International nursing review
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A severe earthquake occurred in Japan on 11 March 2011. The giant tsunami devastated many coastal communities in eastern Japan and caused the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant incident. The Japanese government conducted a large-scale survey of residents affected by the nuclear and natural disasters in Fukushima prefecture and in response to the government's request, H University dispatched a Radiation Exposure Research Team to Fukushima. ⋯ As a nurse in the field of radiation medicine, our role is to protect the health of those affected and to reduce their anxiety. In addition, as the persons responsible for implementing these projects, it is also necessary that we educate and foster the development of medical care personnel with the appropriate knowledge and skills to carry out the measures required.
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Chronic pain experienced by residents in long-term care is a common complaint that is often underdiagnosed and inadequately treated. This in part may be due to poor nursing practice in pain assessment. ⋯ Concerning implementation, we suggest increasing pain assessment training as part of pre-service nursing education. The necessary training should focus on improving attitudes towards older adults, removing negative myths associated with them and increasing appreciation of the importance of pain assessment.
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Newborn care in Nepal: the effects of an educational intervention on nurses' knowledge and practice.
To determine the effectiveness of an educational intervention for improving nurses' knowledge and practice regarding newborn care in Kathmandu, Nepal. ⋯ This was the first study of its kind in Nepal, a small step in enhancing nurses' abilities to improve their knowledge and competence regarding care of newborns. However, continued education and guidance are required to sustain knowledge and competence in practice, and our educational intervention needs further testing with other populations of nurses. There are various policy implications required to enable this to happen. This includes health ministry funding and support for in-service education; hospitals and universities working together to offer in-service education, competency testing and revised curricula; and nurse registering authorities requiring ongoing nurse education programmes and competency testing.
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Deficiencies in the paediatric emergency systems of developing countries may contribute to avoidable paediatric mortality. Studies suggest that nurses and doctors may not be educationally prepared to provide immediate paediatric resuscitative care to acutely ill children. The purpose of this study was to determine if a 1-day World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Triage and Assessment Treatment (ETAT) Program in paediatric resuscitation would increase Ghanaian nurses' knowledge and self-efficacy of paediatric resuscitation. ⋯ Policy makers in Ghana need to consider implementing education programmes in paediatric resuscitation for nurses as part of a comprehensive strategy to improve emergency systems and address preventable and avoidable infant and child mortality.