The use of standardized patients (SPs) shows promise in tobacco cessation treatment (TCT) training by providing a simulated clinical environment for dental students to practice counseling skills with individuals trained to portray patients. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge between dental students who received a lecture and practice sessions with SPs and those who received a lecture only. Dental students in an introductory clinical course at one dental school were invited to participate in the study by completing a pre and post questionnaire. The pre questionnaire was administered to all students prior to a tobacco cessation lecture. Students were group‐randomized to either the intervention or control group. The intervention group completed the post questionnaire after the lecture and practice sessions with SPs, and the control group completed it after the lecture only. Of ninety‐eight students who attended the lecture and were invited to participate in the study, a total of ninety‐four from the two groups (96 percent) provided two linkable questionnaires for analysis. In the results, training with lecture and SPs increased the students’ understanding of barriers, subjective norms, perceived skills, self‐efficacy, and intentions to provide TCT more than those in the lecture only; however, it did not significantly increase their attitudes and knowledge. These findings suggest that using SPs is a valuable educational method to promote the provision of TCT by dental students and graduates.

Aims and objectives. To assess the current use of patient satisfaction measures in home health care and to examine the reliability and validity of current measures of patient satisfaction in home health care. Background. Patient satisfaction has been one of the widely used measures in home health care as an indicator of quality of care. A few efforts have been made to develop psychometrically sound patient satisfaction scales for use in home health care. Design. A critical review of the literature. Methods. Electronic databases were systematically searched to identify the studies or publications that measured and addressed patient satisfaction and its measurement in home health care.Results. The review of the literature showed that patient satisfaction measures have been used in the evaluation of care programmes including rehabilitation programmes, discharge and home follow-up programmes, care process and management practices. Also, patient satisfaction measures were used to evaluate new care protocols and treatments. Conclusions. Home healthcare agencies need valid and reliable patient satisfaction scales. Frameworks of patient satisfaction are still in their early developmental stage. Only some of the variables related to patient satisfaction are explained by many frameworks. Relevance to clinical practice. Home healthcare mangers and researchers need to take in consideration the reliability and validity of measures and tools of patient satisfaction.

The health care team identified the causes of health care-associated infections (HAI) and developed interventions in a pediatric intensive care unit in Gaza. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was used. All 26 full-time staff members in the pediatric intensive care unit participated. The HAI rate decreased significantly from the first to the second year following the implementation of the intervention (208 vs 120.55, odds ratio: 3.21, 95% confidence interval: 1.87-5.11; P < .001).

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