Background: Nurses are the “front line” staff in most health systems and their contribution is recognised as essential in meeting development goals and delivering safe and effective care (ICN, 2007). Nurses are in high demand not only in developed countries but also in developing countries like Malaysia. However, more than 70% of Malaysian hospitals currently do not have adequate nursing staff. At least 174,000 nurses need to be trained by 2020 to meet WHO’s nurse-to-patient ratio of 1:200. The purpose of this study is to identify the main factors that influence the nursing students’ decision to choose nursing as their career. Method: A descriptive study guided by Self Determination Theory was used for this study. A 29- item questionnaire adapted from McCabe, Nowak and Mullen (2005) was distributed to all students in a nursing college (n=117). Results: The five main reasons for choosing nursing as a career were “ability to help others”, “training was provided on the job”, “ability to work closely with people”, “parental advice”, and “accommodation was provided while training”. The top three main domains that influenced the nursing students’ decision to choose nursing as their career include “travel opportunities of nursing”, “intrinsic attraction of nursing” and “immediacy of support on entry to nursing”. A total of 19 (0.2%) will not choose nursing if given a chance. The main reasons were “want to take another course”, “no time to spend with family” and “nursing is a stressful job”. Conclusion: The findings of this study provided valuable information regarding motivating factors which attract the current generation to join nursing. It is of concern that items representing nurses’ image were not rated highly
Nursing

ntroduction: Patient falls has been identified as one of the major issues in today’s health care despite efforts taken in preventing such incidents from happening (Cox et al ., 2014). Patient falls can be prevented by using fall risk assessment tools such as Morse Fall Scale. Morse Fall Scale was implemented in the year 2014 in a private hospital in Malaysia but the patient fall rate did not decrease. Objective: The research objective is to determine the nurses’ level of knowledge and competency in the use of the Morse Fall Scale as an assessment tool in the prevention of patient falls. Method: A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional research design was conducted with 100 registered nurses from a private hospital in Selangor, Malaysia. Universal sampling technique was used to recruit the nurses. Results: The registered nurses had a moderate level of knowledge (M = 7.72; SD = 1.72) and competency (scoring Morse Fall Scale, M = 4.75; SD = 1.26; planning intervention, M = 13.19; SD = 1.89) in using the Morse Fall Scale. Conclusion: It is recommended that a review of the training programme on the use of the Morse Fall Scale be implemented in a more structured manner.

Introduction: Perioperative care is nursing care provided by perioperative nurses to surgical patients during the perioperative period. Its role is important as patients especially those who had undergone coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery encounter high levels of psychological and physical stress. Objective: To determine the needs of CABG patients throughout the perioperative period and how well those needs were met. Methods: This is a cross sectional descriptive survey. A total of 88 patients who had undergone coronary artery bypass graft were recruited through census sampling. The instrument which was adapted and used with permission for this study was “Survey of Patient Needs and Experiences during the Perioperative Period’ questionnaire (Davis et al., 2014). Results: The patients perceived the perioperative needs in the post-anaesthesia care unit area to be the most important (M = 2.89, SD = 0.06). Perioperative needs which were rated the highest for each of the four time periods were “Having information about the surgical procedure itself”, “Having your family member or significant other with you in the pre-surgical area complications”, “Being treated with respect and with dignity by hospital personnel” and “Having your family member or significant other visit you in the recovery room”. Overall, patients perceived their needs during perioperative period to be partly met (M = 2.73, SD = 0.07) with post-anaesthesia care unit area being rated the highest (M = 2.81, SD = 0.06). Conclusion: The results of this study highlighted the perceived needs of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery throughout their perioperative period. In order to improve the quality of perioperative care for patients, nurses need to take into consideration the important needs identified by the patients and address the items which were not meeting the needs of the patients.
Coronary Artery Bypass ; Education, Medical

Background: Physical restraint is any measure or technique that prohibits an individual’s body movement. Although physical restraint is one of the most common methods used to ensure patient safety in the intensive care units, its usage is an arguable practice. Involuntary immobilisation of a patient challenges patient’s rights while over usage of physical restraints can lead to possible harm to the patients. Critical care nurses especially should make accurate decisions regarding the use of physical restrains if they are to ensure patient safety. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices of critical care nurses on usage of physical restrainer in a private hospital in Klang Valley. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, quantitative descriptive study using the Physical Restraint Questionnaire (PRQ) to collect data from 103 registered nurses through simple random sampling in the Critical Care Unit of a private hospital. Results: A total of 103 critical care nurses participated in this study. The nurses had moderate level of knowledge of physical restraint usage, 43.96 ± 4.05 (36 to 53), positive attitude towards the use of physical restraint, 30.47 ± 2.96 (24 to 39) and good practices on usage of physical restrainers, 38.88 ± 2.73 (29 to 43). Conclusion Findings revealed that majority of critical nurses have moderate knowledge, positive attitude and satisfactory practices on usage of physical restraint. However, continuous updates on usage of physical restraint and its legal implications are highly recommended to ensure critical care nurses are better informed before deciding to use physical restraint on their patients.
Knowledge ; Attitude ; Restraint, Physical

Introduction: The prevalence of cataract surgeries ranges from 7 to 12 million cases in 2000, 20 million in 2010 and an estimation of 32 million cataract surgeries annually by the year 2020 worldwide (WHO, 2015). Traditionally, the healthcare providers were only able to give health education before the patient is discharged from the healthcare setting while follow-up can only be done when the patient comes for their follow-up. But most of the patients will remain confused or had forgotten about the post-operative care even after receiving a comprehensive discharge preparation. However, with the advancement of technologies in this modern era, nurse-led telephone follow-up can be considered as a tool to assist healthcare providers in the follow-up care in Malaysia. On the same note, a private eye specialist organisation with centres throughout Malaysia, had taken the initiative to provide telephone follow-up service for their patients with three main objectives namely, to provide pre- and post-education on cataract surgery, to detect early post cataract surgery complications as well as to minimise anxiety among their patients. However, till date no patient feedback regarding the service was conducted. Objective: The research objective for this study was to determine patient’s level of satisfaction with the nurse-led telephone follow-up after cataract surgery at a private eye specialist centre in Penang. Method: A cross sectional quantitative descriptive study design was used to study ninety post cataract patients in a private hospital, Penang through universal sampling method. A validated self-developed questionnaire based on the three main objectives of the telephone follow-up service was used for this study. Results Overall, the level of patient’s satisfaction with nurse-led telephone follow-up after cataract surgery at a private eye specialist centre in Penang was high (49.9±4.85) especially for the health education provided (4.18 ±0.21) followed by the effort to detect early complications (4.16 ±0.12) and to minimise patients’ anxiety level (4.16 ±0.12).
Patients

Background: End of life (EOL) care is a holistic approach for patients and their families, that involves physical, emotional, spiritual, and social needs. There are approximately 80,000 Malaysians requiring EOL care annually but only 2,000 patients have access to the service. Despite an increasing demand for EOL care in Malaysia, many healthcare professionals are still unfamiliar and inadequately trained in dealing with the EOL issue. The purpose of study is to evaluate the Diploma in Nursing students’ level of knowledge and attitude towards EOL care. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study on 127 nursing students from a private nursing college in Penang, through simple random sampling was conducted. The Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing was used to determine the knowledge of EOL care, while Frommelt Attitude Towards Care of Dying Patients-Form B, was used to measure attitude towards EOL care. Result: Overall, the participants had poor knowledge towards EOL care with mean overall score of 8.18 ± 2.14. The mean overall score for attitude towards EOL care was 117.76 ± 11.12, implying a positive attitude towards EOL care. There was a significant difference in the level of knowledge (t = 5.250, p < 0.001) and attitude (t = 6.184, p < 0.001) according to the years of study. Conclusion The student nurses had poor level of knowledge on EOL but positive attitude towards EOL care. Adding an additional module on EOL alone is inadequate; instead emphasis on its relevancy and understanding on how it can be used to improve patient care is of far more importance.
Terminal Care ; Knowledge ; Attitude ; Students, Nursing

Background: Emotional intelligence (EI) is defined as the comprehension, use and the management of one’s emotions in a positive manner to reduce stress, communicate efficiently, empathise with others, overcome challenges, and resolve conflicts. EI is important among nurses as it influences their decision making abilities, clinical judgment, and well-being that directly affect the quality of patient care and outcome. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the EI level and its association with demographic variables among nurses in a private hospital in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study involving 130 nurses at one of the private hospitals in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, through simple random sampling. Questionnaire consists of Part A (demographic data) and Part B (Wong and Law’s Emotional Intelligence scale (WLEIS), self-assessment tool that consists of 16 items on four components inclusive of self-emotions appraisal (SEA), regulation of emotion (ROE), use of emotion (UOE), and other’s emotion appraisal (OEA) on a set of 7-Likert scale). Results: Findings showed that 63.1% (n = 82) scored high EI. Nurses’ age and years of nursing experience are significantly associated with their level of EI. No association is found on the nurses’ level of EI with their gender, ethnicity, highest nursing education level, marital status, and current work setting. The null hypothesis was rejected. Conclusion Findings showed that most of the nurses have high EI. There is a significant association between the level of EI and demographic variables such as age and years of nursing experience.
Emotional Intelligence ; Nurses ; Emotions ; Emotional Regulation