INTRODUCTION: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a critical global health threat, with millions of deaths attributed to it annually. Antibiotic stewardship to combat AMR is the responsibility of all healthcare professionals. Despite evidence suggesting that it is unnecessary, dentists routinely prescribe prophylactic antibiotics following third molar (3M) surgeries. METHOD: This mixed-methods study examined the behavioural barriers influencing antibiotic prescribing practices within the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the National University Centre for Oral Health Singapore. This study used the capability, opportunity and motivation for behavioural change or COM-B framework to implement interventions targeting the behavioural barriers. RESULTS: Pre- and post-intervention data over 6 months showed a significant reduction in antibiotic prescriptions from 84.45% to 20.89%, following the implementation of COM-B strategies (P<0.001). Qualitative feedback from focus group discussions highlighted a positive shift in clinicians' attitudes towards antibiotic reduction, acknowledging the minimal infection risk associated with non-prescribing practices. Notably, complication rates remained stable throughout the study period, indicating no adverse effects from reduced antibiotic usage. CONCLUSION These findings demonstrated that the COM-B model can be successfully applied to modify deeply ingrained prescription habits, and underscored the effectiveness of a structured behavioural change intervention in enhancing compliance with antibiotic stewardship guidelines. The study advocates continuation of initiatives to sustain this positive trend and mitigate AMR in clinical practice.
Humans ; Molar, Third/surgery* ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use* ; Singapore ; Antimicrobial Stewardship/methods* ; Practice Patterns, Dentists'/statistics & numerical data* ; Antibiotic Prophylaxis ; Female ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Male ; Tooth Extraction ; Adult ; Focus Groups ; Practice Patterns, Physicians'

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to define and clarify the concept of political competence for nurses.METHODS: A hybrid model method was used to investigate the dimensions, attributes, and definitions of the concept. In the theoretical stage of the study, literature on nursing, politics, and other discipline were reviewed. In the fieldwork stage, individual in-depth interviews and focus groups interviews were conducted with politically seasoned experts or activists who had an understanding of the concept of political competence for extensive descriptions in nursing and field of health care.RESULTS: The concept of political competence was represented in four dimensions as political knowledge, political efficacy, political interaction, and political activity. In the political knowledge dimension, there were three attributes, namely, political knowledge, political information and systematic analysis ability. The political efficacy dimension had three attributes of internal political efficacy, external political efficacy, and self-pride of nursing profession. The political interaction dimension had three attributes of organizations and community service, networking, and persuasive power. The political activity dimension had six attributes of political leadership, political expression, assertive behavior, political advocacy, political participation, and policy intervention.CONCLUSION: This concept development might provide a basic understanding of developing a measurement tool and for constructing a theory promoting nurses' political competence.
Concept Formation ; Delivery of Health Care ; Focus Groups ; Leadership ; Mental Competency ; Methods ; Nursing ; Politics ; Professional Competence ; Seasons ; Social Welfare

focus group interview was conducted with six health professionals. For quantitative research, a self-reported survey was administered. A total of 542 health professionals participated in the survey, and 526 completed the entire questionnaire. Health professionals showed positive attitudes toward precision medicine. About 95–96% of respondents agreed that precision medicine will be effective in treatment and precise diagnosis, and 69.9% reported that they would participate as study subjects. Meanwhile, they expressed concerns regarding educating patients and health professionals in precision medicine and developing research and data sharing infrastructure. Also, they emphasized the importance of developing precision medicine in an equitable way. Despite varying levels of awareness of precision medicine, the health professionals expressed a willingness to engage in precision medicine research, and recommended that health professionals work closely with policymakers to design precision medicine in a way that can be effectively adopted. Health professionals showed had a positive, but cautious, attitude toward precision medicine. The results of this study suggest areas to be addressed before ushering in precision medicine in Korea.]]>
Diagnosis ; Focus Groups ; Health Occupations ; Humans ; Information Dissemination ; Korea ; Methods ; Precision Medicine ; Qualitative Research ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: A Womans University College of Medicine faces curriculum reform in 2020. To determine what reforms are needed in the premedical curriculum, a needs assessment was conducted.METHODS: This study utilizes qualitative study method. A focus group interview was conducted with four students who completed premedical courses from November to December 2018. Interviews were conducted in two groups by grade level, and each interview was recorded. After transcribing the recorded contents, four researchers analyzed the data using conventional content analysis.RESULTS: Students chose A Womans University College of Medicine considering their future careers as female medical professionals and other considerations such as scholarships. The students expected diverse experiences, exchanges with students in different departments, and fusion of medicine with other fields during their premedical years. Overall, these expectations were met during the course, but individual needs for customized education, such as liberal arts, were unmet. In general, students' attitudes toward premedical courses were very motivated and they actively used resources provided by the university.CONCLUSION: Qualitative research can provide a better understanding of quantitative data, such as a student survey performed to prepare for curriculum reform. Based on this understanding, the curriculum will be reformed to reflect the educational needs of students, to motivate students and to provide satisfactory education.
Curriculum ; Education ; Education, Medical ; Fellowships and Scholarships ; Female ; Focus Groups ; Humans ; Methods ; Needs Assessment ; Program Evaluation ; Qualitative Research ; Students, Premedical

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to develop and test a measurement of the suicidal protection(MSP) for high school students in Korea. METHODS: Thirty-four preliminary items were initially developed based on literature review and focus group interviews. Those items were evaluated by experts for content validity with 31 items yielded. For testing validity and reliability of the measurement, data were collected from 330 high school students in Korea. RESULTS: The item analysis selected 26 items. One item was deleted additionally through the primary exploratory factor analysis. The final exploratory factor analysis yielded 26 items in six factors such as fear of suicide, self-esteem, emotion regulation, support from others, support from family, and school life, explaining 66.6% of the total variance of the suicidal protection for high school students in Korea. Convergent validity and discriminant validity were supported by construct reliability, average variance extracted estimate, and standardized regression weight. MSP scores were positively associated with economic status, academic record and suicidal ideation. Also, criterion validity was supported through a significant correlation with the Reason for Living Inventory for Adolescent. The Cronbach's α reliability coefficient was .93 for the overall measurement and .72~.86 for the six factors. CONCLUSION: The results show that MSP may be valid and reliable for assessing suicidal protection of high school students.
Adolescent ; Epidemiologic Measurements ; Focus Groups ; Humans ; Korea ; Reproducibility of Results ; Suicidal Ideation ; Suicide

PURPOSE: In the nursing profession, it is imperative that students are able to transfer their undergraduate knowledge and skills into practice to become competent nurses. The aim of this study was to illuminate how infection prevention and control (IPC) education would be conducted in undergraduate nursing programs. METHODS: A qualitative design utilizing focus group interviews as its data collection method was employed. Twelve professors from twelve South Korean universities that have undergraduate nursing programs were recruited as research participants and divided into two focus groups. RESULTS: Focus group interview analysis showed that IPC education in undergraduate nursing programs for fostering IPC competency was composed of two categories: a pre-clinical course and a clinical course. Each included three subcategories-education contents, education strategies, and considerations of how infection control is taught to students as they continue from beginning to advanced-and the themes of each subcategory were derived. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study can provide an overview of how nursing professors should teach IPC education to undergraduates. As IPC education for nurses is very important, more in-depth discussions that include educators, clinical mentors, and nursing students regarding IPC education are needed to ensure patients' safety in clinical settings.
Data Collection ; Education ; Focus Groups ; Foster Home Care ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Korea ; Mentors ; Nursing ; Students, Nursing

PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop a web-based cost management program for visiting nursing centers (CMP-VNC), using time-driven activity-based costing (TD-ABC), and to analyze effects of the program. METHODS: The CMP-VNC was developed using the combined prototyping approach and system developing life cycle method following four stages: need analysis with comprehensive literature reviews and focus group interviews, design and development of program algorithm, evaluation of the developed program validity using experts and users group, and application and effects analysis. The non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used to analyze the effects of the program. The program demonstration was conducted for four weeks with 60 visiting nurses in 35 visiting centers. RESULTS: The web-based program was developed. It has five interfaces with basic and special functions using TD-ABC, namely, input, visiting nursing activity, visiting nursing activity cost, cost efficiency, and cost calculation report. The experimental group showed significantly higher cost perception and cost confidence than control group. CONCLUSION: We found that the CMP-VNC can be an effective tool to increase visiting nurses' competency of costing and enhance efficiencies of visiting nursing centers.
Costs and Cost Analysis ; Focus Groups ; Internet ; Life Cycle Stages ; Methods ; Nurses, Community Health ; Nursing

PURPOSE: The objective of this phenomenological study was to explore nursing students' emotional experiences in the school life. METHODS: Twenty-four nursing students participated in the study. Data were collected from May 2017 to February 2018 using focus group interviews and later analyzed using the Colaizzi's method. RESULTS: In our study, 311 meanings were obtained from the participants, including 19 sub-themes and seven theme clusters. The seven theme clusters were; ‘looking back on the past,’ ‘face to reality,’ ‘recognizing me,’ ‘anxiety about uncertainty,’ ‘nursing student's way,’ ‘looking around,’ and ‘patting for my mind.’ The emotional experiences of nursing students in college life were classified into four categories: ‘self-reflection for growth,’ ‘discovery for growth,’ ‘hoping for growth,’ and ‘search for the growth.’ CONCLUSION: Although nursing students may be equally exposed to anxious and stressful situations, their activities, adaptability and levels of achievement vary depending on emotional experiences of each person. Considering the continuous curriculum of nursing, it is necessary to develop emotional management strategies and relevant training programs considering different types and levels of emotional issues for the nursing students.
Curriculum ; Education ; Focus Groups ; Humans ; Methods ; Nursing ; Qualitative Research ; Students, Nursing

OBJECTIVES: This study is to scrutinize the website of Seoul National University Hospital in Korea, Clinique Valmont in Switzerland, Medical Center of the University of Munich in Germany, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to suggest successful communication factors to the medical service providers who deal with Middle Eastern patients. METHODS: Using content analysis and in-depth interviews, this research examines four hospitals commonly visited by Middle East patients. The four hospitals approaches to implementing interactive e-health tools on their web sites are reviewed. Four hospitals selection criterion was process by focus group interview of government officials in UAE health sectors. RESULTS: The way of providing medical information differed by hospitals that used e-health tools. The analysis of each website shows a different way providing medical information, services and education. There are important differences among hospitals. These include decision-making, planning processes and outcomes of implementing e-health tools online, as well as potential obstacles to such implementation. Thus, hospitals can learn and design effective interactive tools by applying e-health tools on their websites. CONCLUSIONS: Each website showed different interactive tools such as traditional functional tools, core e-business tools, patient support tools, visitor related tools, emerging functional tools. By applying the interactive e-health tools sets an objective view for e-health strategy and vision for the hospitals conveying information through the website. According to the type of hospitals and its location different methods of strategy should be applied. Targeting not only the patients but also the general website users will eventually improve health information accessibility.
Education ; Focus Groups ; Germany ; Health Impact Assessment ; Humans ; Korea ; Middle East ; Occupational Groups ; Patient Participation ; Seoul ; Switzerland ; Telemedicine ; United Arab Emirates*

OBJECTIVES: The study purpose is to develop a content system for a healthy dietary education program for after-school care in lower grade in elementary school. METHODS: The contents of healthy dietary education in the 2015 revised curriculum and textbooks and the major education programs related to dietary life that are currently used in elementary school education were analyzed. Focus group interviews were held with field experts related to lower grade in elementary care class. Accordingly, the structuring of the education area and the detailed education contents were systematized. RESULTS: From the analysis results, the contents of curriculum, textbook, and administrative department were classified as hygiene safety, health, and culture. The goal of the educational content system was divided into three areas: nutritional dietary life, food hygiene and health, and food culture. The subjects consisted of dietary balance, healthy body weight, digestion and absorption, food hygiene, Korean agricultural products, traditional food, and table manners. The curriculum was composed of 12 content elements. CONCLUSIONS: In order to ensure that after-school care students can grow into healthy, growth-oriented and creative talents, the role of the caring guide is important, and associated guidelines are needed in the future.
Absorption ; Aptitude ; Body Weight ; Curriculum ; Digestion ; Education ; Focus Groups ; Humans ; Hygiene