Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Does Digital Literacy Empower Adolescent Girls In Low- And Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review, Salima Meherali, Komal Abdul Rahim, Sandra Campbell, Zohra S. Lassi

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Background: The vast majority (90%) of the world's adolescents aged 10-19 live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); and in those resource-limited settings, girls face distinct challenges across multiple health, social, and economic domains. Gender equality and girls' empowerment are key goals in their own right and are central to all other development goals. Digital literacy is a great enabler for the empowerment of young girls. This systematic review aims to assess the range and nature of digital literacy interventions implemented to empower adolescent girls in LMICs and identify evidence about adolescent girls' access and use of digital technologies in …

Peer Victimization And Experiences Of Violence At School And At Home Among School Age Children With Disabilities In Pakistan And Afghanistan, Rozina Somani, Julienne Corboz, Rozina Karmaliani, Esnat D. Chirwa, Judith Mcfarlane, Hussain Maqbool Ahmed Khuwaja, Nargis Asad, Yasmeen Hassan Somani, Ingrid Van Der Heijden, Rachel Jewke

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Background: Children with disabilities are more likely to experience violence or injury at school and at home, but there is little evidence from Central Asia.
Objective: To describe the prevalence of disability and associations with peer violence perpetration and victimization, depression, corporal punishment, school performance and school attendance, among middle school children in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Method: This is a secondary analysis of data gathered in the course of evaluations of interventions to prevent peer violence conducted in Pakistan and Afghanistan as part of the 'What Works to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls Global Programme'. In …

Right To Play's Intervention To Reduce Peer Violence Among Children In Public Schools In Pakistan: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial, Rozina Karmaliani, Judith Mcfarlane, Hussain Maqbool Ahmed Khuwaja, Yasmeen Hassan Somani, Shireen Shehzad, Tazeen Saeed Ali, Nargis Asad, Esnat D. Chirwa, Rachel Jewkes

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Background: Peer violence is common globally, but a little researched topic in low-and middle-income countries. This study presents the evaluation of a two-year randomized controlled trial of a structured play-based life-skills intervention implemented in schools in Hyderabad, Pakistan.
Objective: To determine the impact of the intervention on school-based peer violence (victimization and perpetration) and depression among school children.
Methods: 40 single-sex public schools were randomized into two study arms (20 per arm 10 of each sex). A total of 1752 grade 6 students (929 from intervention and 823 from control schools) were enrolled in the trial. The two-year intervention was …

Effectiveness Of High-Fidelity Simulation In Nursing Education For End-Of-Life Care: A Quasi-Experimental Design, Salma Rattani, Zohra Kurji, Amina Aijaz Khowaja Ap, Jacqueline Maria Dias, Anila Naz Alisher

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Background: Providing end of life (EOL) care is a component of palliative care but dealing with dying patients and their family members is stressful for the healthcare providers. To prepare them for providing EOL care, the high-fidelity simulation could be used as a pedagogy in which real-life scenarios are used on the computerized manikins mimicking the real patients.
Aims: The aim of this study was to measure the effectiveness of high-fidelity simulation to teach EOL care in the palliative nursing course in the undergraduate nursing education program at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Aga Khan University which is …

Insight Into Covid-19 Responses And Initiatives From Pakistan, Salima Farooq, Sonia Ijaz Haider, Saima Sachwani, Yasmin Parpio

School of Nursing & Midwifery

The coronavirus pandemic is a rapidly evolving outbreak that has tremendously distressed people worldwide. The paper aims to present some key rapid responses and initiatives to COVID-19 undertaken in Pakistan. The information has been gathered by reviewing material and documents pertinent to COVID-19 in the context of Pakistan. The incidences of COVID-19 cases are gradually increasing; however, the case fatality rate is relatively lower in Pakistan as compared to developed countries. The government has taken massive actions, in terms of lockdowns, quarantine homes, testing facilities, closure of schools, and mass gatherings at places, to combat COVID-19. However, the measures seem …

Gender Based Violence And Health Effects, Tazeen Saeed Ali

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Gender Based Violence (GBV) violates the basic human right of a person’s physical, sexual and emotional integrity and health ([i]) such that globally, one out of every three women is subject to some form of violence, ranging from verbal and physical abuse to emotional blackmailing and psychological torture eventually leading to futile despair and hopelessness. The ironical perception of gender equality in our society is the root cause of gender based violence, with women being more afflicted by such a form of gender discrimination than men. [i]. Ali TS, Krantz G, Gul R, Asad N, Johansson E, …

Perception Of Nursing Students Regarding Blended Learning Implementation At University Of Lahore, Pakistan, Muhammad Afzal, Tazeen Saeed Ali, Syed Amir Gilani

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Background and objectives: Blended learning (BL) is positive development in education. This method provoke the learner’s critical thinking and given different ways for implementation of their knowledge in real life. There are several advantages of blended learning to the faculty, students and institutions as well.
Methods: The Cross-sectional study design was used to collect data from nursing students. The study was carried out at Lahore School of Nursing, The University of Lahore, Pakistan. All nursing undergraduates students enrolled at elective practicum blended learning course at Lahore School of Nursing, The University of Lahore, Pakistan academic year 2016-2017 were included in …

Developing A Rubric To Assess Critical Thinking In A Multidisciplinary Context In Higher Education, Sadia Muzaffar Bhutta, Sahreen Chauhan, Syeda Kauser Ali, Raisa B. Gul, Shanaz Hussein Cassum, Tashmin Khamis

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Critical thinking (CT) is a generic attribute that is greatly valued across academic disciplines in higher education, and around the globe. It is also defined as one of the graduate attributes of higher education for the sample private university where this research was conducted, as it is perceived that CT helps the graduate to become ‘engaged citizens’ in the twenty-first century. Despite the well-documented importance of CT, its assessment remains a challenge. This study addresses this challenge through the systematic development and field-testing of a rubric for assessing critical thinking in a multidisciplinary context in higher education. A multidisciplinary group …

Perceptions Of Nursing Students Of Educational Environment At A Private Undergraduate School Of Nursing In Karachi, Salima Farooq, Rehana Rehman, Jacqueline Maria Dias, Mehwish Hussain

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Ojective: To assess educational environment at a nursing school..
Methods: The cross-sectional survey was carried out from May to October 2016 at Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery, Karachi, using the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure tool. The scores were obtained by merging five sub-scales of the inventory. The average scores of the scale and sub-scales were compared in terms of age, year of study, and living status using Mann-Whitney U test, and among years of study by Kruskal Wallis test..
Results: Of the 442 students, 228(51.6%) had age below 20 years. Overall, 131(29.1%) subjects were in the …

Teachers’ Accounts Of Their Perceptions And Practices Of Providing Written Feedback To Nursing Students On Their Assignments, Sajid Iqbal, Raisa Gul, Arusa Lakhani, Nusrat Fatima Rizvi

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Written feedback can facilitates students’ learning in several ways. However, the teachers’ practice of written feedback may be affected by various factors. This study aimed to explore the nurse teachers’ accounts of their perceptions and practices of providing written feedback.

A descriptive exploratory design was employed in the study. A purposive sample of 12 teachers from nursing institutions in Karachi, Pakistan, participated in the study. Using a semi-structured guide, in-depth interviews were conducted with the participants, between January-September, 2013. The interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim and were manually content analyzed.

The analysis of findings led to three sections: …

Graduate Students’ Perceptions Of Written Feedback At A Private University In Pakistan, Lubna Ghazal, Raisa B. Gul, Mehnaz Hanzala, Tansy Jessop, Ambreen Tharani

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Excellence in academic performance at the graduate level requires good command of writing skills. Teachers’ written feedback can help students to develop their writing skills. However, several personal and contextual factors may influence feedback processes and its utilization by students. Therefore, understanding these factors is essential to improve the practice of written feedback. This study aimed to appraise the quality of written feedback in the graduate programmes and to ascertain students’ perceptions about it at a private university in Pakistan. A purposive sample of 15 participants comprised the study. The data were collected through in-depth students’ interviews and the teachers’ …

Development Of Students' Critical Thinking: The Educators' Ability To Use Questioning Skills In The Baccalaureate Programmes In Nursing In Pakistan, Tanveer Saeed, Shehla Khan, Azra Ahmed, Raisa Gul, Shanaz Hussein Cassum, Yasmin Parpio

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Objective: To enhance the Critical Thinking skills of educators associated with the nursing baccalaureate programmes in Pakistan. By focusing on the type and level of questions asked by the educators.
Methods: Ninety-one faculty members from 14 out of 17 schools participated in the study. Data on the faculty's questioning skills was obtained through classroom observations and field notes. The duration of the observations was 45-60 minutes. Using Bloom's Taxonomy for cognitive thinking, questions were categorised into high and low categories.
Results: Most of the questions (68.9 %) asked by the participants were of lower levels, while some (5.37 %) were …

Teachers’ And Parents’ Perspective As How The Social Environment Of Immediate Vicinity Can Affect The Academic Learning Of A Child 4-6 Years Age Group, Salma Amin Rattani, Deedar Shah

School of Nursing & Midwifery

In the process of human development environment plays a pivotal role. At the age of 4 -6 years, children's immediate vicinity expands from home to school and in his social environment parents and teachers play a vital role. Therefore, in this study which was conducted in Phander district Ghizer, Northern areas; of Pakistan, employing descriptive research design five parents and five school teachers were enrolled. Participants shared their definition and understanding about social environment and immediate vicinity and its effects on academic learning. This research is part of Advanced Diploma in Human Development: Early Child Development Programme, Aga Khan University. …

Gender Roles And Their Influence On Life Prospects For Women In Urban Karachi, Pakistan: A Qualitative Study, Tazeen S. Ali, Gunilla Krantz, Raisa Gul, Nargis Asad, Eva Johansson, Ingrid Mogren

School of Nursing & Midwifery

BACKGROUND: Pakistan is a patriarchal society where men are the primary authority figures and women are subordinate. This has serious implications on women's and men's life prospects.
OBJECTIVE: The aim was to explore current gender roles in urban Pakistan, how these are reproduced and maintained and influence men's and women's life circumstances.
DESIGN: Five focus group discussions were conducted, including 28 women representing employed, unemployed, educated and uneducated women from different socio-economic strata. Manifest and latent content analyses were applied.
FINDINGS: TWO MAJOR THEMES EMERGED DURING ANALYSIS: 'Reiteration of gender roles' and 'Agents of change'. The first theme included perceptions …

The Influence Of Psychosocial Factors On Academic Performance Of Adolescents: A Quality Assurance Project, Saleema A. Gulzar, Tazeen S. Ali, Amina Aijaz, Neesha Hussain

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Adolescence is a time of rapid psychological and physiological changes and is associated with anxiety and mental distress. This project looks at the potential of school-based programs to reduce these negative effects of academic performance in both the short- and long-term. This study was conducted in a private school in Karachi, Pakistan between October 1998 and December 2006 on 305 students with low academic performance. Results show that students scoring low grades had a mean of 55 + 2.8 and postintervention score of 56 + 2.6. The intervention package significantly created a difference in reducing the number of students receiving …