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Context: Nursing interns are expected to practice safe medication administration. Pharmacology courses in their undergraduate education prepare them for safe medication administration. Most interns are challenged by the practical implementation of theoretical concepts in pharmacology. Aims: The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of nursing interns with the application of medication knowledge and skills in clinical practice settings. Settings and Design: A qualitative descriptive design was used in health science university in Saudi Arabia. Subjects and Methods: face-to-face in-depth interviews with nursing interns recruited through purposeful sampling in a health science university in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from December 2019 to January 2020 following Institutional Review Board approval. Statistical Analysis Used: Graneheim inductive approach was used for the content analysis of the data. Standard principles of trustworthiness were applied. Results: Two major themes emerged as “perceived readiness” and “bracing attributes.” There were two subthemes within each theme, which were populated by 13–23 statements. Conclusions: Nursing interns described certain challenges with the application of knowledge and skills in medication administration. Self-perceived lack of knowledge underlined description of most experiences. Learning acquired with case studies, classroom interactions, clinical exposure, and simulation, in undergraduate education was acknowledged in the context of retention of knowledge.

Background: Although there is much literature on Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in medical and nursing education, there is little from the cultural perspective. Therefore, the study objective was to investigate the outcome abilities including critical thinking, problem-solving, and self-directed learning of nursing students receiving PBL vs. traditional lecture. PBL is a student-centered outcome-based learning and has become very crucial for higher learning and proven to improve the quality of learning among students at all levels and in various disciplines. Methods: A randomized controlled trial (RCT) design was used with 85 undergraduate students who studied in level seven and were enrolled to a psychiatric nursing course. Four instruments were used including: 20-items self-report PBL Evaluation Questionnaire (PBLEQ). The Self-assessment Scale on Active Learning and Critical Thinking (SSACT) scale consists of 14 items of two domains “active learning” and “critical thinking.” All scales had good reliability with coefficient alpha >0.8. Results: the survey response rates were 100%, the study results revealed that the experimental group was considered PBL is effective in their learning process (t=3.568; p\(\le\)0.05). The overall SSACT also showed a significant difference in experimental group at pre and post intervention (t=6.413; p\(\le\)0.05). There was also a significantly different percentage score between experimental and control group in pretest (t=2.374 p\(\le\)0.05). Conclusion: This study offers information on student’s perspective regarding the effectiveness of PBL in constructing professional knowledge, developing problem solving skills, developing self-directed learning, and improving motivation. Moreover, it promotes effective group collaboration and enhances active learning and critical thinking. Therefore, PBL is easily considered as an alternative method of teaching nursing students since, it helps students act as professionals in clinical situations with insufficient information and encourages them to think not only deeply, but also rigorously while developing lifelong learning skills.

Background and Objective: A large number of university teachers in Saudi Arabia comprise of expatriates. Their experiences are unique in context of the challenges and benefits of academic expatriation. The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of expatriate university teachers in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used based on in-depth interviews with academic expatriates, recruited through snowball sampling in a Health Science University in Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted from 12 September 2019 to 20 October 2019 after IRB approval. Graneheimian inductive approach was used for content analysis of the data. Standard principles of trustworthiness were applied. Results: Three major themes emerged as ‘conscious venture’, ‘spirit at work’ and ‘coping strategies’. Each theme had 2-3 subthemes, populated by 14-23 statements. Conclusion: Expatriate faculty members described antecedents for their motivations at work. They shared their experiences regarding job adjustments, work environment and professional commitment. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.4.1896 How to cite this:Asif U, Bano N, Al-Najjar H. Experiences of expatriate university teachers in a health science university in Saudi Arabia-A Qualitative study. Pak J Med Sci. 2020;36(4):799-803. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.4.1896 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Background The term ‘predatory journals’ initially appeared in PubMed in 2012 and was coined by Professor Jeffrey Beall in a note published in the Nature Journal. It is used to denote fake journals with questionable peer review, fast track publishing processes against monetary payment and a predatory approach to target researchers through spam email. Purpose This study aimed to explore the experiences of nursing faculty concerning publication in predatory journals. Methods A simple qualitative design was used. The setting included a college of nursing in Jeddah Saudi Arabia. A purposive sampling technique, with eight faculty members, were included in the study. In-depth interviews were conducted, audio-recorded and analyzed using a simple content analysis approach. Results Three themes emerged with nine subthemes namely: i) research professional obligations; publishing pressure, research competitiveness, professional enhancement and promotion; ii) fast publications; escaping peer review, paying for quick service; iii) after-effects; emotional turmoil; characteristics of predatory journals. Conclusion This study showed that publishing in a predatory journal has serious consequences, both professional and personal. The findings also highlighted that anyone in the academic setting could fall prey to these journals. Lastly, despite the increasing knowledge of predatory publishing, there is still a lack of awareness about this dark side of publications. Hence, educational awareness of predatory journals is needed. It is also recommended that research, including other disciplines, be completed.

The shortage of nurses in Saudi Arabia like many other countries in the world is a problem. Additionally, there are a unique socio-cultural factor that causes the problem including but not limited to the negative perceptions and attitudes towards nurses. Unfortunately, the apprentices are subjected to a system that is inadequately represented by long working hours, negative images, and work pressures. In addition, several factors are attributed to the problems the students face during the initial year of clinical education. This study will analyze and evaluate the different factors that influence the clinical education of the bachelor nursing apprentices, particularly in the first year of experience. Aims and Objectives: The purpose of this study is to explore the factors affecting the clinical practice of nursing interns at tertiary hospital Jeddah. Methodology and Methods: The research was employed as a qualitative approach. Bachelor nursing students who are currently undertaking their internship program in a tertiary hospital Jeddah) were recruited as participant in this study. Findings: Data analyses regarding the factors affecting the clinical practice of nursing interns are summarized both positively and negatively. The major theme that emerged that reflects the positive experiences of intern students was “a time for reflection ”. Further to this the major theme that emerged relating to the challenges experienced by student interns was “ cold environment’. Conclusions: The findings of this research contribute to our understanding of factors affecting the clinical practice of nursing interns. Students identified their clinical learning as cold learning environment because they were treated unfairly, ignored by their instructors and were being embarrassed and feeling restricted. Moreover, students have also identified positive experiences for them during their internship program. The internship program is a great chance for the student for a reflection.