Simulation is regarded as an effective educational method for the delivery of clinical scenarios. However, exposure to unfamiliar environments during simulation can cause excessive stress among students, possibly leading to unnatural speech/behavior and poor skill learning (Yerkes-Dodson’s law). Thus, assessing students’ stress in a simulation can provide educators with a better understanding of their mental state. This study sought to clarify stress changes throughout the progression of the simulation by measuring heart rate variability and students’ subjective reactions in 74 nursing students. Heart rate variability was calculated in terms of its high-frequency (HF) and low-frequency/high-frequency (LF/HF) components during 4 phases—the break, patient care, reporting, and debriefing. Students were interviewed about stress experienced during the simulation. The results showed that HF decreased significantly from the break to the patient care and reporting phases. Furthermore, LF/HF increased significantly from the break to the reporting phases. Approximately 55 students felt stressed during the simulation, 24 of whom felt most stressed during the reporting phase. Therefore, the reporting phase involved high objective and subjective stress. It may be possible that the educator’s evaluative attitude increased students’ stress. Therefore, a stress intervention during the reporting phase might further improve students’ performance during that phase. The debriefing phase did not significantly differ from the break phase for objective stress, and students did not report feeling stressed. Thus, in this phase, they were released from the stress of the reporting phase and the unfamiliar environment. During this phase, they might be able to learn what they could not understand owing to high stress in the patient care and reporting phases. This study provides objective and subjective evidence of students’ stress during simulation, and indicates the necessity of providing support during the reporting phase and the importance of debriefing when using clinical scenarios for teaching clinical skills.

Background The importance and usefulness of competency frameworks (CFs) in pharmacy professional development is recognised globally. However, there is no national CF for pharmacists in Japan yet. Objective This study was conducted to measure the level of relevance of behavioural statements of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Global Competency Framework (GbCF) to Japanese foundation-level pharmacy practice, aiming for developing a national framework for foundation-level pharmacists in Japan. Methods A cross-sectional, anonymous, online self-completed survey was conducted during June and July 2018 in Japan. The questionnaire was adopted from the GbCF, translated into Japanese. A snowballing sampling approach was used. The relevance levels of the GbCF items were assessed by using 4-point Likert scales, and analysed by descriptive and inferential methods. Results A total 604 usable responses were included in analyses. High levels of relevance levels were found in two clusters ('pharmaceutical public health' and 'pharmaceutical care'), while the other two clusters ('organisation and management' and 'professional/personal') showed significantly low relevance (relevance=89.6%, 82.5%, 59.6%, and 67.9%, respectively). The study found little engagement of academic sector with framework, while industry sector showed the relevance to all clusters evenly. Regarding years working in sectors, the study found there is no progression of relevance in 'organisation and management' and 'professional/personal' competencies during foundation years, which is a worry in terms of the ability of pharmacists taking the management role transitioning towards advanced level, as well as very little professional/personal development. Conclusions The study pointed out specific competencies and behaviours which require modifications to adapt the GbCF into Japanese pharmacy practice environment. This is a key step towards development of a national framework, illustrating current Japanese foundation-level pharmacy practice compared with global standards. The findings will be used as a base for developing a framework for foundation-level pharmacists in Japan.

The np gerade Rydberg states of acetylene were studied with various spectroscopic techniques to measure one-color resonant multiphoton ionization (REMPI) spectra, two-color REMPI mass spectra, fluorescence spectra, and fluorescence excitation spectra in the two-photon energy region of 72 000-92 000 cm -1 . The rotational analysis was successfully performed for one of the upper levels, which was assigned to the 4p 1 ∆ g Rydberg state. All of the gerade Rydberg states prepared under the two-photon resonance conditions were found to be predissociative, and the two-photon preparation was accompanied by the fluorescence of the C 2 d 3 Π g f a 3 Π u Swan system. In the fluorescence excitation spectra measured by monitoring the C 2 Swan system, higher members of the np 1 Σ g + and 1 ∆ g Rydberg series (n g 4) were observed and assigned for the first time. The predissociative lifetimes of the np gerade Rydberg states are estimated from the spectral bandwidths. The mechanisms of the predissociation of acetylene in the Rydberg states and the formation of C 2 in the d 3 Π g state are discussed.

515-523Introductions: Digitization could be incorporated in rural areas of resource-poor countries because information gathered by nurses working on-site could be better used. Background: For effective management of community health information, the usage and maintenance of digital records are important. Digitization of information provides essential information for informing health policy. Aim: To develop a sustainable database to effectively collect and manage community health information and nursing practice. Methods: This study used a mixed method design. Phase 1 involved the development of a database system through repeated systematic focus group discussions with community health nurses. Phase 2 involved a practical trial examination of the developed system with both objective and subjective evaluations. Results: A nursing database system was developed with templates designed for the major health problems of communities. The templates were composed of multiple-choice items and a free-text field that allowed records to be more detailed than handwritten records and maintained in standardized formats. This enables accumulation of data that were less likely to be influenced by the variance of ability in each nurse. Discussion and conclusion: A multifaceted evaluation of the database system suggested that it could improve the efficiency of information management and contribute to the improvement of nursing care quality through standardization of the recording pattern. Implications for nursing and health policy: The nursing database will enable high-quality information storage that will potentially better inform health and healthcare policies as well as enable visualization of data concerning nursing care challenges and activities within the relevant communities. This information is Correspondence address: Naoko Arakawa, Department of Nursing, College of Life and Health Sciences, Chubu University, 1200 Matsumoto, Kasugai, Aichi 487-8501, Japan; Tel: 81-568-51-1111; Fax: 81-568-51-5370; E-mail: n-maruyama@isc.chubu.ac.jp. FundingThis study was carried out upon receiving a JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)15K20819 as well as a research grant from the Mitsubishi Foundation. Conflict of interestNo conflict of interest has been declared by the authors. © 2018 International Council of NursesThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.Original Article essential for policy development and implementation in areas of human and fiscal resource allocations and meeting training/education needs.Keywords: Chronic Diseases, Community Health Nursing, Database System, Electronic Health Records, Information Technology, Resource-Poor Countries, Rural Areas, System Usability, Thailand IntroductionInformation and communication technology (ICT) is an effective tool to promote health care in resource-poor countr...

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Background The use of high‐fidelity simulation practice as an educational tool is becoming increasingly prevalent in nursing education. Despite the learning effects of simulation practice, students have been shown to experience high levels of stress and anxiety during simulation. In recent years, peer learning has been defined as an acquisition of knowledge and skills through active support and support among equal or equal peers and has been shown to be an effective educational intervention for clinical health science students. Aim The purpose of this study was to incorporate peer learning into simulation learning and to clarify the differences between stress and anxiety during personal and peer simulations. Method Third‐grade undergraduate students in a four‐year course at two nursing universities participated in this study. In this study, the simulated patient was a 53‐year‐old man who had undergone gastrectomy for the treatment of gastric cancer. The scenario was that the patient had completely recovered consciousness in the operating room, and his tracheal tube had been removed one hour before the students examined him. Stress while simulation training was evaluated with heart rate variability. Anxiety was evaluated by the STAI after the simulations were complete. Results Personal simulation practice (personal group; n = 50) and peer simulation practice (peer group, n = 59) was conducted. The personal group included 7 male students, and the peer group included 12 male students; the difference in male proportion was not significant. At the first patient assessment phase, stress of heart rate variability components at the peer group significantly increased relative to that of the personal. In addition, the personal had a significantly higher state anxiety score after simulation than the peer. Conclusion This study shows that in the face‐to‐face scene involving vital sign measurements, the presence of peers did not objectively alleviate stress.

Background: Time-tabled curricular contents and syllabi reflect the actual delivery of the academic programme and one of key quality components in healthcare professional education. There is a need of global evidence base of Initial Pharmacy Education and Training (IPET) curricula for assisting the advancement of IPET globally. Objectives: To seek the differences and similarities among IPET curricula and to explore relative trends and weighting of IPET curricula globally. Methods: Sample curricular documents were collected purposively either through a parallel survey study investigating the structures and processes of IPET globally in collaboration with the International Pharmaceutical Federation Education (FIPEd), or through research team network. Collected textual documents containing IPET curricular contents were analysed by a mixed approach of the comparative content and framework analyses, using curriculum clusters in a guideline from the PHARMINE project. Results: IPET curricular documents were collected from 16 countries and territories. The study showed study years spent in the IPET years range from four to six years, and a sample mean of average syllabus time spent per year is 728 hours/year (excluding outlier). There was a biggest variance in the pharmacy practice cluster (PRAC) among samples, ranging from 49.3 to 12.8%, showing a significant negative correlation with the chemical science cluster (CHEM) g = -0.77 (p<.0001). Categorised further into three curricular content groups, the study identified that there was variances in a tendency of the curricular orientation of science or practice-focus between countries. Conclusion: The study allowed a first global comparison of IPET curricula from all WHO regions, which provided a better understanding of current IPET practice and delivery across nations and established evidence base to address challenges and gaps for further improvement of IPET curriculum in any country.   Article Type: Original Research