Human resources management, that is the management of the most valuable thing hospitals possess, is currently a much debated issue. Human resources are the key factor for success in all activities a medical facility deals with. The theoretical part provides the readers with information concerning the issue of human resources management in general; the paper focuses on individual SAK CR standards relating to human resources management. The second part is devoted to research, which took place in two stages. It was a qualitative and quantitative research. In the qualitative part, we addressed the deputy managers of nursing care from selected hospitals, with whom we had semi-structured interviews. The questions for the interviews were based on the SAK CR standard on human resources management. Ritchie and Spencer framework analysis was used for processing the qualitative data. After processing the talks, the quantitative part of the research was prepared. We defined hypotheses; we developed a questionnaire for nurses working in the above-mentioned hospitals for the verification of the hypotheses. The entire survey was carried out in January - March 2010. The main objective of the survey was to map the compliance with the SAK CR standards in human resources management of nursing care in the selected hospitals. Based on the master objective, we identified seven sub-goals: 1. To determine whether the hospitals define the number of qualified staff needed to ensure adequate nursing care for their patients and a plan to develop the qualifications of the nursing staff. 2. To determine whether the hospital keep individual files for each member of their nursing. 3. To map whether the hospitals have a job description for each nursing care worker corresponding to their qualifications. 4. To determine whether nursing care workers are trained with respect to their positions at the beginning. 5. To map whether the hospitals define clearly general competences for nurses. 6. To determine whether the hospitals carry out training of their nursing staff on OSH. 7. To map whether the hospitals monitor in an appropriate form the satisfaction of their nursing staff. All the objectives of the paper have been met. Hypotheses H1: The hospitals plan a sufficient number of qualified nursing staff, H2: the nursing staff is enabled continuous training for skills upgrading, H4: Each nursing care worker knows their job description their corresponds to their qualification, H5: The nurses are familiar with the aspects of the adaptation process of new employees, H6: The nursing staff knows the determined scope of their competence, H7: The hospitals carry out the training of their nursing staff in OSH, and H8: The employees are free to express their views on satisfaction with their jobs at least once a year, have been confirmed. The nurses believe that the number of nursing staff in their departments is sufficient; they have the opportunity to participate in lifelong learning but they must bear the expenses themselves. Nurses know their job description and they observe it and they know the scope of their competences as well. The nurses have information about the existence, duration and method of completing the adaptation process of new employees. The nurses confirmed that regularly participate in OSH training, and they have an opportunity to express their satisfaction with the job at least once a year. Only one hypothesis, H3: Each member of the nursing team has some knowledge about their personal file, has not been confirmed. The nurses are unaware of the documents contained in their personal files, and they do not know where their personal files are stored. This paper may be useful to members of nursing teams who would like to learn more about the issue of human resources management with regard to the SAK CR standard.

Magister Public Health - MPH / Breastfeeding impacts on the health of both the mother and infant and has been noted as being influenced by physiological, physical, socio-economic and environmental factors. The undisputed benefit of exclusive breastfeeding for both the mother and child has led to the global prioritisation of the promotion, protection and support of breastfeeding with the adoption of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) strategy. Baby Friendly Hospital (BFH) status is awarded to a maternity unit when they are found to be complying with set criteria Ten Steps to successful Breastfeeding. South Africa has implemented a re-evaluation system for retention of accreditation status, by reassessing accredited facilities every three years. The respective provinces are tasked with monitoring the implementation of BFHI in their public health facilities. Internal monitoring reports, completed by the Western Cape Provincial Department of Health, reflect erosion of key steps between national reassessments. Aim: To describe the experiences, challenges and successes of BFHI implementation in the BFH accredited facilities in the Cape Town geographical health district. Methodology: An explorative qualitative study was conducted. One key informant interview, ten in-depth interviews with champions for BFHI in the maternity facilities and two focus group discussions with frontline staff working at these facilities were used to collect data. The data was analysed using thematic content analysis to identify the main themes related to the successes and challenges experienced with the maintenance of the required practices related to BFHI accreditation. Results: Participants reported that the implementation of the BFHI impacted positively on the health of both mothers and infants. Fewer children were being admitted for common childhood illnesses such as diarrhoea subsequent  to BFHI implementation. Mothers were recovering more quickly after delivery and less complications related to delivery, such as postpartum bleeding, were observed after the implementation of BFHI. BFHI implementation had a positive impact on the attitudes of maternity staff to breastfeeding promotion, protection and support. Subsequent to being awarded BFH status, facilities are tasked with maintaining the implemented practices. Challenges to maintaining the practices included lack of implementation of BFHI practices at clinics, lack of support from facility managers and support staff such as counsellors. The internal assessments implemented as supportive monitoring structures are considered by participants to be a demotivating process and concerns were raised about non nursing staff assessing nursing practices. Conclusion: The potential impact of this strategy on infant and maternal health must be realized by the implementers of BFHI, before the strategized aim is achieved. Co-ordination and support by all role players is vital to the success and elimination of challenges experienced with implementation and maintenance of the BFH strategy. / South Africa

Class of 2014 Abstract / Specific Aims: Medication adherence is the extent to which patients take their medications correctly and consistently as prescribed.1 The objective of this study was to assess Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)- preaccredited and accredited schools and colleges of pharmacy for adherence course content in their curricula. Methods: The survey link was sent via email to the Department of Pharmacy Practice Chair, or equivalent, at each institution. The data collected via the online survey included information regarding the details of medication adherence curriculum present at the program. All data remained confidential. Chi-square statistical test was used for analysis to compare hours of adherence education taught in older (in existence ≥ 20 years) versus newer (< 20 years) programs. Main Results: Twenty-eight programs responded among 130 inquiries (22% response rate). Of the respondents, only two colleges of pharmacy offered a course on medication adherence, one as an elective and one as required. Common adherence principles were incorporated into other pharmacy courses with the most common topics being counseling, patient education and communication skills. Older programs taught more hours (> 20 hours) focused on adherence compared to the newer programs, but they did not differ significantly (p = 0.39). Conclusion: Despite the low response rate, the findings show a lack of curricular focus on medication adherence, particularly as an individual course. Further studies are needed to identify adherence training received by student pharmacists, and to evaluate the impact of adherence-focused curriculum components on provision of patient care centered on medication adherence by pharmacy practitioners.

The purpose of this case study was to explore faculty members’ perceptions of the QEP in a public doctoral university with highest research activity. Particularly, the study explored how faculty members perceive the role of the QEP in student learning and institutional effectiveness, the relevance of the QEP activities in student learning and institutional effectiveness, and how faculty members’ involvement with the accreditation process associated with their perceptions of the QEP. The study design was a qualitative single case study and data were collected from the Quality Enhancement Plan Questionnaire (QEPQ), face-to-face interviews, and documents. Findings revealed that faculty members perceived the QEP as an ambitious and important, necessity-driven process that is focused on globalization. Faculty members’ perceptions of the QEP’s role in institutional effectiveness included: (a) emphasizing the university identity, (b) increased reputation, (c) promoting international research collaboration, (d) bureaucracy, (e) cost-effectiveness, and (f) need for institutional conversation. In regards to their perceptions of the QEP’s role in student learning, faculty members believed that the QEP enhanced the curriculum and helped globally oriented students to compete in the workplace. The study findings also indicated that the QEP activities were relevant to student global experiences such as study abroad program and second language learning programs. Faculty members indicated that the QEP is more relevant to their focus on teaching and learning and that their involvement with the accreditation process contributed to a better awareness of the QEP. The findings from this study have implications for higher education quality practice and research.

This study investigates the assessment criteria of Unit Standard 115789: Communication Studies and Language. In general unit standards are registered, standardised statements of expected education and training outcomes including assessment criteria and other regulatory information required by training providers and assessors to train and assess learners under the Skills Development Act of 1998. However, it was found that many training providers and assessors share the view that in the case of Unit Standard 115789, among others, the assessment criteria and their descriptors are generic, vague and non-context specific to the extent that trainers and assessors have difficulty in developing appropriate and reliable assessment tools and instruments that allow them to adhere to the basic principles of assessment, namely transparency, validity, reliability, consistency, practicability, fairness, flexibility and usability. The main concern of the study is that learners will be declared communicatively competent individuals in a variety of professional and industrial environments when in fact they are not. The study traces the origins and development processes of Unit Standard 115789 in order to gain a clearer understanding of the problems experienced by training providers and assessors in the implementation of the assessment criteria. It then proposes a set of guidelines that will assist training providers and assessors to make the assessment criteria more accessible and the assessment processes more reliable, valid and consistent. Finally, it makes a number of recommendations to ensure that the problems of implementation of Unit Standard 115789 currently experienced by training providers and assessors are alleviated.

No description available.

Grounded in practical theology, this project examines the practices of accreditation exhibited by the American Association of Theological Schools, its predecessor body, and its constituent member institutions in order to explicate the evolution of values in accreditation and to map a history of accreditation in theological education in the United States from 1918 to 1968. Examining accreditation history through the lens of practical theology elucidates the ways in which practices inform and are informed by the theologies of stakeholders in theological education. An analysis of practices of accreditation in the early and mid-twentieth century also helps contextualize contemporary practices of adjudicating orthopraxy, both through Association of Theological Schools accreditation and through the work of organizations that support and coordinate professional religious leadership formation for non-Christian communities. Chapter 1 provides background on the intersections of the study of theological education with research in practical theology and organizational behavior; outlines the recorded history of accreditation in theological education; and establishes the method of the study. Chapters 2 through 4 engage different periods of accreditation history by analyzing the information about accrediting published by the Association and quantifying data provided in its publication, the Bulletin. This data is amplified with analysis of cases that reveal particular aspects of accreditation practice as they developed in member schools of the Association, utilizing primary source materials from leaders of the member schools. Chapter 2 examines the Association’s identification and early regulation of “right” institutional practices and situates the Association as both designer and arbiter of institutional orthopraxy. Chapter 3 follows the evolution of the Association’s adjudication of institutional practices and how those efforts are influenced by individuals and member schools. Chapter 4 traces a shift in the Association from expecting conformity to a singular orthopraxy toward embracing a multiplicity of best practices, happening alongside expansions in the diversity of the Association. The final chapter suggests that contemporary administrative practices should be informed by institutional history, and it proposes other implications for the practices of the Association of Theological Schools, its member institutions, and emerging graduate programs for the training of religious professionals in non-Christian religious traditions. / 2023-09-08T00:00:00Z

Accreditation is recognized worldwide as a tool to improve health care quality. In developing countries, the interest in attaining international accreditation is growing despite the considerable resources the accreditation process consumes and the lack of information about its impact on quality of care. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation on health care quality and to explore the contributing factors that affect quality of care as perceived by nurses. The theoretical foundation for this study was based on total quality management theory and Donabedian's model. The research questions for the study examined the impact of JCI accreditation on quality of care and the relationship between quality improvement activities and quality of care. A cross-sectional quantitative design was employed in which a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Participants from one accredited and another nonaccredited hospital in a developing country in the Middle East formed the purposive nonprobability sample that included 353 nurses. The results of a Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test and a correlation analysis indicated that JCI accreditation has a significant impact on quality of care ratings by nurses. Also, multiple regression analysis showed that leadership commitment is the best predictor of quality of care as perceived by nurses. This study may foster social change by encouraging hospital administrators and policy makers, particularly in developing countries, to implement quality improvement programs that will eventually improve the health care system in their countries.

No description available.

The purpose of this study is to analyze medical dosimetry programs in the United States with regard to their assessment data and specific program characteristics. I identified participating programs through the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT) program directory web page for medical dosimetry programs. Once I acquired the email addresses of each program director for all 18 programs, I emailed the program directors requesting their participation in the study. Six program directors responded to the email request and sent all the needed data for the study. The specific data evaluated in this study is assessment data for all four student learning objectives (SLO’s) identified by the JRCERT and program effectiveness data (i.e. certification pass rates, job placement rates for graduates, and attrition rates). I correlated the assessment data and program effectiveness data for each program to look for significance in comparison to the length of time a program received accreditation by the (JRCERT), length of each program academically, and the degree granted by each program. For the variables, I ran a Pearson Correlation and a linear regression, which also provides a significance value for the linear regression. The findings of the study illustrated no significance within the data when comparing it to the specific program characteristics. The study did illustrate some predictability within the linear regression, but did not illustrate any significant linear regression among the data points. This illustrates the dependent variables do not correlate with the independent variables, but are able to explain some of the variability in the dependent variable. Program accreditation is an important aspect for any medical dosimetry program and should be an integral part of the daily mechanisms. Educators need to continually look for ways to improve their assessment endeavors to help improve their programs and student success. Based on the findings of this study, research should continue on assessment data in the field of radiologic sciences and specifically in the field of medical dosimetry with larger population groups.