Search

Abdullah Mohammed Alobaid,1,2 Abdulmajeed Mobrad,3 Cameron Gosling,2 Lisa McKenna,4 Brett Williams2 1Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz College for Emergency Medical Services, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Paramedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; 3Department of Emergency Medical Services, Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz College for Emergency Medical Services, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 4La Trobe University, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaCorrespondence: Abdullah Mohammed AlobaidPrince Sultan bin Abdulaziz College for Emergency Medical Services, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Tel +966533336396, Email a.alobaid33@gmail.comIntroduction: Although emergency medical services (EMS) stakeholders acknowledge the need for both male and female paramedics in the EMS field, the Saudi EMS system is currently only staffed by male paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) working in EMS organisations.Aim: To understand and explore the Saudi Arabian community’s perceptions on engaging Saudi female paramedics in the EMS workforce.Material and Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey design using convenience sampling of the public in Riyadh city by self-administered English and Arabic language questionnaires. Questionnaire validity was assessed by face and content validity.Results: Of the 3603 surveys distributed, 3132 were returned (87% completion response rate). Most respondents were aged between 18 and 29 years (n = 1308, 41%), and the sex distribution was (n = 1646, 52.6%) male and (n = 1486, 47.4%) female. Overall, 77% (n = 2412) of the respondents supported the need for female paramedics in Saudi Arabian ambulance services, and 74.8% (n = 2343) preferred that female paramedics treated female patients.Conclusion: This is the first public study to explore Saudi public perceptions about female paramedics in EMS in the Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia. The Saudi public is supportive of female paramedics being employed as paramedics in the country. Moreover, significant differences in perceptions were evidenced in the sex groups over any other factors.Keywords: emergency medical services, female, paramedic, public perception, Saudi Arabia

Brett Williams,1 Ted Brown,2 Malcolm Boyle,1 Lisa McKenna,3 Claire Palermo,4 Jamie Etherington1 1Department of Community Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice, 2Department of Occupational Therapy, 3School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University–Peninsula Campus, Frankston, 4Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University–Berwick Campus, Berwick, Vic, Australia Purpose: This research examines the extent and nature of empathy among emergency health (paramedic), nursing, and midwifery students at one Australian university and investigates the longitudinal changes in empathy levels across the course of study. Methods: First-, second-, and third-year students at Monash University completed the Jefferson Scale of Empathy–Health Professional (JSE-HP) in 2008, 2009, and 2010, and the resulting mean empathy scores were analyzed by course, year of course, year of study, age, and sex. Results: Midwifery students were found to have higher empathy levels than nursing and emergency health students. Second- and third-year students scored higher than their counterparts in the first year. Empathy levels dipped in 2009 and rose in 2010. Students aged 26–30 years and 31–35 years recorded higher scores than their younger colleagues, and female students were found to be more empathic than their male counterparts. Conclusion: The finding that empathy levels are relatively stable over the term of study contributes to the understanding of how empathy evolves over the course of study and offers insights into the importance of incorporating and promoting empathy in health care curricula. Keywords: empathy, nursing, paramedics, midwifery, undergraduates

Brett Williams,1 Ted Brown,2 Lisa McKenna,3 Malcolm J Boyle,1 Claire Palermo,4 Debra Nestel,5 Richard Brightwell,6 Louise McCall,7 Verity Russo11Department of Community Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice, 2Department of Occupational Therapy, 3School of Nursing and Midwifery, 4Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, 5School of Rural Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 6School of Medical Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA, 7Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaBackground: Empathy is paramount in the health care setting, optimizing communication and rapport with patients. Recent empirical evidence suggests that empathy is associated with improved clinical outcomes. Therefore, given the importance of empathy in the health care setting, gaining a better understanding of students' attitudes and self-reported empathy is important. The objective of this study was to examine self-reported empathy levels of students enrolled in different health disciplines from two large Australian universities.Materials and methods: A total of 1,111 students from two different universities enrolled in eight different health professions were administered the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy – Health Profession Students version, a 20-item 7-point Likert scale questionnaire to evaluate self-reported empathy levels.Results: A total of 1,111 students participated in this study. The majority of participants were from Monash University (n=771), with 340 students from Edith Cowan University. No statistically significant differences were found between universities: Monash University (mean 110.1, standard deviation [SD] 11.8); Edith Cowan University (mean 109.2, SD 13.3, P=0.306). The mean female empathy score (mean 110.8, SD 11.7) was significantly higher than the mean male score (mean 105.3, SD 13.5; P