute for each minute of CPR, bad (initial compression depth 120/minute or decay (change from good to bad during the 12 minutes. Changes in no-flow ratio (NFR, defined as the time without chest compressions divided by the total time of the ALS scenario over time was also measured. Results Based on compression depth, 5 (26%, 9 (47% and 5 (26% were good, bad and with decay, respectively. Only one paramedic experienced decay within the first two minutes. Based on compression rate, 6 (32%, 6 (32% and 7 (37% were good, bad and with decay, respectively. NFR was 22% in both the 1-3 and 4-6 minute periods, respectively, but decreased to 14% in the 7-9 minute period (P = 0.002 and to 10% in the 10-12 minute period (P Conclusions In this simulated cardiac arrest manikin study, only half of the providers achieved guideline recommended compression depth during prolonged ALS. Large inter-individual differences in chest compression quality were already present from the initiation of CPR. Chest compression decay and thereby fatigue within the first two minutes was rare.

Influenece of the CPRmeter on angular position of elbows and generated forces during cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karolina Kopacz

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Objectives: It is commonly known that ergonomics in emergency medical services (EMS is very important. Emergency medical services workers are exposed to different conditions and they should perform a variety of tasks. Material and Methods: The aim of the work has been to analyze the angular position of elbows and forces generated by the upper limbs during cardiopulmonary resuscitation with and without the CPRmeter based on feedback technology. Ten male paramedics and 10 male non-paramedics, in a kneeling position, performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR on an Ambu Megacode manikin placed on the ground. Measurements were taken after 1 min and 4 min following the beginning of the trial. The angular position of the elbows was evaluated with a BTS Smart DX 7000 motion capture system. Kistler platforms 9286BA were used for measuring forces. Results: In the paramedic group, one statistically significant difference was observed in the mean difference between maximal and minimal right elbow angle in the 1st min without the device vs. the mean difference in the 4th min without the device. In the paramedic group, a 25% force decrease was observed after 4 min of resuscitation in trials without the CPRmeter in comparison to the 1st min. In trials with the CPRmeter, the force parameters were similar in the 1st and 4th min and more stable. No statistically significant differences were noticed in the control group. Conclusions: The CPRmeter has influence on the magnitude of the forces applied by the upper limbs and on the optimization of the rescuer effort during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The CPRmeter had no influence on the position of the upper part of the kinematic chain. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(6:909–916

Cyber-crime Science = Crime Science + Information Security

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hartel, Pieter H.; Junger, Marianne; Wieringa, Roelf J.

2010-01-01

Cyber-crime Science is an emerging area of study aiming to prevent cyber-crime by combining security protection techniques from Information Security with empirical research methods used in Crime Science. Information security research has developed techniques for protecting the confidentiality,

Fort Collins Science Center- Policy Analysis and Science Assistance Branch : Integrating social, behavioral, economic and biological sciences

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

The Fort Collins Science Center's Policy Analysis and Science Assistance (PASA) Branch is a team of approximately 22 scientists, technicians, and graduate student researchers. PASA provides unique capabilities in the U.S. Geological Survey by leading projects that integrate social, behavioral, economic, and biological analyses in the context of human-natural resource interactions. Resource planners, managers, and policymakers in the U.S. Departments of the Interior (DOI) and Agriculture (USDA), State and local agencies, as well as international agencies use information from PASA studies to make informed natural resource management and policy decisions. PASA scientists' primary functions are to conduct both theoretical and applied social science research, provide technical assistance, and offer training to advance performance in policy relevant research areas. Management and research issues associated with human-resource interactions typically occur in a unique context, involve difficult to access populations, require knowledge of both natural/biological science in addition to social science, and require the skill to integrate multiple science disciplines. In response to these difficult contexts, PASA researchers apply traditional and state-of-the-art social science methods drawing from the fields of sociology, demography, economics, political science, communications, social-psychology, and applied industrial organization psychology. Social science methods work in concert with our rangeland/agricultural management, wildlife, ecology, and biology capabilities. The goal of PASA's research is to enhance natural resource management, agency functions, policies, and decision-making. Our research is organized into four broad areas of study.

Understanding Science and Technology Interactions Through Ocean Science Exploration: A Summer Course for Science Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Baldauf, J.; Denton, J.

2003-12-01

In order to replenish the national supply of science and mathematics educators, the National Science Foundation has supported the formation of the Center for Applications of Information Technology in the Teaching and Learning of Science (ITS) at Texas A&M University. The center staff and affiliated faculty work to change in fundamental ways the culture and relationships among scientists, educational researchers, and teachers. ITS is a partnership among the colleges of education, science, geosciences, agriculture and life science at Texas A&M University. Participants (teachers and graduate students) investigate how science is done and how science is taught and learned; how that learning is assessed, and how scholarly networks among all engaged in this work can be encouraged. While the center can offer graduate degrees most students apply as non-degree seekers. ITS participants are schooled on classroom technology applications, experience working on project teams, and access very current research work being conducted by scientists. ITS offers a certificate program consisting of two summer sessions over two years that results in 12 hours of graduate credit that can be applied to a degree. Interdisciplinary project teams spend three intense weeks connecting current research to classroom practices. During the past summer with the beginning of the two-year sequence, a course was implemented that introduced secondary teachers to Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) contributions to major earth science themes, using core and logging data, engineering (technology) tools and processes. Information Technology classroom applications were enhanced through hands-on laboratory exercises, web resources and online databases. The course was structured around the following objectives. 1. Distinguish the purpose and goals of the Ocean Drilling Program from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program and describe the comparable science themes (ocean circulation, marine sedimentation, climate history

Understandings of Nature of Science and Multiple Perspective Evaluation of Science News by Non-science Majors

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Jessica Shuk Ching; Wong, Alice Siu Ling; Yung, Benny Hin Wai

2015-10-01

Understandings of nature of science (NOS) are a core component of scientific literacy, and a scientifically literate populace is expected to be able to critically evaluate science in the media. While evidence has remained inconclusive on whether better NOS understandings will lead to critical evaluation of science in the media, this study aimed at examining the correlation therein. Thirty-eight non-science majors, enrolled in a science course for non-specialists held in a local community college, evaluated three health news articles by rating the extent to which they agreed with the reported claims and providing as many justifications as possible. The majority of the participants were able to evaluate and justify their viewpoint from multiple perspectives. Students' evaluation was compared with their NOS conceptions, including the social and cultural embedded NOS, the tentative NOS, the peer review process and the community of practice. Results indicated that participants' understanding of the tentative NOS was significantly correlated with multiple perspective evaluation of science news reports of socioscientific nature (r = 0.434, p media of socioscientific nature. However, the null result for other target NOS aspects in this study suggested a lack of evidence to assume that understanding the social dimensions of science would have significant influence on the evaluation of science in the media. Future research on identifying the reasons for why and why not NOS understandings are applied in the evaluation will move this field forward.

The Next Generation Science Standards and the Life Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Bybee, Rodger W.

2013-01-01

Using the life sciences, this article first reviews essential features of the "NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education" that provided a foundation for the new standards. Second, the article describes the important features of life science standards for elementary, middle, and high school levels. Special attention is paid to the teaching…

Making Philosophy of Science Education Practical for Science Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Janssen, F. J. J. M.; van Berkel, B.

2015-01-01

Philosophy of science education can play a vital role in the preparation and professional development of science teachers. In order to fulfill this role a philosophy of science education should be made practical for teachers. First, multiple and inherently incomplete philosophies on the teacher and teaching on what, how and why should be…

Science Fiction on Film.

Science.gov (United States)

Burmester, David

1985-01-01

Reviews science fiction films used in a science fiction class. Discusses feature films, short science fiction films, short story adaptations, original science fiction pieces and factual science films that enrich literature. (EL)

New Roles for Scientists and Science Societies to Improve Science Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, S. H.

2008-12-01

Should North American Scientists and Science Societies continue with current communication programs or is there a need for expanded and or altered roles in Science Communication? If current practices are working, why is discourse outside of science societies so often misinformed and distorted on environmental change issues that are clearly defined and described within the science community? Climate change is one example there is virtual unanimity and overwhelming evidence from the scientific community that the Earth is warming rapidly and humans are an important cause, but there is confusion in the media and the public, in part due to disinformation campaigns by greenhouse gas polluters and privately funded "Think Tanks." A summary discussion will be presented that addresses many of the ideas and issues brought forward by colleagues in science, science communication and education. Scientists and Science Societies must re-establish objectivity in science information communication to educators, the media and the public. Recommendations on directions will be a key outcome of this presentation.

Theoretical computer science and the natural sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Marchal, Bruno

2005-12-01

I present some fundamental theorems in computer science and illustrate their relevance in Biology and Physics. I do not assume prerequisites in mathematics or computer science beyond the set N of natural numbers, functions from N to N, the use of some notational conveniences to describe functions, and at some point, a minimal amount of linear algebra and logic. I start with Cantor's transcendental proof by diagonalization of the non enumerability of the collection of functions from natural numbers to the natural numbers. I explain why this proof is not entirely convincing and show how, by restricting the notion of function in terms of discrete well defined processes, we are led to the non algorithmic enumerability of the computable functions, but also-through Church's thesis-to the algorithmic enumerability of partial computable functions. Such a notion of function constitutes, with respect to our purpose, a crucial generalization of that concept. This will make easy to justify deep and astonishing (counter-intuitive) incompleteness results about computers and similar machines. The modified Cantor diagonalization will provide a theory of concrete self-reference and I illustrate it by pointing toward an elementary theory of self-reproduction-in the Amoeba's way-and cellular self-regeneration-in the flatworm Planaria's way. To make it easier, I introduce a very simple and powerful formal system known as the Schoenfinkel-Curry combinators. I will use the combinators to illustrate in a more concrete way the notion introduced above. The combinators, thanks to their low-level fine grained design, will also make it possible to make a rough but hopefully illuminating description of the main lessons gained by the careful observation of nature, and to describe some new relations, which should exist between computer science, the science of life and the science of inert matter, once some philosophical, if not theological, hypotheses are made in the cognitive sciences. In the

Exploring social networks of municipal science education stakeholders in Danish Science Municipalities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

von der Fehr, Ane

development in the science and technology industry. Therefore, much effort has been invested to improve science education. The importance of school external stakeholders in development of education has been an increasingly emphasised, also in the field of science education. This has led to a growing focus......Science education development is a field of many interests and a key interest is recruitment of students who wish to pursue an education in science. This is an urgent societal demand in Denmark as well as internationally, since highly skilled science graduates are needed for the continuous...... involved in science education development. These municipal science education networks (MSE networks) were identified as important for development of science education in the SM project. Therefore, it was a key interest to explore these networks in order to investigate how the central stakeholders affected...

Science Matters Special Edition: Wildland Fire Science

Science.gov (United States)

EPA is applying its extensive expertise in air quality science to the study of wildland fires to help states and communities that are impacted. This issue of Science Matters newsletter highlights some of the research projects under way by EPA and partners.

The Implications for Science Education of Heidegger's Philosophy of Science

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, Robert

2013-01-01

Science teaching always engages a philosophy of science. This article introduces a modern philosophy of science and indicates its implications for science education. The hermeneutic philosophy of science is the tradition of Kant, Heidegger, and Heelan. Essential to this tradition are two concepts of truth, truth as correspondence and truth as…

Science packages

Science.gov (United States)

1997-01-01

Primary science teachers in Scotland have a new updating method at their disposal with the launch of a package of CDi (Compact Discs Interactive) materials developed by the BBC and the Scottish Office. These were a response to the claim that many primary teachers felt they had been inadequately trained in science and lacked the confidence to teach it properly. Consequently they felt the need for more in-service training to equip them with the personal understanding required. The pack contains five disks and a printed user's guide divided up as follows: disk 1 Investigations; disk 2 Developing understanding; disks 3,4,5 Primary Science staff development videos. It was produced by the Scottish Interactive Technology Centre (Moray House Institute) and is available from BBC Education at £149.99 including VAT. Free Internet distribution of science education materials has also begun as part of the Global Schoolhouse (GSH) scheme. The US National Science Teachers' Association (NSTA) and Microsoft Corporation are making available field-tested comprehensive curriculum material including 'Micro-units' on more than 80 topics in biology, chemistry, earth and space science and physics. The latter are the work of the Scope, Sequence and Coordination of High School Science project, which can be found at http://www.gsh.org/NSTA_SSandC/. More information on NSTA can be obtained from its Web site at http://www.nsta.org.

Proceedings – Mathematical Sciences | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Author Affiliations. Chengyuan Qu1 Yang Cao2. School of Science, Dalian Nationalities University, Dalian 116600, China; School of Mathematical Sciences, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China ...

Proceedings – Mathematical Sciences | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

), Kalasalingam University, Anand Nagar, Krishnankoil 626126, India; School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia; Department of Computer Science, Ball State ...

National Science Resources Center Project for Improving Science Teaching in Elementary Schools. Appendix A. School Systems With Exemplary Elementary Science Programs. Appendix B. Elementary Science Network

Science.gov (United States)

1988-12-01

Glass, Lawrence, Deer Park High School Glass, Millard, K-12 Science Supervisor Bloomfield Municipal School District Glassman, Neil, Gleason, Steve...Superientendent Vaughn Municipal Schools Knop, Ronald N., Teacher Grissom Junior High School Knox, Amie, Director of Master Teacher Program W. Wilson...Science Supervisor Pequannock Township Public Schools Mercado , Roberto, Science Coordinator Colegio Radians, Inc. Merchant, Edwin, K-12 Science

How Do Turkish Middle School Science Coursebooks Present the Science Process Skills?

Science.gov (United States)

Aslan, Oktay

2015-01-01

An important objective in science education is the acquisition of science process skills (SPS) by the students. Therefore, science coursebooks, among the main resources of elementary science curricula, are to convey accurate SPS. This study is a qualitative study based on the content analysis of the science coursebooks used at middle schools. In…

The sciences of science communication

OpenAIRE

Fischhoff, Baruch

2013-01-01

The May 2012 Sackler Colloquium on “The Science of Science Communication” brought together scientists with research to communicate and scientists whose research could facilitate that communication. The latter include decision scientists who can identify the scientific results that an audience needs to know, from among all of the scientific results that it would be nice to know; behavioral scientists who can design ways to convey those results and then evaluate the success of those attempts; a...

Media, risk and science

CERN Document Server

Allan, Stuart

2002-01-01

How is science represented by the media? Who defines what counts as a risk, threat or hazard, and why? In what ways do media images of science shape public perceptions? What can cultural and media studies tell us about current scientific controversies? "Media, Risk and Science" is an exciting exploration into an array of important issues, providing a much needed framework for understanding key debates on how the media represent science and risk. In a highly effective way, Stuart Allan weaves together insights from multiple strands of research across diverse disciplines. Among the themes he examines are: the role of science in science fiction, such as "Star Trek"; the problem of 'pseudo-science' in "The X-Files"; and how science is displayed in science museums. Science journalism receives particular attention, with the processes by which science is made 'newsworthy' unravelled for careful scrutiny. The book also includes individual chapters devoted to how the media portray environmental risks, HIV-AIDS, food s...

Now You See Me Now You Don’t:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ventura, Joanthan; Gunn, Wendy

embarrassment or stigma. In other cases, designing paramedical objects along the lines of extreme sports or high-fashion designers accentuate the end user's body, hence enabling people to reacquire their dignity. We ask then can a more socially aware design approach focusing upon generational, relational......The body as an anthropological nexus of socio-cultural norms and conventions has been discussed at length in the humanities and social sciences. However, within the worlds of industrial design, an important player influencing an understanding of the users body within a design process has been...... neglected and that is the industrial designer. Our main thesis concerning understandings of the user's body is, that designing is an anthropological, socio-cultural and physical praxis, in the midst of which stand people(s) engaging within their material environments. We propose, by involving participatory...

[Reflexology--nothing in common with scientific naturopathic treatments].

Science.gov (United States)

Heide, M; Heide, M H

2009-09-01

A host of alternative treatment methods are sold to us as reputable science on the "supermarket of naturopathy" nowadays. "Foot zone therapy", also known as "reflexology" is one of them. Advocates of reflexology claim that certain zones of the feet are linked to internal organs; that "energy forces" run throughout the human body. According to the teachings of Ayurveda and Yoga, a network of more than 72,000 nerve tracts (energy tracts = meridians) is linked to a single, tiny point on the feet, where the energy ends. In reality, however, reflexology is an unconventional, alternative, paramedical and esoterical "outsider" method that has nothing in common with serious naturopathic treatments. Any scientific value to reflexology is to be denied. As opposed to reflexology, genuine, scientifically acknowledged naturopathic methods are not an alternative, but a supplement to modern medicine.

Cultivation of science identity through authentic science in an urban high school classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Angela; Feldman, Allan

2017-06-01

This study examined how a contextually based authentic science experience affected the science identities of urban high school students who have been marginalized during their K-12 science education. We examined students' perceptions of the intervention as an authentic science experience, how the experience influenced their science identity, as well as their perceptions about who can do science. We found that the students believed the experience to be one of authentic science, that their science identity was positively influenced by participation in the experience, and that they demonstrated a shift in perceptions from stereotypical to more diverse views of scientists. Implications for science education are discussed.

Proceedings – Mathematical Sciences | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

, Sichuan 614202, China; School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan 610054, China; School of Mathematics and Statistics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, ...

Journal of Chemical Sciences | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Author Affiliations. Santanu Bhattacharya1 Raghavan Varadarajan2. Department of Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012; Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012 ...

Journal of Earth System Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The Journal of Earth System Science was earlier a part of the Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences – Section A begun in 1934, and later split in 1978 into theme journals. This journal was published as Proceedings – Earth and Planetary Sciences since 1978, and in 2005 was renamed 'Journal of Earth System ...

Designing Science Games and Science Toys from the Perspective of Scientific Creativity

Science.gov (United States)

Demir Kaçan, Sibel

2015-01-01

This study was conducted with the participation of 21 pre-service science teachers attending the faculty of education of a university in Turkey. The study aims to evaluate pre-service science teachers' science games and science toy designs in terms of scientific creativity. Participants were given a four-week period to design science games or…

Opening science: New publication forms in science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Scheliga, Kaja

2014-12-01

Full Text Available [english] Digital technologies change how scientists access and process information and consequently impact publication forms in science. Even though the core of scientific publications has remained the same, established publication formats, such as the scientific paper or book, are succumbing to the transitions caused by digital technologies. At the same time, new online tools enable new publication forms, such as blogs, microblogs or wikis, to emerge. This article explores the changing and emerging publications forms in science and also reflects upon the changing role of libraries. The transformations of publishing forms are discussed in the context of open science.

New science on the Open Science Grid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pordes, R; Altunay, M; Sehgal, C [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); Avery, P [University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States); Bejan, A; Gardner, R; Wilde, M [University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607 (United States); Blackburn, K [California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Blatecky, A; McGee, J [Renaissance Computing Institute, Chapel Hill, NC 27517 (United States); Kramer, B; Olson, D; Roy, A [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Livny, M [University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Potekhin, M; Quick, R; Wenaus, T [Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 (United States); Wuerthwein, F [University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 (United States)], E-mail: ruth@fnal.gov

2008-07-15

The Open Science Grid (OSG) includes work to enable new science, new scientists, and new modalities in support of computationally based research. There are frequently significant sociological and organizational changes required in transformation from the existing to the new. OSG leverages its deliverables to the large-scale physics experiment member communities to benefit new communities at all scales through activities in education, engagement, and the distributed facility. This paper gives both a brief general description and specific examples of new science enabled on the OSG. More information is available at the OSG web site: www.opensciencegrid.org.

New science on the Open Science Grid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pordes, R; Altunay, M; Sehgal, C; Avery, P; Bejan, A; Gardner, R; Wilde, M; Blackburn, K; Blatecky, A; McGee, J; Kramer, B; Olson, D; Roy, A; Livny, M; Potekhin, M; Quick, R; Wenaus, T; Wuerthwein, F

2008-01-01

The Open Science Grid (OSG) includes work to enable new science, new scientists, and new modalities in support of computationally based research. There are frequently significant sociological and organizational changes required in transformation from the existing to the new. OSG leverages its deliverables to the large-scale physics experiment member communities to benefit new communities at all scales through activities in education, engagement, and the distributed facility. This paper gives both a brief general description and specific examples of new science enabled on the OSG. More information is available at the OSG web site: www.opensciencegrid.org