Objective Based on the acquirable and optimized evidences at present, to explore the challenge and countermeasures for the development of nursing discipline in China, and to provide suggestions for promoting the construction of nursing discipline, platform, and talent team. Methods The study materials were searched in the following electronic databases including PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, CNKI, VIP and CBM, as well as in the official websites of World Health Organization (WHO), International Council of Nurses (ICN), World Bank, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) of China, and the domestic universities, colleges or technical secondary schools. Then the statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 13.0 and Microsoft Excel software. Results a) By 2012, there were 855 nursing schools, 38 212 nursing undergraduates enrolled in universities, and 130 837 nursing students enrolled in junior colleges and senior vocational schools; b) The doctor-to-nurse ratio was 1 to 0.9 in 2010. The actual demand for doctors was 2.6 million, and there were still lack of 346 000 nurses; c) The age of nurses younger than 35 years old accounted for 50%. Those with primary professional title accounted for 64% to 69%, while less than 2.5% with advanced professional title; d) The training cost for a doctor and nurse/midwife in China only accounted for 2/5 of that in India and 1/5 to 1/4 in the sub-Sahara Africa; and e) To date, only 30.1% of disaster nursing studies in China provided research data, 30.6% were clinical experience and 38.3% were review. Conclusion Education and health systems need to be extensively reformed. It is necessary to train nursing students with core competencies using transformative learning. It is necessary to update textbooks and teaching methods, and funding should be appropriately increased. Nursing should cooperate with other disciplines, and apply evidence-based nursing methods to improve the quality of healthcare services and patient satisfaction.
Objective To study the current situation of doctor-patient communication education for medical undergraduates, and meanwhile to analyze the students’ satisfactory degree to communication education and its influencing factors, so as to provide sound suggestions to promote the students’ clinical communication abilities. Methods Using simple sampling, 50% of the students who majored in clinical medicine in grade 2006-2009 in West China Medical School of Sichuan University were selected as respondents. The investigation was conducted by face to face talk with a self-designed questionnaire. The data were input using EpiData 3.0 software and the results were analyzed by SPSS 13.0 software. Results A total of 450 questionnaires were distributed, and 404 were validly retrieved (89.78%). Among the respondents, 74.3% of them were satisfied with the current situation of doctor-patient communication education; 75.7% of them begun to know doctor-patient communication education since the stage of learning basic knowledge; 49.8% of them were trained by means of problem-based-learning (PBL); and 65.5% of them were trained with auxiliary standardized patient (SP). “Grade”, “Gender”, “SP used” and “PBL used” were the main factors affecting the satisfactory degree to current doctor-patient communication education (P=0.029, 0.023, 0.012, and 0.029, respectively). Conclusion The medical undergraduates’ satisfactory degree to current doctor-patient communication education is generally high, but it is also affected by various factors. Although doctor-patient communication education has started early, the training system is still problematic and the teaching resources coverage is limited. So in order to make a further systematic, standardized, overall designed education for students’ cognition and communication skills, the medical colleges should open integrated doctor-patient communication curriculum that combines with both PBL and SP auxiliary teaching methods, and covers all the undergraduate learning stage.
It is one of the priorities of the new round of healthcare reform to develop regional healthcare alliances through vertically integrating resources. This paper reviews the framework and characteristics of Shanghai’s healthcare system, and then analyzes its strengths and weaknesses, underscoring Shanghai’s exploration in the vertical integration of medical resources as a response to the pressing issues in healthcare. The paper outlines the main tasks and groundwork of the Shanghai healthcare alliance initiative and gives an outlook on the expected outcomes. It ends with some thoughts on the problems and challenges confronting regional healthcare alliances in Shanghai.
The health status, health needs and demands as well as the concept of health itself have changes dramatically in the last one hundred years, the organizational and institutional evolutions of health system took place accordingly. To adapt the changes of health system, medical education has experienced three generations of major reform in the last century: the science-based curricula, problem-based instruction, system-based and competence-oriented education. At the same time the organization of medical education evolved from academic medicine to academic health center to academic health system. This article briefly describes the process of this evolution and presents author’s personal views on academic health system.
Objective To compare the survey results of the 8-year program students of clinical medicine discipline before and after the implementation of system-based integrated course reform, to provide feedback for system-based integrated course reform. Methods The questionnaire survey was continuously conducted for 2 years among the 8-year program students in grade of 2005 and 2006, so as to investigate their attitudes towards the integrated clinical courses, then relevant improvement of teaching measures were performed according to their feedback, and the difference of teaching effects between those 2 years was finally compared. Results A total of 79 students in grade 2005 and 78 students in grade 2006 were investigated. The baseline data were matched between the 2 grades. The results of statistical analysis showed that, the overall cognition (χ2=32.924, Plt;0.000 1) and assessment (t=−2.900, P=0.004) of integrated courses among students in grade 2006 got more improved in comparison with the students in grade 2005, and more students tended to select integrated courses, but there was no statistical difference. Conclusion Although system-based integrated clinical course as a new thing has its limitations, the reform idea and direction are still approved by students, so it is worth popularizing.
Objective To investigate the effects of evidence-based medicine (EBM) course on clinical medical students and to propose teaching advice. Methods Using a predesigned questionnaire, we conducted an investigation on the literature retrieval, knowledge of EBM terms, and subject attitude of clinical 5-year and 7-year medical students before and after EBM course, and then an interview was performed to collect the opinions of the students. Data was statistically analyzed. Results After the course, average reading time and frequency of literature retrieval increased significantly compared to the situation before EBM course (Plt;0.05). Knowledge levels of main EBM terms related to practice increased significantly (Plt;0.05). 5-year medical students’ ability of literature appraisal also increased (Plt;0.05). In this interview, these students suggested that course time of literature retrieval and screening should increase and medical statistics should be reviewed. Conclusion Through the study of EBM course, both knowledge and attitude of students changed a lot, and combining case teaching with EBM course has a better teaching effect. Learning the concepts and techniques of EBM for clinical medical students can help them apply medical research evidence correctly in clinical practice, and train their self-learning ability.
Objective To investigate the current status of higher education of allied health professions (AHPs), professional human resource as well as the career development of allied health professionals, and to provide references for the planning of higher education of AHPs in China. Methods Literature was reviewed in relation to the current status of higher education of AHPs and professional human resource in China. A questionnaire survey was conducted to determine the career development conditions of allied health professionals. Results a) Currently, the higher education of AHPs in China was faced with such problems as a limited scale, a lower structural level, and an absent degree system. b) The number of allied health professionals was small with lower qualifications. Higher-end professionals were in shortage. C) The professionals saw multiples glass ceilings over career orientation, academic advancement, and professional entitlement. Conclusion Efforts should be made to expand the scale of higher education of AHPs, elevate degree structure, and to construct a professional education system with multiple layers and categories. The professional education should be combined with the career development for planning and collaboration to provide assurance for the career development of the professional in China.
Objective To systematically review the effectiveness of empowerment education in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods Databases including The Cochrane Library (Issue 12, 2012), PubMed, Ovid, EMbase, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, CBM, digital journals of the Chinese Medical Association and Google Scholar were electronically searched for the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on empowerment education in patients with type 2 diabetes from inception to January 2013. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2 software. Results A total of seven RCTs involving 749 Type 2 diabetic patients were finally included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared with the control group, the empowerment education group was better in decreasing HbA1c levels, with a significant difference (MD= –0.27, 95%CI –0.51 to –0.03, P=0.03), but no significant difference was found between the two groups in improving body mass index (BMI) (MD= 0.25, 95%CI –1.07 to 1.57, P=0.71). Conclusion The program of empowerment education could improve HbA1c levels of diabetic patients, patients’ knowledge and illness attitudes on diabetes mellitus, but its influence on patients’ BMI, LDL and self-efficacy is still unclear.