INTRODUCTION The study of expertise tends to focus on humans who can perform extraordinary feats. Although the way in which expertise is acquired is often characterized as similar to everyday skill acquisition, the attainment of basic numeracy skills is rarely considered in the same context as the attainment of expertise. It is clear, though, that average numeracy skills possess all the hallmar...

Athletes devote their lives to practicing their chosen sport so as to attain the highest level of skilled performance. A perennial question is why are some athletes better than others? Most debates on this issue reduce to genetics (natural abilities) vs differences in accumulated deliberative practice. In contrast, the target article under discussion here reports on a study that identified psyc...

OBJECTIVE Box model trainers have been used for many years to facilitate the improvement of laparoscopic skills. However, there are limited data available on box trainers and their impact on skill acquisition, assessed by virtual reality systems. MATERIAL AND METHODS Twenty-two Postgraduate Year 1 gynecology residents with no laparoscopic experience were randomly divided into one group that r...

BACKGROUND Although nursing, midwifery, and professions allied to medicine are increasingly using clinical guidelines to reduce inappropriate variations in practice and ensure higher quality care, there have been no rigorous overviews of their effectiveness, 18 evaluations of guidelines were identified that meet Cochrane criteria for scientific rigor. METHODS Guideline evaluations conducted s...

This paper will discuss the results of a scoping exercise carried out as part of a strategy to inform subsequent models of infrastructure funding. The exercise showed that Scotland has less research capacity in nursing and midwifery than the UK as a whole. Following the publication of a nursing and midwifery research strategy for Scotland, initiatives are being put in place to fund an increase ...

2. MPH, BA (Hons), JBI Collaborating Centre, College of Nursing, Midwifery and Healthcare, University of West London, London, UK. 3. PGDip, MA, RM, RGN, Bsc (Hons), JBI Collaborating Centre, College of Nursing, Midwifery and Healthcare, University of West London, London, UK. 4. PhD, MA, Dip Ed Man, Dip Nursing, MTD, RM, RN, JBI Collaborating Centre, College of Nursing, Midwifery and Healthcare,...

The use of computers in the delivery of health care has significantly improved the way health service is delivered to clients and patients in the world. Despite the importance of computing to the delivery of health service, developing countries have not greatly benefited from it. Nursing informatics has been in existence and part of academic curriculum for the past 2 decades in some advanced co...

BACKGROUND Clients with communication impairment are at risk for health disparity. Hence, health care workers should be knowledgeable and skillful in communication. However, no studies are available on Iranian nursing and midwifery students' communication skills with patients with severe communication problems. OBJECTIVES The present study was conducted to investigate Iranian nursing and midw...

OBJECTIVE This discussion paper analyses a midwifery Continuity of Care program at an Australian University with the symbiotic clinical education model, to identify strengths and weakness, and identify ways in which this new pedagogical approach can be improved. BACKGROUND In 2002 a major change in Australian midwifery curricula was the introduction of a pedagogical innovation known as the Co...