Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate academic dishonesty among nursing students at a public university in Malaysia. Methods This study utilized a descriptive and cross-sectional design to evaluate academic dishonesty among nursing students using a purposive sampling method. The participants of this study consisted of 201 students from diploma (Year 2 and 3) and degree (Year 2 to Year 4) nursing programmes. A self-administered, validated questionnaire was used for data collection. Institutional ethics committee clearance was obtained prior to commencement of the study. Results The results of this study showed that 82.1% and 74.6% of nursing students had engaged at least once in an act of academic dishonesty in an academic or clinical setting, respectively. The most frequent form of academic dishonesty in an academic setting was plagiarism (77.1%). There was a significant association between gender and academic dishonesty in a clinical setting (p < 0.01). There was a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.603, p < 0.001) between academic dishonesty in academic and clinical settings. Conclusion Academic dishonesty in both academic and clinical settings is a common problem among nursing students in Malaysia. Training on academic ethics is required in nursing curricula to improve the quality of education among nursing colleges and reduce the prevalence of unethical behaviours among students.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the health behaviors of university students. Thus, factors influencing students' health behaviors during the COVID-19 outbreak should be examined. Purpose: To our knowledge, little is known about stress, adversity quotient, and health behaviors of university students in Thailand. Therefore, the aims of this study were to determine the relationships among socioeconomic factors, stress, and adversity quotient influencing university students' health behavior during the COVID-19 crisis. Patients and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional predictive study; it was included 416 undergraduate students ≥18 years of age at a university in Thailand. We used descriptive statistics, chi-squared test, and stepwise multiple linear regression for data analysis. Results: The results indicated that most participants were women (71.90%), and the highest proportion of students were enrolled in College of Politics and Governance (25.24%). Most of the students had a high stress level (M = 3.54, SD = 0.53), high adversity quotient (M = 3.77, SD = 0.63), and good health behavior (M = 3.06, SD = 0.53). Adversity quotient, stress, and current faculty/college were significant predictors of health behaviors of undergrad students (total variance: 37.2%). Conclusion: Total adversity quotient was the strongest predictor of health behavior, followed by stress and current faculty/colleges. On the basis of our results, we suggested that faculty members, caretakers, and interdisciplinary care teams should consider adversity quotient and stress in developing activities to encourage and promote students' physical and mental health behaviors, particularly during the COVID-19.

Background: Perceptions and levels of understanding of spiritual care vary among nurses, which may affect their competency to meet the patient’s spiritual needs. Therefore, determining nurses' perception of spiritual care is the first important step in addressing the spiritual needs of patients, and may also help nursing management in developing spiritual care education and training programs.Purpose: This study aimed to assess the competence of Malaysian nurses toward providing spiritual care and identify the relationship between nurses’ spiritual care competence and their sociodemographic factors. Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional design to assess nurses' competence in spiritual care by using a simple random sampling method which involved 271 staff nurses from a public hospital in Northeast of Peninsular Malaysia. Spiritual care competence scale in Bahasa Malaysia version was used for data collection. Data analysis was performed using descriptive (frequency, percent, mean, standard deviation) and inferential (Chi-square and Pearson’s correlation test) statistics.Results: This study showed that 69.7% of staff nurses had an average level of competence toward providing spiritual care for the patients (M=95.44, SD=4.34). The highest mean difference among the domains was personal support and patients counseling (MD=5.789), while the lowest mean difference was assessment and implementation of spiritual care (MD=1.258). Furthermore, there was no significant relationship between spiritual care competence and sociodemographic factors (gender, age, marital status, educational level, nurses' experience, race, religion, and previous participation in training spiritual care programs).Conclusion: The majority of nurses have an average level of competence toward providing spiritual care. There is no significant relationship between nurses’ spiritual care competence and sociodemographic factors.

Background Environmental factors are important for students’ learning during online classes, especially during a pandemic, such as COVID-19. This study aimed to validate the environmental factors’ questionnaire during online learning. Methods A total of 218 undergraduate medical students at the Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, participated in a cross-sectional study that involved an online survey. Environmental factor scales were assessed with the nine-item lighting, noise, and temperature (LNT) scale and the six-item technology scale. Analysis was performed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results The English version of the LNT scale with nine items and three factors showed a good fit to the data, with no item deleted. For LNT, the composite reliability (CR) was 0.81, 0.81, and 0.84, respectively, while the average variance extracted (AVE) was 0.61, 0.59, and 0.6, respectively. The English version of the technology scale, with six items and one factor, also showed a good fit to the data, with no item deleted. The CR was 0.84, and the AVE was 0.51. Conclusions The results provide psychometric evidence for environmental questionnaire scales in evaluating the factors associated with online learning among Malaysian university medical students. All items were retained and confirmed to fit the sample data.

Background Environmental factors are important for students learning during online classes, especially during COVID-19. This study aimed to validate the environmental factors’ questionnaire during online learning. Methods A total of 218 undergraduate medical students at the Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia participated in a cross-sectional study that involved an online survey. Environmental factors scales were assessed with the 9-items Lighting, Noise and Temperature (LNT) scale and the 6-items Technology scale. Analysis was performed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Results The English version of LNT with nine items and three factors showed a good fit to the data with no item deleted. For lighting, noise and temperature, the Composite Reliability (CR) was 0.81, 0.81 and 0.84, respectively while the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) was 0.61, 0.59 and 0.6, respectively. The English version of the Technology scale with six items and one factor also showed a good fit to the data with no item deleted. The CR was 0.84, and AVE was 0.51. Conclusions The results give psychometric evidence for environmental questionnaire scales in evaluatingthe factors associated with online learning among Malaysian university medical students. All items were retained and confirmed to be fit for sample data.

As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and the enforced quarantine, universities in Malaysia were required to switch to an online class format. The resulting changes in the environmental factors of students may have had an impact on their psychological health and academic performance. This study aimed to determine the effects of environmental factors and the psychological health of students and examine their structural relationship with academic performance. A cross-sectional design with an online self-reported questionnaire was adopted, and the study was conducted among 207 undergraduate medical students at the Health Campus of Universiti Sains Malaysia. The environmental factors were measured using the lighting–noise–temperature scale and technology scale, while psychological health was assessed using the short version of the General Health Questionnaire and academic performance was determined based on Grade Point Average. Descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling were used for analysis of the data. No significant relationship was found between environmental factors and academic performance, or between environmental factors and psychological health. Nonetheless, the hypothesized structural model provided scientific evidence of an inverse relationship between psychological health and academic performance. These findings could be helpful for academics, health policymakers, and health educators in terms of understanding and promoting psychological wellbeing among university students, as well as improving their academic performance.